Hawaiian Fresh Roast Coffee — Restaurant in Honolulu

It’s hard to explain the superior taste and quality of this coffee, so I'll spare a pretentious attempt at a coffee sommelier's description. As you walk up the first thing you will notice is the equipment they use– I've never seen anything like it. It looks like a laboratory if it were designed by a Japanese Williams-Sonoma and used by Mad Max’s Immortan Joe. Coming inside, the employee greeted me with a smile– a rare quality these days. I asked him what all the equipment was and he very happily gave me a quick breakdown of it all. I asked him what he would recommend, what their flagship coffee was. He quickly responded the Japanese Siphon, and I selected the Kona coffee extra fancy. As he was about to brew it, the owner Fred Hernandez walked in and, not missing a beat, took over the order and personally made it. I've never met anyone so passionate about coffee, this was truly his craft. As he prepared to make it I asked him if he wouldn't mind walking me through the process, he very happily did. He explained to me how the coffee is roasted on-site in a Japanese coffee air roaster, and it looked incredible, he said the roaster is the only one of its kind in the United States. As he prepared the Siphon Coffee he walked me through how it worked and why it was designed in such a manner. Apparently unlike conventional drip coffee, this process uses steam that is drawn up into the freshly-ground coffee. Honestly, you just have to see it for yourself–it's worth the trip. As he served the cup we chatted about the nuances of processing coffee and the importance of superior quality beans and equipment. Fred truly is just an extremely knowledgeable and passionate man. As the cup cools, it actually brings out more flavor and notes of natural sugars in the beans as well. I don't claim to know much about flavor notes or sugars, but I didn't need to–this coffee is so smooth, so flavorful, and almost creamy that it speaks for itself. I don’t know if it was because I had just left the gym, or that it was a byproduct of the coffee, but for the first 15 min I was very relaxed and mellow. After this period I experienced a caffeine high like I've never felt before. I was just ON, mentally quick and sharp. It was unlike any other coffee I've ever had, I had zero jitters and wasn’t overly stimulated. It was just a clean boost that came on gradually and lasted a good while. Afterwards, I didn't feel any crash from it either. I can't recommend this coffee enough. Take the trip and try this Japanese Siphon coffee, you will not be...

Let me preface this review by saying that I come here pretty often because I like their coffee. It tastes fresh with a good balance of bitter and smooth, with a nice roasted flavor overlay. The employees here are pretty friendly and they usually take my order pretty promptly, with some delay depending on how busy they are. I also tried the matcha latte once, but that one was just so-so.

The real problem is perhaps too much aloha spirit, or too little, depending on how you view the issue:

On my most recent visit, there were a few people waiting for their drinks on the side, but I was the only person in line. There were two people working. One of them was pretty busy making drinks, but the other one was talking with a few customers who had already ordered. He looked over at me so he knew I was there, but then went back to talking with these customers. No big deal, right? Wrong. I waited 6-7 minutes for him to finish his conversation so that I could order. Conservatively 6-7 minutes. He could've taken my order, and helped his friend finish making all of the drinks with time to spare in that 6-7 minutes, but he just kept talking story. Left a slightly more bitter taste in my mouth than usual.

A few other things that bothered me this particular visit include that the diligent worker was wearing a mask, but the chatty one had no mask to be seen. He was the one taking orders too. They try to work as quickly as possible (when they're actually preparing drinks), but it gave me some pause as well when I saw them picking up cups and grasping them by two fingers, one inside the cup and one outside. Doesn't seem very hygienic. Finally, their new straws are terrible (last time I came, they were different). They look like candy canes and are essentially 2 strips of paper raveled together. My straw unraveled after about 2 minutes. I have no problems with paper straws at other businesses, so the quality of these straws makes me think that it's less about being eco-friendly and more about cost-cutting.

Overall, I think I'll have to take a break from this place and get my fix from somewhere else...

Great authentic coffee shop for purists. The owner, Fred, is a true coffee aficionado. If you love fresh-roasted coffee, made to order, to your roasting preference, then this is for you. If you want over-roasted, burnt charcoal-like coffee, or surgery "unicorn flavored" junk, head to Starbucks.

The shop has a unique, made-in-Japan air roaster, one of only two in the entire US. It was a joy to discover the shop, and even more of a joy to "talk coffee" with Fred.

Also, there is plenty of parking outside the cannery, and a large, peaceful food court in which the coffee shop is located.

Support your local businesses, and stop sending your money to corporate mainland behemoths...