TIBETAN TEMPLE'S TINY COFFEE VENTURE "A LABOR OF LOVE"

-by Janet Snyder

Hawaii Tribune-Herald, July 12, 2001

Wood Valley - the precincts of a Tibetan Buddhist temple are the unlikely

domain of one of the world's rarest coffees.

Senior monk Lobzang "Tiapala" Toldan and temple caretaker Michael Schwabe of

the Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling Temple grow Ka¹u coffee, a robust Arabica

whose brew reminds connoisseurs of a fine French roast.

"We¹ve been growing for 10 years, but this is the first year we¹ve had a

significant amount," said Schwabe as he offered a steaming cup of homegrown

espresso.  "We had a bumper crop."

The temple¹s three acres of trees, grown organically from local seeds, yield

about 1,000 pounds of beans a year.

"This is a labor of love.  The coffee we grow is all that two or three

people can work on part-time," Schwabe said.

"It¹s not very much land, but big enough for two people to work," said

Tiapala.  The men painstakingly harvest the crimson coffee cherries 10

months of the year.

At first, Schwabe and Tiapala only grew enough coffee for the household, but

they stepped up production when the temples¹ retreat guests clamored for it,

liking its full-bodied yet mellow flavor.

Their coffee is roasted at a precise 468 degrees, which Schwabe said is the

optimum temperature for dark roast.

"I found there¹s not as much caffeine in our coffee," Schwabe said.  "I¹ve

tried to maintain a consistent flavor by using only the seed from this

area."

Their Wood Valley property, which in 1994 hosted the Dalai Lama, presents

the ideal conditions for coffee growing.

"The Wood Valley coffee flavor is extraordinary because at 2,000 feet you¹re

at the ideal elevation," Schwabe said.  "You get rainfall, cloudy

afternoons, sunny mornings and good precipitation."

Schwabe said that thanks to the mist that descends from Mauna Loa, he hasn¹t

needed to irrigate the trees since last fall.

Schwabe and his wife, Marya, who have tended the temple since 1974, often

give bangs of coffee as gifts to guests.  Only about 5 percent of the

temple¹s income comes from the coffee, which Schwabe said sells for $35 a

pound.

Asked to compare the quality of Ka¹u coffee, Schwabe likened it to the rare

Jamaican variety, Blue Mountain.

That prized coffee is smooth but has a vibrant acidity and, like its Ka¹u

counterpart, it¹s grown at high elevations.  It costs about $20 a pound,

according to a Jamaican coffee Web site.

The Wood Valley coffee is grown without chemicals or mechanization, using

only hand tools and natural nutrients like phosphorus-rich macadamia nut

waste that coffee thrives on.

"It¹s really labor-intensive," Schwabe said.  The hard work of weeding and

shoveling compost at high altitude is nothing new for Tiapala, who was born

on a farm in the Indian Himalayan enclave of Ladakh, also known as "Little

Tibet."

But as devotedly as he works the coffee fields, fuchsia-colored robes tucked

for mobility, Tiapala doesn¹t touch the stuff, Schwabe said.  "He¹s a tea

person; he drinks Darjeeling," Schwabe said.  "I¹m the guy who drinks

coffee."

Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling, Wood Valley Temple, in the hills above Pahala,

is reachable at 808-928-8539.  E-mail: nechung@aloha.net.