HAWAII—The Hawaii Coffee Association (HCA) Webinar Series is provided June 24-25 as a free resource for its association members and broader community. Each session is designed to provide important updates on the effects of the pandemic on the Hawaii coffee industry and on the coffee industry at large. In addition, the series addresses other useful topics to inform coffee professionals of changing trends and regulations.

The speaker lineup of educational presentations and topics is as follows:

Wednesday, June 24

8-8:30              Message from Hawaii Coffee Association President Chris Manfredi
9:30-11            The Impact of Time, Temperature, and Extraction on the Sensory Quality of Drip Brew Coffee/Mackenzie Batali of UC Davis Coffee Center
11:30-1            Coffee Scoring Systems Panel/Kim Westerman of Coffee Review, Shawn Steiman of Coffee Consulting, Brittany Horn and Madeleine Longoria Garcia of Pacific Coffee Research
2-2:30              2019-2020 College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Research and Extension Update/Andrea Kawabata and Shannon Sand
2:30-3              Synergistic Hawaii Agriculture Council Update/Suzanne Shriner

Thursday, June 25

9:30-11            Hawaii in Global Market/Joan Obra of Rusty’s Hawaiian, Marcus Young of Boot Coffee
12-1                 Specialty Coffee Association US Chapter Update/ Madeleine Longoria Garcia, Marcus Boni and Nathanael May
2-2:30              Hawaii Department of Agriculture Update/Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, Chairperson
2:30-3              USDA Rural Development Programs/Brenda Iokepa-Moses

Webinar registration and more information including speaker bios is available at the end of this press release and on the website https://hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/page-1771697.

The Hawaii Coffee Association’s mission is to represent all sectors of the Hawaii coffee industry, including growers, millers, wholesalers, roasters and retailers. The HCA’s primary objective is to increase awareness and consumption of Hawaiian coffees.  A major component of HCA’s work is the continuing education of members and consumers. Learn more about the HCA through our website http://www.hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/.

Following is a brief introduction of three of the webinar’s prominent speakers. To see bios of all speakers please follow this link https://hawaiicoffeeassoc.org/page-1771697.

A person taking a selfie Description automatically generated

Kim Westerman
Managing Editor of Coffee Review
Senior Contributor of Forbes

Kim Westerman is a certified sommelier, a licensed Q-grader, and an olive oil taster-in-training. She’s also beginning a systematic study of tea in her new role as managing editor of STiR magazine. She has worked with Coffee Review for five years, where she cups coffee daily and evaluates samples on the 100-point scale pioneered by this publication in 1997. She lives in Berkeley, California, and travels far and wide in search of peak sensory experiences.

A person standing in front of a window Description automatically generated

Brenda Iokepa-Moses
State Director
USDA Rural Development
Hawaii and Western Pacific

Brenda Iokepa-Moses uses her leadership experience to oversee Rural Development programs in a customer-focused manner to restore prosperity in rural Hawaii, American Samoa and the Western Pacific. Since 2013, Iokepa-Moses served as president of the Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts. She also served as chairperson on the Ka`u Soil and Water Conservation Board and was past president of Ka`u Farm Bureau.

A person smiling for the camera Description automatically generated

Joan Obra
Co-Owner of Rusty’s Hawaiian

Joan Obra is a Hawaii agriculturalist whose work stretches throughout the state. As a grant writer, she has helped multiple ag industries raise almost $800,000 to support exports, train coffee farmers in quality processing, and improve soil health on coffee farms. Obra aims to benefit farming families because she’s part of one: She is a co-owner of Rusty’s Hawaiian, the award-winning Ka’u coffee farm, mill and roastery. In 2019, Hawaii Business Magazine named Joan a “20 for the Next 20” leader, citing her rare ability to work at the big-picture level and tie it back to the reality of small farms.