When we landed on the Big Island I had done very little research into the local produce grown locally. I sat down to plan my first ride and my mind quickly turned to coffee. I immediately started researching where I might be able to find some along the way.

It didn’t take long before I found some very promising café’s serving locally grown and roasted coffee! As it turns out, Mauna Loa is home to not just one but two ingredients I love. The coffee bean and the macadamia nut!

Coffee

The first café stop I found, The Waimea Coffee Company https://www.waimeacoffeecompany.com/, can be found in Waimea. Waimea is a small town set on the side of the hills to the north of the Big Island.  The café offers a range of coffees. Some with beans from the Big Island and other roasts using beans from the usual places. They have roasts to suit a wide range of tastes. The barista’s are well trained and know how to make a proper long black, my drink of choice.

To see a video of the first ride I did on the Big Island where I first discovered the Waimea Coffee Company, check out this link: https://youtu.be/ORIGJBy922s?si=vA7Sx09pJBXgFAyI

I was over the moon when I saw the 8oz cup, the crema and the rich black coffee. I do love to have a little something sweet with my black coffee, especially when it’s a stop on a bigger bike ride.

The café sold a selection of Hiros Cookies https://www.instagram.com/hiroscookies. Hiros Cookies are baked on the other side of the Big Island in Hilo. The cookies are shortbread that come in a variety of different flavours. My favourite were the plain shortbread cookies. They have a perfect balance of sweetness with slight hint of salt combined with a crunchy yet crumbly texture. They really are some of the most delicious cookies you will find anywhere in the world!

The Waimea Coffee Company is not the only great coffee on the Island. Another great find was Hico Coffee https://hicohawaiiancoffee.com. They have a couple of shops, the one I visited was in Waikoloa Village. They have locally grown coffee, made by expert baristas. The coffee shop itself had plenty of parking, lots of seating inside and out and a great brunch menu if you wanted more than coffee and a pastry.

Bakery

As well as great coffee, Waimea is full of great foodie treats! The freshly baked bread at Sandwich Island Bread Company https://www.sandwichislebread.com/ comes in a variety of styles and flavours, including our favourite the Sourdough and is baked on site every day. Their oatmeal and raisin cookies were a treat too, with a wonderful chewy and oaty texture and just the right balance of sweetness.

Just over the road, another bakery, Patisserie Nanako https://www.instagram.com/patisserienanako/  combines Japanese and French styles in a unique and delicious way. It is the sweet options that really set this bakery apart. The attention to detail on the flavour and texture is matched by their visual aesthetic. You only have to see the patisserie options to know that they are artesian and will taste as good as they look! 

Meat

Another short walk and you find yourself at a butcher https://www.waimeabutchershop.com/  that sources it meat from the ranch on the Island, the Parkers Ranch https://www.parkerranch.com/.

As you enter the butchers you can tell by the way they present the meat and from the quality meats on display that you are somewhere that knows their meat! The shop itself feels more like an artisan coffee shop than a butchers, with art hanging on the walls, tables and chairs for  you to sit and order some food, and a selection of sweet treats to try too.

Visiting the shop is a must for any foodie in the area, better still if you can buy some of their excellent meat and cook it for yourself. We were lucky enough to have been staying at an apartment where we could. We selected some strip steaks which we barbequed at the apartment. The quality of the meat, shone through in the intensity of the flavour and the melt in the mouth texture. 

Sweet Treats

There is one last foodie treat you can find on the Big Island that you simply cannot miss if you have a sweet tooth. Hamakua Toffee Company, make a Hawaiian Macadamia Nut Butter Toffee. https://hamakuatoffeecompany.com/home-1.  It’s  a buttery, crunchy toffee, with pieces of macadamia nut through it, topped with a chocolate layer. You should be warned, it is highly addictive! One bite and you will want more! I found it while at the visitor centre on Manua Kea but having done a little research there are many places to buy it all over the island.

The produce on the Big Island made for a very enjoyable stay. We made sure to buy local produce whenever there was an option. Locally produced ingredients, are expensive, but the islanders are working to diversify and avoid having too strong a dependency on tourism, so if you visit and can afford the locally grown options I highly recommend exploring. Though expensive, the quality makes the expense worthwhile.