A Cup of Aloha: The Kona Coffee Epic

Rating:
Summary: The people behind the commodity
Review: At first glance, "epic" might seem a bit strong, or even pretentious, a term to describe this thin book on the history of Hawai`i's Kona coffee crop. It becomes more appropriate when you realize that Gerald Kinro's book is (much) less a touristy guide to Hawaiian coffee plantations than it is a work of social history and (perhaps inevitably) a look at a dying way of life.

Author Kinro was born and raised on a Kona coffee farm, and this book has the personal feel you'd expect from an author with those experiences. His is a story of people and families ... of the causes and consequences of individual decisions ... and how they and their culture were shaped by, and themselves helped shape, the local and even international economy. People with an interest in coffee, commodity economics, or Hawai`i generally might find this worth a read. But its main audience, I think, will be readers drawn to the social and cultural history of Hawaiian communities, the mixture of Japanese, Hawaiian, and European-American influences, and the way those communities and influences have blended (good coffee term!) over time.

Rating:
Summary: The people behind the commodity
Review: At first glance, "epic" might seem a bit strong, or even pretentious, a term to describe this thin book on the history of Hawai`i's Kona coffee crop. It becomes more appropriate when you realize that Gerald Kinro's book is (much) less a touristy guide to Hawaiian coffee plantations than it is a work of social history and (perhaps inevitably) a look at a dying way of life.

Author Kinro was born and raised on a Kona coffee farm, and this book has the personal feel you'd expect from an author with those experiences. His is a story of people and families ... of the causes and consequences of individual decisions ... and how they and their culture were shaped by, and themselves helped shape, the local and even international economy. People with an interest in coffee, commodity economics, or Hawai`i generally might find this worth a read. But its main audience, I think, will be readers drawn to the social and cultural history of Hawaiian communities, the mixture of Japanese, Hawaiian, and European-American influences, and the way those communities and influences have blended (good coffee term!) over time.

Rating:
Summary: The WHOLE Story !!
Review: I thought that I knew a fair amount about Kona coffee, but I was wrong. The author (who grew up on a Kona coffee farm) says exactly the same thing. The coffee industry has gone through a number of transformations during its 175 years in Hawai`i. So if you were involved in the industry for "only" 20 years, you would only see a small part of the story! I couldn't put this book down because it's actually high drama! Many times in its history, coffee growing in the Islands has been pronounced dead by experts, but each time the farmers have bounced back (often just barely). Survival often meant changing old ways, introducing something totally new, or following the lead of a particular individual. Being a Kona coffee farmer has never been easy, and it still isn't. Kinro packs the entire story of the Kona coffee industry on the Big Island (and its grower's and promoter's business and social histories) into this small, very readable little book.

Rating:
Summary: The WHOLE Story !!
Review: I thought that I knew a fair amount about Kona coffee, but I was wrong. The author (who grew up on a Kona coffee farm) says exactly the same thing. The coffee industry has gone through a number of transformations during its 175 years in Hawai`i. So if you were involved in the industry for "only" 20 years, you would only see a small part of the story! I couldn't put this book down because it's actually high drama! Many times in its history, coffee growing in the Islands has been pronounced dead by experts, but each time the farmers have bounced back (often just barely). Survival often meant changing old ways, introducing something totally new, or following the lead of a particular individual. Being a Kona coffee farmer has never been easy, and it still isn't. Kinro packs the entire story of the Kona coffee industry on the Big Island (and its grower's and promoter's business and social histories) into this small, very readable little book.