Okinawa-grown Coffee at Hiro Coffee Farm

After getting off the highway keep going north for about an hour. Located in Takae in Higashi-Village, Hiro Coffee Farm opened 20 years ago.
Tomoko Adachi took over for her father three and a half years ago.
 
There is hardly any houses around.
It is about a two hours drive from Naha.
When we finally arrive at Hiro Coffee Farm, we discovered under a great blue sky a colorful cottage surrounded by nothing but lush greenery.

Are we in one of those Brazilian coffee farms we see in the magazines? Is this Hawaiian countryside?
The atmosphere here is so exotic that it makes you wonder.
The energy of nature is everywhere and takes your stress away.
 

Actually, the coffee trees grown on the farm were almost completely destroyed by typhoon last year. After 7 month of recuperation, Tomoko Adachi along with Keirei Kobayashi (Nori), who settled here to reopen, finally reopened as a cafe in April this year with the help of friends.

Even though it has reopened, there are still about 3,300m² of field that haven’t been taken care of yet.
Out of the 200 trees located on the 650m² field in back of the shop, around 50 were only lightly damaged and are now receiving treatment.

Terrace seats were blown away right before reopening so Nori has rebuilt them by hand from scrap wood.
Currently, they import the same variety of coffee that they grow on the farm from Brazil to create their own. They slowly, gently roast it here before they offer it to the customer.

We are told that it will take at least 2 or 3 years before coffee beans can be harvested again on the farm.

 “I promised my dad I was going to follow in his footsteps. I think this incident was his way to tell me to start all over again.”
This is why the coffee, as well the coffee puddings made with eggs from the farm, are the exact same price they were 20 years ago when the farm opened.

I had the chance to see the only bud that came out this year in the field in the back of the shop.
“It will blossom on the day of the next full moon” Nori said with a smile.
This is definitely  an important step for the new Hiro Coffee Farm.

Right now, Nori is in charge of roasting while Tomoko is drinking a freshly made coffee, dreaming of the day she will be able to drink Okinawa grown coffee again.

85-25 Takae, Higashi-son、Kunigami-gun
Phone Number: 0980-43-2126
Operating Hours: 11:00am-6:00pm
Closed: TUE, WED

Okinawa CLIP Photo Writer Masayuki Sesoko