It’s notoriously windy in North Kohala. Trade winds reliably blast Hawai‘i Island’s northern coast and the smoothed hump of its oldest volcano. It’s morning as I step out of an air-conditioned tour vehicle onto the dusty landscape. Tucked behind a row of windmills, on a 40-acre plot, leafy stems tower above me, shaking in the wind. […]
I’m far away from the urban stretches of Waikiki, surrounded by green fields as far as the eye can see in Kunia Camp, the last intact pineapple plantation housing community under one ownership on Oahu. With each passing breeze, tall stalks of sugar cane rustle, the only noise save for the rush of the occasional
“There’s so much you can do with sugarcane,” says Kevin Nguyen, owner and operator of Ko Kane Sugarcane Juice Bar. Located across the street from Ala Moana Center, this watering hole-in-the-wall mixes local Hawaii fruits and produce with real sugarcane stock—sugarcane was once Hawaii’s largest and most influential crop—to craft colorful and creative drinks that
