Woody Cavenaugh

A friend of mine recently sent me a care package from Hawaii where he is stationed. In the care package was three bags of ground coffee. Today, having finished all three bags, I am going to talk about each one. You know, sort of like a review, only I don't get a pay check or a kickback.

I will start with Royal Kona Private Reserve Coffee. Since it was the most normal of the three I figured I would start here in familiar grounds. 100% Kona Coffee, all purpose grind, medium dark roast. Ingredients, Arabica coffee. I will have to be honest. I have no idea how that works. This is just good coffee. If I saw these in beans in the store this would probalby be my coffee of choice. Good stuff. They describe it as full-bodied, completely balanced coffee. I couldn't agree more. Smokey, without being burny, I love this stuff.

From the same company which brought us the Royal Kona above, the second wonder of the coffee world was Toasted Coconut. Nope I'm not kidding, Toasted Coconut, and it came highly recommended. Since it was highly recommended and I have never even heard of toasted coconut I was really excited about giving this one a try. Should you ever find yourself in a restaurant that serves this, have a cup. It is an experience I would recommend to anyone. Notice I didn't say buy a bag. This was almost amazing coffee. The thing that killed it was that for some reason natural and artificial flavorings was used. We all know what happens to artificial flavor when you brew it. It comes out with a bitter "Artifically Flavored" aftertaste that you just can't shake. I think coconut in coffee is a terrific idea. I look forward to dropping some coconut into the grinder with some good coffee and hopefully get the best parts of the coconut flavor without the artificial aftertaste. I am an optimist, and I have had good experiences with dropping cinnamon sticks into the grinder with my beans. At least taste this coffee once. If you are the type who love flavored coffees and don't notice or mind the aftertaste, I will recommend this to you with honors.

The third on the list is Kauai Coffee's 100% Hawaiian Coffee Estate Roasted Hawaiian Spice. Its a mouthfull as well as a cupful. They describe it as "A unique coffee with a special blend of spices. A taste of the holidays all year round!" I couldn't agree more. This coffee was educational. This coffee broke all of the rules. Everyone who drinks coffee knows that to make coffee you use one rounded tablespoon of coffee per six onces of water. Those who are more religious about these things know that to appease the coffee dieties, you add one extra tablespoon "for the pot". I did this, brewed up a pot and spent the entire cup of coffee wondering if I liked it or not. The next day I brewed another pot and was deciding that I didn't like it at all. Then on a whim I stood there reading the bag's various little claims of greatness and glory, same crap all coffee companies put on their bags when I noticed something that really caught my eye. "Proportion: We recommend 2 tablespoons ground coffee for each 6oz water." Holy crap! This could be the problem all along. I dumped out the rest of the cup I was trying in vain to drink and the next morning I brewed it to their specifications. Apparently, there is so much spice in the coffee you have to brew it double strengh to get the normal ammount of coffee. Mmmmm....spicy coffee goodness.... When experimenting with strange coffees, it still pays to read the directions.

Lion Coffee Homepage For the Kona and the coconut coffees.
Kauai Coffee Homepage For the Hawaiian Spice Coffee.