For some, coffee is a means to start up the brain each day; for others, it’s an indulgence to enjoy. No matter which camp we’re in, local coffee expert Shawn Steiman has figured out how to make high-quality coffees accessible, in a way that supports the local coffee community, offers customers some customization and education, and is nearly zero waste.
Steiman, author of “The Hawai‘i Coffee Book” and “The Little Coffee Know-It-All,” launched a coffee order and delivery service in August, the latest facet of his Grok Coffee business.
Folks seeking a perfectly prepared cup have long turned to Steiman at his Grok Coffee tent Saturdays at the FarmLovers Kaka‘ako Farmers Market. His brews — always locally roasted — add a touch of luxury to the utilitarian act of food shopping during a pandemic.
For his new online ordering and delivery service, Steiman curates just two selections each week, one local coffee and one world coffee.
His selections are often inaccessible affordably at retail. Each order comes with information about the coffees’ origins, flavor profiles and their local roasters. From there, customers make the rest of the decisions.
“They can get what they want and how much they want,” said Steiman (although the minimum order is 8 ounces).
Customers order as regularly or occasionally as they want and can opt for pickup or delivery.
“When I first started talking about this idea, I spoke with my friend in New York who has a coffee subscription and loves it. But sometimes he runs out, and he liked the idea of flexibility in amounts. So why not be flexible with time, too?”
Part of Steiman’s mission is to shine a spotlight on Hawaii’s coffee roasters. Their work often escapes the attention of coffee drinkers, and he wants to change that.
“A good roaster can taste a coffee, consciously choose a taste experience for it and then create it, consistently,” he said. “Local roasters are doing great things.”
FOR SHIRLEY THOMPSON, an Aina Haina resident, the service has changed the way she drinks coffee.
“Shawn has been my regular Saturday morning coffee guy for a very long time. I used to stick to the tried and true — I really love coffees from Maui,” she said. “Then I started reading up on his website, and I got interested in different roasters. Now, I realize there are stylistic differences in roasters. And I’m into world coffees, so I’m really branching out.”
Thompson now has favorite roasters. One is Chadlou’s Coffee Roasters, a small-batch, specialty coffee roaster in Kailua.
Grok’s service gives Steiman a platform to execute both his ideals as a coffee geek and his personal values about environmentalism.
The coffee geek in him demands that he provide what he considers “reasonably fresh” coffee; that is, beans roasted within days of being handed off to customers. Yet he also realizes that few customers have the same high standard or discerning palate to distinguish between beans roasted three days or three weeks earlier.
So how does he feel when customers drink their coffees ever-so-slowly, weeks after receiving the beans?
“As a geek, I have to admit it’s a little heartbreaking — but not a lot,” he said. “Part of me feels great because I’m providing customization. It’s not for me to judge. Maybe you can’t afford it all the time. Maybe you still enjoy it after two months. Where’s the problem? I’m still giving you great coffee, and I’m supporting roasters.”
But he is not easygoing about his commitment to a minimal-waste business. In his own life, Steiman and his wife are meticulous about avoiding plastic and will not purchase items with excessive packaging and wrappers.
A Grok coffee order comes in a Mason jar outfitted with a silicone valve on the lid to accommodate the degassing of the beans inside. Information about the coffee is printed on a piece of paper attached to the jar with a rubber band.
“There are the labels and the rubber bands when they break. That’s it,” he said of his system’s waste output.
Steiman has a kindred spirit in his customer and friend J.D. Baker, whose Grok coffee is delivered to his Manoa home.
“The problem with coffee is once you get an appreciation for it, you can tell when things taste bad,” Baker said. “The main thing I can taste is when a coffee is stale. I’m getting coffee roasted within a week of delivery, and they’re often coffees you couldn’t get any other way in small batches, so it’s a good service. Plus, there’s virtually zero waste. Coffee has a terrible carbon footprint, and then there’s the packaging.”
BUT SOME customers just appreciate how the service elevates their lives. Dr. Diana Felton from Palolo said Grok’s delivery has transformed her daily coffee experience.
“I get 12 ounces of coffee every two to three weeks, and oh my gosh, it couldn’t be easier. I love it,” she said. “In this time, it’s a bright, shining thing. With the stay-at-home orders, I haven’t been shopping as much, so to have my coffee dropped off is just the greatest.”
Felton said she has long appreciated good coffee, yet she rarely allowed herself to splurge on a cup.
“I spent years working in hospitals with terrible coffee,” she said. “With the reasonable price of Shawn’s coffees, I have an all-the-time good treat.”
GROK COFFEE
>> Sign up: Go to grokcoffee.net, click on delivery link
>> Weekly selections: A world coffee (usually $1.40 to $1.80 per ounce) and a Hawaii coffee (usually $2.40 to $2.80 per ounce). Minimum 8 ounces per order. No subscription required.
>> Delivery: $7 fee; from Moanalua to Hanauma Bay
>> Pickup sites: Grok Coffee headquarters, Palolo (8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Fridays or by appointment); FarmLovers Kaka‘ako Farmers Market (8 a.m. to noon Saturdays); Broken Boundary Brewery, Kalihi ($2 fee; pickup after 2 p.m. on day of delivery, or noon to 7 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays thereafter); and Manoa Chocolate, Kailua ($2 fee; pickup after 2 p.m. on day of delivery, or 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays thereafter)
