Another interesting point is that you can find unique Oahu-made souvenirs that you can never find in the city or at the airport.
This time, the reporter visited 21 Degrees Estate Farm, a cacao farm located in a mountain village in the eastern part of Oahu. Located about 30 km northeast of Waikiki on the free H1 freeway, the farm is a complete change of scenery from the bustling Kalakaua Avenue and offers a taste of “hyper-local” Hawaii in its rich wilderness. The scenery is a far cry from the bustling Kalakaua Avenue.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority, Japan Branch (HTJ) held the “Japan Summit 2024” to promote a full-fledged revival of travel to Hawaii. As a part of the program, I participated in an inspection tour of the deepest spots on the island of Oahu, a major tourist destination.
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What is the best time to travel to Hawaii? According to Kei Segawa of ZEST HAWAII, a local coordinator, “cloudless days” are rare in Hawaii. This keeps the temperature cool, and of course, during the sunny days, you can see rainbows, enjoy the contrast of blue sky, green mountains, and blue beaches, and experience the summer-like feeling of sunshine.
Even within the same island of Oahu, the weather is completely different from north to east and south to west, and it is not uncommon to encounter sudden downpours, especially on the mountain side, so be careful about exposing your precious camera and favorite leather bags and accessories.
In Hawaii, rain-like “showers” often fall on the streets because the moist air from the ocean is carried by the trade winds and hits the high mountains in the center of the island, creating rain clouds. In the northern hemisphere, the trade winds blow from northeast to west toward the equator, so the east side of the island where the cacao plantation we visited this time is a good place for rain. When the winds are strong, the rain from the mountains blows toward Waikiki, so it is often sunny but with showers.
In midwinter, the temperature is cool at around 22-23℃, and even in the rainy season, there is little precipitation, so it is not inconvenient for travelers. Even in mid-summer, the temperature does not exceed 30℃. During the dry season, the wind is strong and the humidity does not rise, so you can enjoy a cool and refreshing summer.
Before going into the report, let’s review the weather in Hawaii. Hawaii has two main seasons: the dry summer season (May-October) and the rainy winter season (November-April), and the months of April and October, which are the border between the two seasons, are more comfortable, similar to spring and autumn in Japan.
Visit the “Napa Valley of Chocolate” in a mountain village in Hawaii. Enjoy seeing, eating, and buying rare Oahu cacao beans!
Now, less than an hour on the freeway from downtown Waikiki, we came to a cacao farm, 21 Degrees Estate Farm (47-546 D, Mapele Pl, Kaneohe, HI).
This is an area called Kahaluu in the Koolau Poko district of eastern Oahu, in a rain forest that receives a substantial 100 inches (2540 mm) of precipitation per year.
Approximately 700 cacao trees are cultivated on 10 acres of land (about 1.15 times the size of the Tokyo Dome), and cacao fruit is harvested daily. The farm also grows other fruits and bees, and is a remarkable agricultural spot where visitors can enjoy tasting the fruits during guided tours where they can learn about agriculture and the natural environment while strolling through the fields.
Surprisingly, the history of chocolate in Hawaii is still young, with cacao cultivation beginning only 25 years ago (Guatemala, on the other hand, is famous for its 4,000-year history!) ). ) Hawaii is also the only place in the United States where cacao is grown and chocolate is produced. Today, macadamia nut chocolate and other types of chocolate are popular, but the chocolate industry is still junior.
The cacao planted 25 years ago has finally grown, and even so, it is so rare and valuable that only 0.001% of the world’s cacao production is harvested. Despite this, Hawaiian cacao is recognized as being of such high quality and taste that 10% of all chocolate is made from Hawaiian cacao.
The fertile area, surrounded by the calm waters of Kaneohe Bay and the majestic Ko’olau Mountains, is the “Napa Valley of Chocolate” and the “breadbasket of Oahu” for the native Hawaiians. It is also known as the “Napa Valley of Chocolate.
The trade winds, which I mentioned earlier, are winds that blow across the equator at latitudes less than 30 degrees north and south (westerly winds blow from the west at latitudes between 35 and 65 degrees north and south), and they brought rain that was essential for agriculture.
Cacao grows on trees. Cacao nibs, cacao mass, cocoa butter, etc. are obtained from the cacao bean. The cacao bean is not a nut, but a fruit (cacao pod) that grows on the trunk or branches of the tree, and the cacao bean is the seed (cacao bean) encased in the white pulp inside the hard gauze.
Cacao pods are harvested at the peak of ripeness, the beans are fermented, dried in the sun, and crushed to remove the thin skin to reveal cacao nibs, the endosperm portion of the bean. Roasted cacao nibs are a natural food known in recent years as a superfood that is good for beauty and health. At this stage, they are still only bitter, but their aroma is slightly chocolate.
Roasted cacao nibs are made into a paste to become cacao mass, which is pressed to extract the fatty cocoa butter, to which cane sugar (brown sugar) is added to make it smooth and sweet. Finally, the chocolate that everyone loves is finally completed by repeatedly heating and cooling it to achieve a crisp, crackable texture, and then pouring it into molds to solidify it.
We observed the actual harvesting of cacao. According to Michael, who runs the farm with his family, the method of harvesting is also very important. “We do everything by hand, one by one, using a large cutter knife, and we must never pull on the cacao pods. The cacao pods are cut off from the root of the stem, which is quite thick and requires a lot of force.
The ripeness is not determined by softness, but by color. Cacao pods turn purple, then red, then green, and so on for 10 days to 2 weeks, until they turn yellow and orange, which is the signal that they are ready to be harvested. He always tells the 20 or so staff working on the farm to “just look at the color.
By the way, how many pieces of chocolate are made from one cacao pod that looks like a rugby ball? When you hold a harvested cacao pod, it is heavy and about the size of a man’s hand. Harvesting these pods by hand, one by one, every day, one can only imagine how hard work it is. Unlike other fruits, cacao grows year-round, and 17,000 cacao pods could be harvested in 2023.
They say that the quality of chocolate is determined by the raw material, cacao. The environment in which it grows, the timing of the harvest, and the temperature and humidity of the fermentation process. After the cacao beans are dried, they are sent to one of the three chocolate factories in Hawaii, where they are processed. There, too, the beans pass a number of rigorous tests before finally becoming the delicious chocolate you see on store shelves.
Only the best cacao is recognized as “dark chocolate,” which is made from 70% or more cacao, the king of the chocolate world. The timing of harvest and the fermentation process are important to produce the highest quality dark chocolate, and are the most sensitive points. If you miss these, the quality will drop and you will not be able to make high quality chocolate. To produce beans that can make high quality dark chocolate, this is the best goal for a farmer,” says Michael. He spoke of the importance of thorough management down to the smallest detail and his love of cacao.
Incidentally, cacao that falls below the dark standard is commercialized by adding flavors and milk, which seems to be the most popular in the market.
Finally, it was time for the much-anticipated tasting. Today’s tasting is of course the best quality chocolate made from cacao harvested here. It is the best chocolate you have ever tasted in your life,” he said, handing out cacao nibs and five kinds of chocolate.
First, the cacao nibs. It is not sweet because it is still in the pre-chocolate stage, but it has a crispy texture, a savory aroma, and a dark bitterness that seems to be good for the body, and the participants were all in agony.
Next is the 55% cacao from the famous brand “MANOA CHOCOLATE,” which supplies the beans here. It is flavored with lilikoi (passion fruit) and has a slightly fruity, easy-to-eat taste with little bitterness.
The second is the farm’s original “21 Degrees Estate” product, 70% cacao (harvested last winter). As explained in the original description, “dark chocolate without bitterness is a characteristic of beans grown in Hawaii,” the product was made with only three ingredients: cacao, cocoa butter, and sugar, yet it had a refreshing sweetness and tartness like blueberries.
The third is also 70% dark chocolate, but made from cacao harvested last fall. Compared to the previous winter product, it has a mellow, raisiny sweetness and a gorgeous flavor.
The fourth chocolate is also a 70% dark chocolate, and is a confident product that recently won a bronze award at an international chocolate fair held in Seattle. The chocolate was made by blending beans harvested in spring, fall, and winter for the first time, and “the various flavors that straddle the three seasons were combined to create a unique taste that was highly acclaimed,” according to the description. I took a bite and found it to be surprisingly simple and gentle.
The last one is dark chocolate with 80% cocoa. It was bitter, but it had a refreshing sweetness in its depth. But it has a refreshing sweetness in its depth and a taste that spreads slowly in the mouth. The aroma is just so good. It would be great to enjoy it with a cup of coffee during a break from work! Personally, this was my favorite.
All of these original products have a fruity aroma even though nothing but three ingredients (cacao, cocoa butter, and sugar) are supposedly added, and they are completed with completely different tastes depending on the time of year they were harvested. It is surprising that they are “all natural products derived from cacao.
At the shopping area in a log cabin built on the farm, you can purchase chocolates of any flavor and intensity you like in a tasting.
Price examples include the signature “70% Cacao 21 Degrees Estate Dark Seasonal Harvest Premium Chocolate Bar” for $12, and the Manoa-branded, flavored “60% Cacao Manoa (includes lil kol, banana, guava, sea salt, coffee and coconut)” for $11, Manoa Whiskey and Rum Specialty Ingredients, which includes a Western liquor, is $12; the affordable 60% Manoa Small Squares is $4; and the 100% Cacao Nibs (8-oz. bag), which allows you to taste the ingredients as they are, is $14.
The price of 1,860 yen per piece of chocolate is quite expensive, but if you are looking for a special souvenir on your trip to Hawaii, it is worth a look.
We want as many people as possible to enjoy our delicious chocolate. Still, we want to sell our original products only at the farm, because we want to “sell them right here where cacao is born. The “Cacao Farm Tour & Chocolate Tasting” experience costs $62 for adults, $40 for ages 13-18, $20 for ages 3-12, and free for ages 2 and under. The tour takes 2 to 2.5 hours, and reservations are required through the official website or tour desk.
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