Aloha! I’m a California-born Hawaiian living in the great state of Texas over 14 years now. Above all I’m a husband and father of two. My hobbies include coaching little league, line-judging volleyball, cooking, and interesting porch conversations with close friends over craft coffee and sometimes craft bourbon.
Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way because it ALWAYS comes up – since moving to Texas, these questions are often asked when people see my last name. One, are you Hawaiian, and two, Why did you leave Hawaii?
You already read that I am indeed Hawaiian, but from California. My grandparents moved to Southern California when my dad was 10 years old. I did spend my teenage years surfing, but on the California coast, not Hawaii. The next question I usually get is, then why did you leave California? It’s the typical cliche; I met a girl. A Texas girl to be exact. For all of you who have met Texas girls, you shouldn’t need more explanation.
Do I miss living near the ocean? Of course. Do I regret moving here? Not a chance. We have a great quality of life I don’t think we would have been able to provide to our kids in California.
Co-founder, Operations
I was raised in a suburb of Houston before moving to California for photography school. My training is in food and product photography but these days, having the time freedom to participate and volunteer at my kids’ school, take them to practice and attend their games is my number one priority. Crafting and volunteering are my favorite hobbies. Quality time with my girlfriends while not having to wear my “mom hat” is also really important to me. I’m not the coffee snob my husband is, but coffee is crucial for my ability to function. It’s also a great excuse to have community with my favorite people.
ABOUT OUR COFFEE CONCEPT
So why coffee?
I mean, there’s a certain massive coffee company on nearly every corner in every city of the world (you know who I’m talking about), not to forget the countless donut shops and gas stations. Coffee is pretty well covered, right? True, you can grab a “cup-a-joe” anywhere. But can you get a cup of craft coffee anywhere? What’s even harder to find is Kona coffee from the beautiful state of Hawaii. However, our main reason for starting Ohana Coffee co. is because we're simply passionate about great coffee and have a desire to provide a better coffee experience, as well as educate coffee lovers about the growing craft coffee movement.
What sets us apart is our focus on providing a fun and educational pour over coffee experience. Let's face it, everyone serves espresso drinks, there's nothing special about that anymore. Along with our pour over coffee, home-made syrups and sweetened milks designed to pair with and enhance the wonderful flavors of our coffee, we provide a unique experience for your event you can't find anywhere else. And of course we can't serve you coffee without also sharing a bit of Aloha Spirit and making you part of our Ohana.
We want to be part of the growing movement of coffee lovers who desire to change the perception that coffee tastes bad, but because we love the caffeine, we’ll just cover up the bad taste with cream and sugar. When in fact, the opposite is true. Coffee can truly taste amazing without any additives and we're proud to be a part of the “Third Wave”, educating consumers about how the quality of beans, the roasting process and the brewing process all contribute to a better tasting cup.
You may be thinking; ok, I get the coffee passion, but why catering and not a coffee shop? In all honesty, COVID19 changed our plans. When we first started planning at the end of 2019, we were going to go the traditional route of finding investors/loans to open a coffee shop. But after witnessing so many friends in the restaurant industry having to make the difficult decisions to furlough staff, and seeing so many small business owners having no choice but to close their doors, we decided we don’t want to ever be put in that situation. We believe that starting small and self-funding along with multiple streams of income would be the best way to weather any negative health-related or economic event. Catering is also a great way to grow awareness for our unique brand; Serving Craft Coffee with Aloha Spirit while introducing Kona coffee to the DFW coffee-loving community.
What’s the deal with Kona coffee?
Our desire is to introduce Kona coffee from our beloved Hawaii to North Texans. Due to the fact that most coffee growing regions around the world operate on farms from a couple hundred-thousand acres to millions of hectares, and the coffee growing region in Kona is only 2,000 acres, Kona coffee is quite rare and exclusive. Kona coffee is known for its rich, bold flavor and low acidity which produces a very smooth, flavorful cup of coffee. Its quality is sometimes debated by coffee aficionados who generally equate it to Cuban ci**rs (people want it because it’s hard to get). But we love the flavor of Kona coffee as much as any other region around the world who produces excellent coffee beans. That exploration of coffee and the unique flavors created by different microclimates around the world is what we love about coffee. It’s a new adventure in every cup!
So start a new adventure would you? And invite us to make your next event a memorable one.
PAYING IT FORWARD
We believe such a basic necessity like food should be available to everyone on the planet. We have been supporting a number of organizations as a family for years, so it's a no-brainer that our family business also donates a portion of every dollar we earn to help end hunger here in our community and around the world.
