Cravings: The holidays are so close you can taste them

Our taste buds expect certain things of the holidays — pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, peppermint. Many island food producers are happy to oblige.

Here is a sampling of what’s already out there:

1. Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory, which makes all sorts of Chinese take-out favorites, has brought back its popular steamed manapua with pumpkin pie filling. The buns usually go pretty fast, so pre-order to be sure, or if you want them baked instead of steamed. The filling is not too sugary, more like the flavor of a sweet potato.

The taste of autumn will be available until December at the factory’s four locations for $2.35 a piece. Visit chunwahkam.com.

2. Honolulu Cookie Co.’s many shops have put out macadamia shortbread cookies in pumpkin flavor, plain and dipped in white chocolate. Buy them individually or in a 12-piece box ($13.95) in a fall floral theme (nice hostess gift). An orange fall drawstring bag ($5.95) holds five cookies.

Christmas peppermint cookies will be available soon, along with “mele” tins and other holiday packaging. For store locations: honolulucookie.com.

3. Diamond Bakery is offering pumpkin-flavored graham crackers, sold in Diamond’s familiar cardboard box in supermarkets and drug stores. Each box (about $4.50) holds nine packs of crackers, eight crackers per pack.

The light pumpkin flavor would make them a seasonally appropriate choice for your graham-cracker needs — s’mores, for example, or as a crust for your holiday cheesecakes or pies.

4. Lion Coffee has rolled out limited-edition holiday flavors — coconut-caramel, gingerbread and Frosty Vanilla — in bags with “Holiday Edition” labels. Sister brand Royal Kona is keeping pace with Kona coffee blends in pumpkin spice, Mele Kalikimocha and Coco-Nutcracker. Look for a blue holiday-themed bag.

Coffee purists might not go for these heavily flavored options, but they’d be nice sweetened, in a creamy iced drink or perhaps a milkshake.

The Lion holiday blends, in 10-ounce bags, and Royal Kona, in 8-ounce bags, are sold at the Lion Cafe & General Store, 1555 Kalani St. (338-8353), or online at LionCoffee.com or hawaiicoffeecompany.com. The pumpkin spice blend is also sold at 7-Eleven Hawaii stores.