Aloha Star, Kona

Brittany Horn and Madeleine Longoria Garcia co founded Pacific Coffee Research in 2017 on an active coffee farm in Kailua Kona, building Hawaii's first SCA Premier Training Campus and a CQI certified cupping lab from the ground up. The roastery became the first Hawaii based operation to win Good Food Awards, taking two in 2023 for their Aloha Star from Kona and Wood Valley from the Ka'u region. Brittany holds credentials as a Q Instructor and Authorized SCA Trainer in Green Coffee, Sensory Skills, and Sustainability in Coffee, while Roastery Manager Meg Duka is a certified Q Arabica Grader, giving the operation an unusually deep bench of technical expertise. Their focus on Hawaiian grown coffee from the Kona and Ka'u regions positions them at the intersection of origin and craft, sourcing from the same volcanic terroir where they roast. Pacific Coffee Research also provides contract roasting and roast profile development for local producers, making them a critical resource for the broader Hawaiian coffee farming community.