KONA COFFEE LIVING HISTORY FARM

A must-see. Interesting and original, this museum recreates, in a lively and animated way, the history of the pioneers of Kona coffee, from 1920 to 1945. The farm where it is located was run by the Uchida family, Japanese immigrants. The staff in period clothing move around the farm as the Uchidas did in their daily lives, and you can ask them at any time to explain what you are seeing. Thanks to this playful presentation, the past becomes much more profound and one can easily assimilate much more knowledge than in a traditional museum! For example, you can enter the Uchida's kitchen where the mother of the family prepares musubi (rice balls), which you can taste, or observe a Japanese employee picking the fruits of coffee trees. We also see the whole process of coffee making at that time: from the "kuriba" (mill that removes the skins of the coffee fruit to keep only the beans) to the "hoshidana" (sheet metal platform to dry the beans). This allows us to understand the history of the Kona region, which is still populated by coffee farms today. The Historical Society, the foundation that manages the farm, offers every Thursday from 10am to 12pm a bread making workshop in a traditional Portuguese oven. Participants can then pick up their freshly baked bread at 1:30 pm. The workshop is free but donations are of course welcome.