Come away with us today—without actually traveling—to Lahaina, Hawaii, as we visit the charming culinary coffee world of Drift Coffee. Would that it were so simple, we’d be there on Maui ourselves this very morrow. A blog can dream.
Want your cafe to be considered for a Sprudge Maps Spotlight? All you have to do is register your shop for Sprudge Maps, our user-driven compendium of coffee shops around the globe. And the best part is, it’s completely free! Sign up today!
Sprudge Maps is presented by La Marzocco and Pacific Barista Series.
Introduce yourself to our readers—tell us about your cafe!
At Drift we are a new third wave specialty cafe that does everything we can to provide the best of what Hawaiian coffee has to offer. We source our coffees from all over the Hawaiian islands from Maui to various regions on the big island such as Kona and Ka’u. We offer a Maui house blend for our espresso and a revolving choices for our batch brew. Our goal as a cafe is to give every customer an immersive experience of Hawaiian coffee and highlighting some special Gesha grown in the Aloha State as well as different experimental micro lots from farmers here on Maui.
What equipment do you use in your shop?
We have a Slayer Steam X espresso machine as well as a Mahlkönig EK43 for our hand brew bar and batch brew. We use a Mahlkönig e65s and Mazzer Super Jolly for our espresso grinders. We also use Hario v60’s, Melodrip, AeroPresses, CAFEC light roast v60 filters, Aesir filters for AeroPress, Acaia Pearl scales, and Fellow kettles to name a few. We also collaborated with Tim Messenger from Bike Hike Brew to get some custom Hawaii themes v60s and AeroPresses to sell in the shop.
Which roaster or roasters do you serve?
We use Social Hour Coffee Roasters, Outpost Coffee Kauai, and Paradise Coffee Roasters.
What is the neighborhood like where you’re located? What’s some other cool stuff nearby?
We are located off of Front St on Dickenson St. We have a new local brewery Beach House Beer Company located at the start of our street, different shops to explore like Going Left and Hale Zen as well as local food trucks across the street from our shop.
Did you close during a mandated Coronavirus shutdown, and if so, for how long?
Fortunately we where able to stay open during quarantine but with limited hours and a reduced staff.
How has Coronavirus impacted daily work at your cafe?
Coronavirus has changed a lot for our staff with increased sanitizing of our surfaces and frequently used customer areas. We closed off our indoor seating but we have a good number of fresh air shaded out door tables.
What’s something cool or unique about your cafe you want folks to know?
We have a revolving selection of some very high quality Hawaiian coffees on our hand brew bar. We work to bring out the best in each coffee by dialing in each one we receive between our various brewing methods to showcase what makes each coffee special.
Is there a community organization or charity you’d like to shout-out as part of this feature?
We’d like to give a shout out to the Surfrider Foundation, a U.S. 501 grassroots non-profit environmental organization that works to protect and preserve the world’s oceans, waves, and beaches. It focuses on water quality, beach access, beach and surf spot preservation, and sustaining marine and coastal ecosystems.
Thank you!
Want your cafe featured in a Sprudge Maps Spotlight? Register your shop for Sprudge Maps, our user-driven compendium of coffee shops around the globe. It’s completely free. Sign up today!
Sprudge Maps is presented by La Marzocco and Pacific Barista Series.
Photos by Drift Coffee, used with permission
