Hawaiian Craft Chocolate Tasting and Farm Tour Experience
Availability: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Time: 10:00am (checkin 9:45am)
Duration: 3-3.5 Hours
Honolii Orchards is a 33-acre, multigenerational, family-owned farm located on the lush slopes of Maunakea, just five minutes from downtown Hilo.
Our farm tour begins with a convenient pick-up at the bottom of Puia Road, where you’ll hop into our tour van. Upon arrival, we’ll welcome you to our brand-new Honolii Orchards Tasting Room, perched above the treetops with sweeping views of the Honolii River Valley and the Pacific Ocean. Here, we’ll introduce you to the history of agriculture on our farm and the Hamakua Coast, from the Hawaiian Kingdom era to the height of the sugarcane industry in the 20th century. We’ll “talk-story” (a local term for casual conversation) and get to know each other before heading out to the orchards, where you’ll witness the art of cacao farming and the intricate process of fermentation.
After exploring the orchards, we’ll return to the tasting room for a journey through the history of chocolate, from its ancient origins in Mesoamerica to today’s booming craft chocolate movement. For over 6,000 years, chocolate has captivated civilizations, and its story is as rich and complex as its flavor.
Next, we’ll indulge in a tasting of up to 10 craft chocolate bars, sourced from cacao farms across the Hawaiian Islands. You’ll discover the remarkable diversity of flavors that single-origin craft chocolate offers. Like wine, craft chocolate showcases how genetics, location, and climate converge to create distinctive flavors. Throughout the tasting, we’ll also share seasonal treats from the farm-such as lychee, sugarcane, rambutan, mangosteen, apple bananas, and ice cream beans.
In the cacao industry, Hawaii is often described as the world’s Napa Valley for chocolate, and at Honolii Orchards, you’ll become part of this exciting new frontier in craft chocolate. By the end of the tour, you’ll leave not only with a deeper appreciation for the art of cacao cultivation but also the ability to share your newfound chocolate expertise with friends and family.
Before heading back down the mountain, you’ll have the opportunity to sample fresh cacao juice, roasted cacao beans, cacao tea, and purchase any of the bars sampled during the tasting. We promise you’ll leave with unforgettable memories and a new perspective on the world of chocolate.
Highlights
Honolii Orchards offers an intimate experience where guests have ample time to take photos, explore the farm, relax in the tasting room, and make purchases without feeling rushed.
We also serve as a genetic bank, housing cacao varieties that are not commonly found. This allows guests to explore both the flavors that captivated ancient Mesoamericans and the new flavors from modern genetic varieties that drive the contemporary craft chocolate movement.
Driven by rigorous science, we are not just a commercial farm and tour operation but also a public research enterprise. Currently, we are participating in four active research projects and are specially equipped to support ongoing research as our orchards mature. All research published using data from our farm will be publicly available, benefiting farmers worldwide.
Inclusions:
- Guided 10-bar chocolate-tasting
- Unlimited chocolate samples
- Guided farm tour
- Seasonal fruit from the farm
- History of Hawaiian agriculture discussion
- History of chocolate lesson
- Cacao juice
- Cacao tea
- Water
- Umbrellas
- Bug spray
- Sunscreen
Exclusions:
- Rain Jackets
- Gratuities
Participant Restrictions:
Age: 9+
Allergies: Please let us know of any allergies
Physical Restrictions: Guests must be able to walk up the ramp to our tasting room. Guests who are unable to walk around our farm, during the 1.5 hour farm tour portion of the experience, are invited to lounge in our tasting room during that time.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:
- We will be walking around a working commercial farm. Please be aware that clothes or shoes may get dirty.
- Please also be aware that we run our tours rain or shine, so be prepared with appropriate rain attire. We have umbrellas available.
- Closed-toed shoes, hats, and rain jackets are all recommended but not required.
