Buddha's Cup Kona Coffee and Tea Farm

Cha-Cha the talking bird lives on the property. So do Bonnie the goat, Emma the puppy, and a wandering menagerie of peacocks, goats, dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys, and parrots. Buddha's Cup is a working family-owned Kona coffee farm and roastery in Holualoa, up a winding mountain road, run by Christine with Manny and Kay also part of the daily operation.

The coffee is 100% Kona, no blends, no imports cut in. The Deluxe coffee tasting is the structured way to walk through the lineup. Manny's Brew gets its own naming for a reason, and the Imagine roast is the lighter counterpoint. Chocolate peaberries and macadamia nuts stock the shelves of the gift shop along with chocolate-covered coffee beans, and fresh fruit grown on the property turns up in season. The ATV and Polaris farm tours run alongside the tasting tour and are the reason families with non-coffee kids end up here.

The setting is cloud-forest tranquil, fragrant, slow-paced. Family energy and aloha spirit on the ground are not marketing language here, they describe what the place feels like when Cha-Cha is squawking from one perch and a goat is wandering past the tasting bar. Macadamia trees, tropical fruit growing wild, and the animals doing their own thing make the property feel less like a tour stop and more like someone's working farm that lets you visit.

Reservations are recommended, and worth making in advance during high season. The mountain road is a real drive, which is worth planning around for anyone renting a car for the day, especially in rain. Big Island tourists, families with kids, coffee lovers serious about Kona, and non-coffee drinkers tagging along all find something here, partly because Cha-Cha and Bonnie and Emma do half the entertaining and Christine handles the rest.