I want to thank you for giving so generously of your time today. We all enjoyed our personal tour of your coffee farm and facility. Throughout, we were taken by not only your careful approach and good stewardship, but the cleanliness of your facility and good smells of the wood, the land, and the coffee - all combined to make it such an enjoyable experience. All was in harmony. We also enjoyed meeting your wonderful cat!!! We are enjoying a cup of Cloud Forest coffee in our little Waimea rental house and savoring every bit of it. Mahalo for your kindness!
~ Leslie, Jay, and Rebecca Ifshin, Albany, California
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Awesome coffee; I consider it the best I have ever tasted.
~ David P., West Palm Beach, Florida
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I wanted to thank you again for taking the time to speak with me and for showing me your beautiful facility! I wish you the all the best!
As for the coffee...
I could easily see the quality in the coffee when brewed. Good bean density, and it bloomed beautifully with a deep rich crema! Flavors were rich and fresh on the palate. Thank you!
~ Corey Sokoloff, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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You have forever changed our mornings! Honestly, the experience of drinking a cup of coffee has forever changed in a positive direction.
~ Dixon & Janet, Sparks, Maryland
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Thank you so much for your excellent service. My Dad received the coffee by his birthday and loves it! I'm super happy I was able to share with him my favorite roast. Keep up the great work! Your story is truly inspiring!
~ Joseph Vukin, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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Thanks to you, my husband and I could enjoy wonderful coffee from you each morning! Every time we have Hamakua coffee, we realize that this is the best in the world!
~ Yoshie Shiroma, Japan
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What a pleasure it was to visit your place and the tour you provided. We appreciate the care you have taken to restore the property to its original Hawaiian plants and preservation of Hawaiian wildlife. Organic growers across the nation are making ground to bring back the lost arts and are caretakers of original foods that we so desperately need. Mahalo!
~ Roger and Karen
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Hawaiian Cloud Forest by far beats any other coffee we have ever tasted. It tastes so smooth with no after bitter taste with a hint of chocolate. We had friends from New Zealand staying with us and now they are fans. It broke my heart to give them my last bag, but I knew it would make them very happy.
~ Don & Kai, Honolulu, Hawaii
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My brother Paul from Waikoloa sent me a pound of your beans. He knows how much I love my coffee. Here in San Francisco I tend to drink two brands and I have them in my morning and afternoon latte's and occasionally an americano or a drip. Paul and his wife always send me a bit of Kona coffee every year for some occasion and I also have my favorite coffee house blends when I go into Kona. Yours is hands down the best! Seriously, hats off to you. I find it rich and complex without being bitter. Really great coffee-congratulations!
~ Elaine, San Francisco, California
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Our family first tasted Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee on a visit to Hawaii nearly two years ago. After we returned home to California, we had a family tasting party of the different brands of coffee we’d brought back with us and Cloud Forest was voted #1. Since then, we’ve had the coffee mailed to us monthly and it has never disappointed us in its flavor and purity.
~ Girija Brilliant, Mill Valley, California
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Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee has traveled with me to Europe, Africa, and South America. I won’t leave home without it as nothing else compares to its rich, smooth, non-acidic flavor and tantalizing aroma. Many of my friends who are serious coffee aficionados have been duly impressed with Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee, and it is always a welcome gift. Every cup is a real pleasure for the senses!
~ Judith P., Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
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Since I left my family cattle and coffee farm in the mountains of Oriente Province in Cuba, I have never tasted such a rich, aromatic coffee. Every morning when we brew it in our espresso maker we think that we are back home in the mountains of Eastern Cuba. Thank you for giving us this gift of flavor, aroma, and quality.
~ Jose I. Ferreiro, Pittsboro, North Carolina
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I was first introduced to your coffee when my niece sent me a pound as a gift. I’ve been a fan ever since. I have chosen the dark roast, which gets brewed daily, and I would have no other. Thank you for the great product and the service in getting it to me each month.
~ Rosalie Lyons, Westminster, California
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For all the coffee I drink, I might as well enjoy the best. A cup of dark roast Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee takes me right to the brisk slopes of Mauna Kea, enjoying the refreshing air under the Koa trees that shelter these homegrown coffee trees. Nothing puts a morning into focus like Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee!
~ Marsha Erickson, Waimea, Hawaii
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This coffee is the BEST! It is delicious. Frankly, I have a hard time drinking any other coffee and enjoying it as much as I do Erik’s coffee. Don’t hesitate, get hooked now!
~ Merrily Gumpel, La Canada, California
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Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee is certified organic, local (fresh!), and among the best tasting anywhere. Service by mail is easy and reliable. It is now my only coffee.
~ Thomas Burton, Hakalau, Hawaii
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I just want to say “mahalo” for making one of the most delicious coffees on the market. One of the reasons why we and all our friends love your coffee, besides the fact that it is organic, is the chocolatey smooth taste it has.
~ Don & Kai Cowell, Honolulu, Hawaii
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Our gifts to our friends of your delicious coffee have been well received. Thanks again!
~ David & Courtney O’Brien, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
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I would like to increase my automatic coffee order to two pounds every other month. My husband and I and all of our coffee-loving friends who gather together for our “Latte Sundays” clearly agree that your coffee is the BEST!!!!!
~ Christine Shore, Kamuela, Hawaii
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I tried the Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee at Merriman’s restaurant in Waimea and felt it was the best cup of coffee I have ever had in my life.
~ Ron West, Augusta, Michigan
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First, let me say how amazing your coffee tastes. I’m definitely a coffee snob and your beans, brewed with filtered water and mixed with organic milk and honey, make for the freshest, smoothest cup of joe I’ve ever tasted. I definitely would like to sign up for a pound per month.
~ Jason Seachrist, Winter Garden, Florida
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At Christmas time for the past two years my son and daughter-in-law have given me a gift subscription to Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee. It’s one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever received. The coffee’s wonderful aroma and fresh, full flavor make every morning start off well. I look forward to my monthly coffee and the reminder of my children’s thoughtfulness.
~ Emily Abbott, Decatur, Illinois
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Well Erik, when I told my son I was canceling, he said no way! I’m sending you his credit card information and you can just keep sending Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee to my address monthly. He loves the coffee and expects to always have it here when he comes.
~ Diane Overstreet, Denver, Colorado
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As for a favorite coffee, it’s a tough call, but here’s my pick: Hamakua’s Hawaiian Cloud Forest organic dark roast, low on acid (a must) and brewed in a sock pot, which offers a good balance of oils and dark and light flavors.
~ Joleen Oshiro, Honolulu Pulse, Star/Advertiser Newspaper, Honolulu, Hawaii
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My husband and I were able to personally tour the Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee farm on the slopes of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano. We felt lucky to actually see where our coffee comes from, and were amazed at the process the coffee beans go through to reach perfection. The beans are processed and shipped right from the farm. The farm is “totally” organic, meticulous, and amazing. We LOVE the wonderful, rich flavor. Our coffee arrives every month on time. If you like coffee, this is the very best. You will not be disappointed.
~ Mary & Bill Dorais, Redstone, Colorado
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In our work and leisure we have many opportunities to share the magic of Hamakua by gifting your excellent coffee to friends and clients alike. It goes a long way in reminding them of the bounty and beauty of our beloved Hawaii. Thank you for the steady supply of your wonderful, organic, sustainable coffee that we are lucky to receive and share with our friends.
~ Charlie & Lisa Anderson, Paauilo, Hawaii
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Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee is truly the best coffee I’ve ever had. I have friends in Europe who say it’s the best, and not too delicately suggest [that I give] it as a holiday gift. A friend from Sydney, Australia subscribed [to get it monthly]. So why is a raving locavore who lives in Hawaii’s coffee capital, Holualoa, Kona, gushing about coffee grown on the other side of the island?
In all respects, Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee is the poster child for a sustainable business. Erik and Hillery Gunther have been farming in Hamakua for decades. Off the grid. Organic. Shade-grown.
If I’d never met them, visited their farm, or known anything besides what the coffee tastes like, Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee would still be my #1 coffee. I’ve been assuaging my conscience about supporting the local community by trying area estate coffees from time to time. Most are very good, but not that good.
I always get the dark roast now, but for about the first year, I got the blend of dark and medium. It’s so much more fun to get the package by mail.
~ Kaui Lucas, Holualoa, Hawaii
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A good coffee is one of my dearest pleasures. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the first bastions of fine coffee culture in the USA. San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood offers stunningly good coffee (my favorite is Caffé Trieste), and the Bay Area also spawned the first Peet’s Coffee. In the past I’ve done a fair amount of international traveling as a musician on the road. I’ve had beautiful coffee in Italy and all over Europe for that matter. I’ve also sampled fine coffee in various South American countries. At home, we have a reasonably nice espresso machine and a good grinder. In the past we’ve brewed Illy, Graffeo, or Peet’s.
Last year, on a visit to the Big Island, my wife and I went to Peter Merriman’s Waimea restaurant. On the menu was Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee. Now I have to say that all I previously knew about Hawaiian coffee was from having Kona coffee. I had also visited the historical Uchida Coffee Farm in Captain Cook, Hawaii. To be honest, I had never really been that thrilled with Kona coffee. It always seemed a little shy of the robust flavor I prefer. Having greatly enjoyed our meal at Merriman’s, I asked to try the Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee, in the form of an espresso, after my meal, fully expecting another not-too-thrilling Kona coffee. WRONG! FLAVOR EXPLOSION! This coffee was EXQUISITE. With just the right intensity, it had a rich, robust flavor that wasn’t coaxed out of the bean by roasting it too dark, as so often seems to happen.
Now it just so happens that the owners of Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee were in Merriman’s that evening. I was so blown away by this coffee that I went up to them and introduced myself to thank them for creating this beautiful beverage. Erik and Hillery, with their Aloha spirit shining, humbly accepted my thanks, and before you know it, had invited my wife and me to visit their coffee farm! They told us that they don’t usually give tours, but were moved enough by my enthusiasm to want to share it with us.
Visiting them was a magical experience. It’s not often that I stumble into new friendships in this manner, but I feel like indeed we did make friends that day. The grounds and processing areas at Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee are meticulously kept. They hire local workers to help harvest and process.
When we arrived back home, we immediately subscribed to purchase coffee and have it shipped to us on a monthly basis. Now whenever I drink a cup of Hawaiian Cloud Forest Coffee, I can visualize where it came from and know that the people, their policies, and the place all fit neatly into one concept: paradise.
~ Bruce Kaphan, Fremont, California
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I gathered all of the coffee masters in my department and also included all of the members of the coffee tasting committee in legal for a cupping. We discussed the coffee; I described its location, elevation, etc. and had a notepad out to invite people to write down their impressions. These were some of our thoughts:
-nice acidity, heavy to medium body, good flavor
-nutty, caramelly, sweet
-medium body, nice acidity, somewhat fruity aroma (cherry notes tempered with slight roastiness)
-very tasty, very impressive
The rest of the comments echoed those above. The reaction was positive—this is high-end stuff. I tried it both with and without cream and it was a good cup either way. Congratulations to your team!
~ Experienced coffee taster from an unnamed U.S retail chain
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