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Showing posts with label coffee bean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coffee bean. Show all posts

Oh, the People You'll Meet!

   In my life, I've met people. Some I never think about again. Some, I wonder what happened to them. Some, I wonder if they ever think about me. And then there are some I wish I never had to think about again.

   But I do.

     I have always thought of a coffee shop as a church-- of sorts. A place for fellowship. A community of individuals brought together in a place of worship(for me, anyways)  A place where wit & wisdom flow. Where we talk story. We discuss finance, state affairs, common gossip, and a bit of low brow comedy. I have met magnificent people and made personal connections that will last a lifetime. Ordinary encounters made extraordinary. 

   Coffee is the tie that binds us...at least in my life.

   Coffee--brewed. Hearts--warmed. My job here is done. :)



Popped our coffee cherry...we did.


On a hike to Maunawili Falls on the windward side of O'ahu, we came to an old coffee grove...the trees were thin under the dense canopy but easy to identify by their shiny waxy leaves. We found some had green cherries attached to their scrawny branches. 


 We searched for a while trying to find one with a ripe red cherry. How our behavior must have looked to passerby's makes me laugh now. Probably as bizarre as I look when I play in the snow.


Spotted bits of red in the lush green landscape...where the canopy allowed more sunlight to pass though. Wild coffee, long since abandoned...unkempt yet beautiful.



We snapped a few pictures...popped a few in our mouth and headed up the mountain with renewed vigor. 

Rise like the Phoenix from the ashes...

The Birth(or Rebirth) of Pono Roasters



We chose the Phoenix to represent our coffee roasting business' rebirth. The Phoenix's ability to be reborn from its own ashes seemed very àpropos. Our path, fraught with obstacles yet we emerged from the cinders stronger.


"It's best to have failure happen early in life, It wakes up the Phoenix bird in you so you rise from the ashes." - Anne Baxter
"Success wouldn't taste so good, without failure as an appetizer."  -from a fortune cookie

Are You a Coffee Bean?

Are You a Coffee Bean?

   A daughter complained to her father about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of all the fighting and struggling. It seemed as though in solving one problem, two more would arise.
   Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the second he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil without saying a word. The daughter impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing. In about twenty minutes, he turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He turned off the burners. He fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and poured it in a cup.
   Turning to her, he asked. "Darling, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee.
   She smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. She humbly asked,"What does it mean Father?" He explained that each of them had faced the same adversity, boiling water, but each reacted differently. The carrots went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after being subjected to the boiling water , they softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. it's thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But after sitting though the boiling water, the insides became hardened. however, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
   "Which are you?" he asked his daughter.

   When problems knock on your door, how do you respond?

   Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

Severe caffeine crash...I actually miss work for the unlimited coffee supply.