Kauaʻi Coffee Company

Kauaʻi Coffee Company is a working coffee estate on Kauaʻi's south shore, near Kalaheo, on land that used to be a sugar plantation. It bills itself as the largest coffee estate in the US. It's a big operation and not a small craft roaster, but it's a great place to see how coffee gets from the tree to the cup.

Start at the visitor center. You can taste a rotating lineup of their coffees there, and the staff are happy to talk roasts and brewing. The estate grows Arabica varieties like Typica and Red Catuai, and it grows, processes and roasts everything on-site. You can often watch the roasting through the viewing windows. Beyond the regular medium and dark roasts there are flavored coffees like Coconut Caramel Crunch, plus chocolate-covered coffee beans.

There are two ways to see the grounds. The free self-guided walk takes about 20 minutes and has signs explaining how coffee is grown and processed. The guided tour goes deeper, and people say the guides are good at mixing the technical side with local history.

There's no indoor seating. You sit at picnic tables on the patio, looking out over the coffee fields and the ocean.

The gift shop sells bags of coffee, so you can taste first and then buy what you liked. They ship too, and shipping is free on orders over $100.