Oct. 1 is International Coffee Day, and you can celebrate with Koloa Rum’s coffee rum, the result of the company’s collaboration with Kauai Coffee.
Check out this recipe for this Boozy Hawaiian Mocha Coconut Hot Chocolate. This coffee rum boasts a rich, distinct flavor that’s reminiscent of an espresso.
Visit koloarum.com.
Boozy Hawaiian Mocha Coconut Hot Chocolate
Ingredients:
• 4 ounces chocolate bar (dark 65%-75%, or milk), chopped
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 12 ounces coconut milk beverage (carton)
• 6 ounces hot coffee
• 3 ounces Koloa Coffee Rum
• 1 ounce Koloa Coconut Rum (.5 ounce per drink)
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat; stir until chocolate is melted.
Pour desired amount of cocktail in a glass.
Top with whipped cream, toasted coconut flakes, macadamia nuts and dark chocolate shavings.
Sea-food diet
In honor of Hawaii Seafood Month in October, Conservation International Hawaii is partnering with Chef Hui to educate and encourage the community to eat taape, an invasive bluestripe snapper, as an alternative seafood choice.
In conjunction with The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s National Seafood Month, this statewide campaign celebrates local seafood and its community.
To show the benefits of eating taape, chef Ed Kenney will be partnering with Ashley Watts of Local Ia for a four-course prix fixe dinner at Mud Hen Water. Attendees will be greeted with a special presentation by Watts and a taape dinner by Kenney. Reservations will be required.
Hawaii Fishing News and Conservation International Hawaii are also hosting a Virtual Taape Throw Down recipe contest.
Enter at facebook.com/taapethrowdown and visit conservation.org/hawaii for more info.
Get ready to ‘Crumbl’
Heads up, West Side! This October, Crumbl Cookies is opening in Kapolei Commons. Ever since it started in Utah three years ago, the business has expanded to more than 200 bakeries in 32 states, proving itself to be the fastest-growing cookie company in the nation.
Local Crumbl franchise owners Kalin Uluave and Jesse Folsom are excited to introduce “the world’s best cookies” to Hawaii residents. The Kapolei store will feature a menu of more than 120 gourmet cookies. Cookie fanatics can anticipate a weekly rotating menu of four specialty cookies, along with menu faves like Crumbl’s award-winning milk chocolate chip cookie and famous chilled pink sugar cookie. Crumbl cookies are inspired by popular flavors, foods and desserts, including pies, cakes, candies and more.
The Kapolei Commons Crumbl location will be open 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays and 8 a.m.-midnight Fridays-Saturdays — just in case you get that late-night cookie craving. Delivery, online ordering and catering will also be available. Visit crumblecookies.com to learn more.
Community comes first
In honor of International Market Place’s fifth anniversary and to kick off this year’s Community First program, the center donated $30,000 to local nonprofits.
Community First shows appreciation for loyal customers and the center’s retail employees, while supporting important causes within the community. Through the program, IMP employees can nominate peers who have a passion for giving back to be featured as part of Community First’s “Employee Spotlight” social media series that occurs biweekly on Fridays, now through Dec. 9. The center makes a $1,000 donation to the chosen employee’s charity of choice.
“It is essential that we support our nonprofits and the important work they do in our communities,” states general manager Breana Grosz. “Our Community First program enables us to show our care for the community.”
The organizations who received grants included Waikiki Community Center, American Red Cross Hawaii, Hawaii Food-bank, Daughters of Hawaii, Historic Hawaii Foundation, Henry Kapono Foundation, The Institute for Human Services, Waikiki Health Center and more.
To support local brick-and-mortar restaurants and stores during October, guests will receive a $25 gift card to the IMP store of their choice when they spend $125 or more at any of the center’s restaurants.
For a full list of retailers and restaurants, visit shopinternationalmarketplace.com.
Celebrate National Coffee Day with Holey Grail Donuts
Holey moley, this is a collab you won’t want to miss. To celebrate National Coffee Day on Sept. 29, Holey Grail Donuts teamed up with Kona Coffee Purveyors to create a Kona Coffee doughnut. This limited-edition flavor features the business’s signature taro-based confection deep fried in coconut oil and topped with a bittersweet espresso glaze made with premium Kona coffee and finished with a Manoa cacao powder dust and chocolate-covered coffee bean.
On Sept. 29, Holey Grail Donuts is offering a complimentary doughnut with the purchase of a coffee beverage — draft coffee, draft latte, cacao latte ($6 each) or hot drip coffee ($3.50) — at any of the company’s locations on Oahu. After Sept. 29, the Kona Coffee doughnut will be available as part of the weekly tasting box ($12). The tasting box will also include popular doughnut flavors Notorious POG, Reincarnated and Changa Chai. A pairing special featuring a coffee beverage with the inspired doughnut will also be available for $8 Sept. 30-Oct. 6. “We are going to start planning more collaborations for the months ahead to honor local farms and gourmet purveyors,” states Nile Dreiling, co-founder of Holey Grail Donuts. “We hope to bring together the finest products Hawaii has to offer and encapsulate them in a doughnut.”
Visit holeygraildonuts.com or follow the biz on Instagram (@holeygraildonuts).
