What’s the buzz in Kau? Coffee. Small-scale farmers in the rural Hawaii island district are growing and producing some of the world’s best brews. Kau coffees are so good that a few weeks ago, three of them took top-10 spots in an international cupping contest.

A little sugar, a lot of coffee seems to be the formula for Kau’s economic boost. Most of the region’s coffee farmers are displaced sugar workers from the Pahala sugar plantation, which closed in 1996. Many came to Hawaii from the Philippines, where they learned to work the land. Even so, it hasn’t been an easy rise. Before Kau coffee had a name, beans were rotting in bags and farmers were leaving their fields.

A five-year winning streak has boosted the community’s economy. Now some sellers are getting $80 a pound for specialty roasts, and big retailers such as Starbucks and QVC in Japan are selling Kau coffee.

Private investors have opened more lands for coffee farming and funded the Ka‘u Coffee Mill, which is expected to become a major commercial processing center and tourist attraction. Also in the works is the Kea­iwa Reservoir hydroelectric proj­ect, which would power the mill and hundreds of Pahala homes.

Now, that’s something to talk about.