Moloa'a Bay Coffee, giveaway!

Hey coffee-drinking, friends... where does your coffee come from?  

Starbucks?  Sally Loo's?  Kreuzberg?  Black Horse?  Costco?  If you're a coffee connoisseur, you might answer with: Sumatra, Brazil, Ethiopia, or Vietnam.  Maybe you only buy your beans "fair trade".  But can you explore your coffee's provenance even further?  I'll be the first to admit that I am nowhere near being a coffee connoisseur.  I rarely drink it, and couldn't tell you anything about the flavor nuances to save my life.  The closest I come to coffee cup know-how is admiring the butterfly or heart floating delicately atop my decaf mexicano.  Embarrassing!  I can, however explain the technical process of coffee cherry (yes, they're called "cherries", isn't that awesome?)-to-pulping-to soaking in enzymes-to fermentation-to roasting-to cup.  Nerd?  Maybe.  You can thank John and Daphne McClure for that.  

In 1998, John and Daphne planted their very first coffee tree and in doing so, established the incredible Moloa’a Bay Coffee Farm.  Moloa'a Bay Coffee is a family-run business that continues in the tradition of farming on the north shore of Kaua‘i.  Located above Moloa‘a Bay on former sugar/pineapple plantation fields and papaya farms, the McClure's now have approximately 4,000 arabica coffee trees growing on 15 acres of land along with citrus, banana, and cacao trees.  They even raise their own bees!  So awesome.

Is this not the most beautiful farm in the world???

Each cherry is hand-picked, hand-processed, and dried in the sun.  The beans are then roasted and packaged at their roasting facility in Kapa’a, to produce their award-winning coffee.  YES, AWARD-WINNING!  Believe me when I tell you that this is a mom & pop operation in the truest possible sense, which makes these accomplishments so hugely impressive.  And there is some tough competition in Hawaii, you guys...  Kona coffee?  Yikes!  John is typically modest when describing their win: "The people liked what they sampled there, and I guess the judges agreed".   

Add to that the fact that John and Daphne McClure are two of the sweetest, most hard-working people you're ever likely to meet, and it just makes you want to ROOT for them.  I've gifted Moloa'a Bay Coffee to friends, family, and my mail-lady with pride.  I can tell you from experience that people love the specialness of boutique farming and something grown with love, but the real gratitude comes when they take that first sip.  From plants raised with care, deep in the volcanic earth, nourished by pure rainwater, and the big, gentle sun at the edge of the world - comes a taste so exquisite it will make you close your eyes and cock your head sideways.  My mom (a true connoisseur) describes it like this: "Gorgeously rich, with a perfectly balanced acidity.  Plush and deep, but never syrupy.  This is the coffee for people who know coffee.  It's so clean and smooth, I feel like I can taste the night-blooming flowers that grow wild in Moloa'a.  It's superb."  Wow.  A rave-review if I've ever heard one!  This might make me a coffee-convert.  

Now the suuuuper exciting part...  Moloa'a Bay Coffee is offering one lucky reader a 4oz. package of their award-winning coffee!  Yes!!!  Simply "like" their facebook page, AND leave a comment here on the blog.  You must to do both to be eligible.  A winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday, April 11th.  Be sure to visit their website and online store to learn more about the farm and the incredible products they offer.  Everyone in our house is obsessed with, and ADDICTED to their dried bananas.  Honestly... we hide them and hoard them.  Even Elliott gets down with the Moloa'a Bay dried 'nanners.

Good luck!  :)