The West Maui Coffee Tour

This is it. We’re starting the West Maui Coffee Tours. It’s a gorgeous tour that starts from the moment we pick you up and take you on a scenic drive along Maui’s rugged coastline to Lahaina in our beautiful eight passenger air-conditioned van with huge picture windows. You’ll love the drive along the blue, blue sea. Lahaina is minutes away from agricultural beauty.
Once everyone is on board, our first stop is up to Launiupoko to visit Greg and Susy Stille at Piliani Kope Coffee Farm.

Launiupoko Mauka

Greg and Susy were originally in the grocery business in Northern California and visited Maui for twenty two years. They fell in love with Maui, but didn’t know what they would do over here when they retired.
We recently brought our cruise ship passengers to Piliani Kope Farm and Susy told us the story so well. Greg was on the mainland picking up the new Italian coffee roasting machine. She gave a wonderful history of their farm. Her enthusiasm was so contagious and the gorgeous barn they have created is a work of art. Our guests loved the entire tour and wondered how anyone could possibly stay back on the ship. If you’re in the islands you don’t want to miss out experiencing all the beauty Hawaii has to offer.

I love how the doors roll up on both sides to reveal ocean and mountain views. Susy showed us the coffee trees and how they cropped them for easy picking. She explains the difference between normal pulped coffee and coffee which has been left to ripen on the tree which is called “natural” and back at the barn she shows us how beans are washed and pulped in the pulping machine. Every bit of the pulp from the coffee cherry is saved to go back into the compost. Some companies are using the fruit to create super food drinks.

A wall of French windows lights up the beautiful coffee tasting bar and the whole barn comes to life. There’s coffee art on the big walls and the unique coffee processing machines are a work of art too.

We start with an introduction to the farm where we taste delicious fresh roasted Piliani Kope coffee overlooking beautiful West Maui at 600 ft. above the sea. I brought apple-banana bread that everyone loved with their fresh black coffee.

Then it’s into the coffee trees to learn about growing coffee beans, harvesting and the art of processing coffee, from picking, drying, pulping to roasting and tasting the fresh roasted coffee. Imagine smelling the roasting beans. Guests can shop for t-shirts, coffee, and art-work in the barn while we prepare for our picnic lunch.

We have a wonderful picnic lunch with sandwiches provided by Whole Foods Kahului chosen at time of booking. (Choices are: Turkey-Bacon-Avocado-Spinach-Aioli, Italian Sub, or Veggie) and Fresh island fruits overlooking the magnificent view.

Piliani Kope Farm

We leave beautiful Piliani Kope to explore the Ka`anapali  Estate Coffee trees where four varieties of coffee trees are grown on approximately 300 acres. The history is that the Pioneer Mill which originally grew Sugar cane since 1860 phased into growing coffee in 1988. They had planted about 500 acres. The plan was to replace sugar dollar for dollar but it soon became apparent that this wasn’t possible because of the high costs of infrastructure, so in 2001 Ka`anapali Estate Coffee closed. They chose to keep the trees alive with continued irrigation. Currently there are coffee estates for sale where people can build their homes.
See http://mauigrowncoffee.com  James (Kimo) Falconer who was originally a farmer  with Ka`anapali Estate Coffee was given a lease in 2003 to 125 acres of the original 500 acre farm. As MauiGrown Coffee he resurrected the Ka`anapali Estate Coffee trees. His first harvest was in 2004.
You’ll learn all about them. (Mokka, Red Catuai, Typica and Yellow Caturra) There’s so much to learn about coffee. The coffee is sold worldwide and the rare Mokka has given Maui Coffee notoriety, just as Kona Coffee has for the Big Island of Hawaii.

We continue on a scenic tour of the beautiful Kapalua coastline. We feel like we can almost touch Molokai across the channel.
We stop at The Maui Grown Coffee Company Store to shop for gifts before departing through quaint Lahaina Town. Coffee can be shipped directly from the store. Jeff Ferguson manages the store.
If you are truly interested in the land and origins of Maui coffee and would love a hands on experience on the land you will love this adventure.  The entire journey is photographed and you’ll receive a digital postcard of your gorgeous Maui Coffee Farm Tour.
Then it’s back to the Harbor at 2PM and Kahului by 3PM. Tour 6 hours (Maximum 7 passengers)
Cost of Tour: $150.00

Call 808 283-9131 to book your tour. Please click the TOURS tab at the top to learn about all our tours.

~ Marilyn