WAILUA HOMESTEADS — Tobacco. Citrus. Earth. Rarely are these among the flavors associated with chocolate — unless, perhaps, you’ve taken a chocolate-tasting tour at Steelgrass Chocolate Farm in Olohena. WAILUA HOMESTEADS — Tobacco. Citrus. Earth. Rarely are these among the
WAILUA HOMESTEADS — Tobacco. Citrus. Earth.
Rarely are these among the flavors associated with chocolate —
unless, perhaps, you’ve taken a chocolate-tasting tour at
Steelgrass Chocolate Farm in Olohena.
WAILUA HOMESTEADS — Tobacco. Citrus. Earth.
Rarely are these among the flavors associated with chocolate — unless, perhaps, you’ve taken a chocolate-tasting tour at Steelgrass Chocolate Farm in Olohena.
Run by the Lydgate family, the agri-tour aims to bring the experience of chocolate to its visitors “from branch to bar.” Beginning with an exploration of the farm’s grounds by meandering through fruiting trees of soursop, apple banana, starfruit, lychee, vanilla orchids and other exotic, Eden-like crops, visitors also learn about native, introduced and invasive species in a non-rushed format.
And after hearing what’s required to make vanilla (including hand-pollinating the vanilla orchid), this three-hour event can inspire horticultural fantasy from even the most “black-thumb” plagued.
But those used to glutinously consuming chocolate en masse should beware — it’s a long wait until the tour’s finale: A well-earned sampling of chocolates from around the world.
And though the three-hour tour is on chocolate, visitors also will experience in-season fruits and a lesson about the Lydgate family’s vision for creating sustainable diversified agriculture on Kaua‘i.
“A lot of what we do is teach our farming techniques and talk with them about what is going on with our farm,” Will Lydgate said. “We have certainly a lot of philosophy about farming.”
True to the ideology of living the locovore lifestyle, the tour is the perfect preamble to the chocolate-tasting itself, allowing those visiting a chance to meditate with their palate a bit, as well as restore some clarity to their taste buds while taking a stab at identifying any of the 500 notes said to be found in cacao.
“The whole locovore thing is really moving forward,” Lydgate said. “We’re starting to see Hawai‘i beef more — we already had Kunana goat cheese and Shagnasty honey — people want things that are real and fresh.”
Real and fresh are what those who visit Steelgrass Farm will get, indeed, as well as the chance to compare high-end chocolate to chocolate that is mass-produced.
Following a fruiting-tree tour, guides invite visitors to engage all senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, before jotting down some details of the experience. A piece of paper is given to visitors with several suggestions of what they may have tasted, including “dried herbs,” “grass,” “baking bread” and “caramel,” along with words to describe said flavors, such as “pungent,” “roasted,” “nutlike” and “tart.”
Whether visitors are passionate about chocolate or sustainability, it definitely is a learning experience on both subjects.
Tony Lydgate, (who says answering “why sustainability is important” is impossible in 20,000 words or less) said the aim of Steelgrass Farm, which he dubbed a “teaching farm,” is education.
“With only a couple of acres of flat, arable land, our farm is not able to produce commercial quantities of ag products,” he said.
“So instead our focus is on educating the public — Kaua‘i and Hawaii residents as well as island visitors — about the importance of sustainable diversified agriculture for Kaua‘i’s future.”
Tony Lydgate added that they also share with agritourism visitors their knowledge about vanilla beans, timber bamboo, palm-blossom honey, vegetables and tropical fruits in addition to cacao.
As the island’s leading supplier of cacao-tree seedlings, Tony Lydgate said Steelgrass has provided more than 2,000 seedlings to neighbor farms over the past couple of years.
“Once there are enough mature cacao trees on Kaua‘i, we will form the Kaua‘i cacao co-op and begin producing the island’s first genuine, homegrown, Kaua‘i chocolate,” he said.
Until that happens, the Lydgate-run operation is keeping the goal of sustainability thriving with programs such as the Kaua‘i Agricultural Initiative, which sponsors the Annual Garden Island Range and Food Festival (which was celebrated last week at Kilohana).
Those interested in learning more can go to www.steelgrass.org.
To find out more about Steelgrass Farm and tour times go to:www.steelgrass.org
