Our Client Phil Hodson & Ulu Kona Coffee

We are constantly blown away by our clients in and outside of the gym! We reached out to our client Phil Hodson and asked him about his family coffee farm in Holualoa, Hawaii. This is Ulu’s story:

“Our 5 1/2 acre estate orchard is positioned on the Keopu Mauka area in Holualoa on Hawaii’s Big Island. This is Kona Coffee Country. When Carol Hodson purchased the land in the 1980s, it was untouched pasture and mango groves. Carol’s husband Hal first planted the diverse landscaping, ornamental flowers, and macadamia nut trees.

It was years later when Carol’s son Phil noticed a new tree growing on the volcanic wall forming green and red cherries — coffee trees! These first trees had been seeded not by the Hodsons but by friendly fauna. 

Spontaneous growth in ideal conditions: ULU in action. Phil has now realized the dream of the farm by planting the two acres of pasture with coffee trees.

Our first batch of coffee was actually roasted in the oven on the farm by Phil & 3rd generation Jack Hodson. Today, Ulu is roasted in Chicago in small batches. Our goal is to bring to Chicago the freshest 100% Kona Coffee we can. While we ship all over the country, Chicago is our epicenter and our main market. We champion the Specialty Coffee culture in this city and take pride in sharing our beans with the community.”

(Taken from Ulucoffee.com)

Phil is separating Kona beans in the drying shack on his micro lot in Holualoa, Hawaii. What looks like a Reiki session is Phil wrapping up the drying process of coffee parchment at an elevation of 1800 ft! This step happens after harvesting, pulping, and washing the coffee cherries all on his small farm.

Kona has a pristine climate for growing coffee. Honestly, that’s probably an understatement. But, the temperament of Kona typica variety requires consistent moisture control, which Phil and the team tend to carefully by hand.

When the beans are dry, they bag it and take it down the road to Jason, the parchment miller to hull. He removes the papery husks that layer the beans—then turns it into nutrient-rich compost for the soils!

So really, this photo shows the last hoorah for the bean's lifecycle on the small farm. After it's milled and sorted, Phil sends it directly to Chicago for fresh, small-batch roasting. The entire process is nothing short of wholesome.

If you have any other questions about this process please don’t be shy to reach out. And if you haven’t already, be sure to check the new website. They’ve started doing Kona coffee subscriptions!