Savor unique beverages at 6 Hawai‘i Island tasting rooms

Hawai‘i Island has all the ingredients for a heady cocktail of distillers, brewers, and coffee producers: a volcanic terroir that gives Kona coffee a distinctive taste; a cultural legacy of sugarcane cultivation; access to deep, pure seawater; and abundant tropical fruits. Some of the best of these beverage makers now offer intriguing tasting experiences.

If you like strong morning joe, pau hana cocktails, and trying before buying, consider visiting these 6 intriguing tasting rooms on the island. Just be sure to bring a designated driver if you plan to drink alcohol.

Chiaki Takahashi, one of very few Japanese women in the world to become a master sake brewer, opened Islander Sake Brewery in Honolulu with partner Tama Hirose in March 2020.

While they still operate the 8-seat Hanale sushi restaurant in Chinatown, they moved most of their production in late 2022 to a former golf club restaurant at the Westin Hapuna Beach Hotel on the Kohala Coast, attracted by the clean air and water and the mountain views.

They began offering tastings at the brewery in early 2023. That fall, they opened Engawa restaurant in the same space (as of January 2024, it was serving monthly full-moon dinners with sake and sushi pairings).

Drinking it in: Sit at Engawa’s bar overlooking palm-lined golf greens and the slopes of Kohala Mountain and choose 1-ounce pours of 3 or 5 sakes ($18 and $28). Six traditional, single-origin sakes use rice from Japan or California. Hamakua Coast liliko‘i and guava, Kona coffee, and Dole pineapple from O‘ahu flavor 4 more varieties.

Merch and munchies: Only sake is sold here, starting at $15 for a 5-ounce glass and climbing to $56 for a 750-milliliter bottle of Omachi Junmai Ginjo. A 375-milliliter bottle of liliko‘i sake is a bargain at just under $20.

Check the Islander Sake Brewery website for dates of upcoming Moon Night Soirees (monthly sake-pairing dinners featuring omakase-style sushi and pupu, $175).

Designated drivers: As of January 2024, Islander Sake Brewery had plans to start serving snacks and tea as well as sake at the bar. If not available yet, walk over to the AAA Four Diamond Westin Hapuna Beach Resort to find a variety of nonalcoholic drinks in the mezzanine-level gift shop or at Piko Coffee + Bar.

Kuleana Rum Works co-founder Steve Jefferson tried rhum agricole—rum distilled from freshly pressed sugarcane juice instead of molasses or sugar—on the Caribbean island of Martinique 17 years ago.

That led him and his wife, Jackie, to create their own on their home turf. They planted 35 Hawaiian heirloom sugarcane varieties on a 44-acre farm in North Kohala, producing their first bottles of agricole in late 2018.

Drinking it in: Kuleana Rum Shack, the company’s restaurant at Queens’ Marketplace in the Waikoloa Beach Resort, offers guided tastings ($20) and a mai tai mixing class ($45) by reservation in its tasting room. 

Both sessions include samples of its original Hawaiian Rum Agricole, which tour guide Ricardo Avila calls “a flavor bomb,” and 3 blends that incorporate it.

The agricole and Nanea blend (nanea is Hawaiian for “fascinating” and “relaxed”) put the kick into their 1944 Trader Vic’s–style mai tai (it’s made without dark rum or pineapple juice, which you won’t miss).

Merch and munchies: Check out the sleek cocktail shaker ($27) among the colorful T-shirts and other logo wear.

Book a 2 p.m. tasting so you can order food afterward, when the restaurant opens at 3 p.m. Try the divine rum cake ($13) doused in Nanea by local bakers Tipsee & Spice, or the puffy malasadas with 3 rum-spiked dipping sauces ($10).

Designated drivers: Skip the tastings (browse Queens’ Marketplace shops instead) or, if the bar is open, order a faux-jito with house-made mint syrup ($8) or a daily special mocktail ($12).

Although distilling spirits had been a family tradition on the mainland since the 1800s, California native Dave Puckett waited until his retirement as a construction manager in 2016 to pursue his passion full time, with a sweet local source for his craft spirits: “I chose honey because we don’t have grains here,” says Puckett, who moved to O‘ahu in 1980 and then to Hawai‘i Island in 1996.

Puckett’s original petite copper still sits in the cozy Kailua-Kona tasting room of 12th Hawaii Distiller, named for his place among state distillery licensees.

Drinking it in: Belly up to 12th Hawaii Distiller’s mango wood bar for small pours ($5) of high-octane Honeyshine, “which sneaks up on you,” says bartender Tabia Margaretich; the whiskey-like Distiller’s Reserve, which gets its caramel color from oak barrels charred with kiawe; the silky Hawaiian Vodka, distilled from island honey and Okinawan sweet potatoes; and Kona Coffee Spirits, a honey spirit macerated with Kona coffee beans.

Larger shots and tasty cocktails ($9–$15) are also available.

Merch and munchies: Find logo items such as caps ($25) and coaster/glass sets ($12–$20) next to locally made Hawaii Tart Company’s honey caramel tarts with macadamia nuts ($10), trail mix ($2), and bags of potato chips ($3).

Designated drivers: Bartenders will happily whip up a mocktail or serve nondrinkers a can of ginger beer, Hawaiian Sun Lilikoi Lychee, or Coke ($3–$6).

Founded in 1996 by father-and-son team Cameron Healey and Spoon Khalsa as Kona Brewing Co. in Kailua-Kona, this iconic brand eventually added West Coast production before Anheuser-Busch InBev acquired it in 2019.

AB InBev now makes and distributes Kona Brewing Co. products on the mainland, while the Kona brewery and on-site pub (and the Koko Marina Center pub on O‘ahu) are independently owned and operate under the name Kona Brewing Hawaii.

In 2021, Kona Brewing Hawaii opened its sustainable, state-of-the-art brewery and cannery near the Kona pub.

Drinking it in: Guided tours ($25) of the brewery are available by reservation and begin with a short van ride from the Kona brewpub.

Upon arrival, guests receive samples of Big Wave Pale Ale, one of the company’s inaugural brews. Friendly guides breezily discuss the company’s history, beermaking, and environmental initiatives—including using unique, ridge-topped aluminum cans made on O‘ahu—before serving 4 other larger pours at the brewery’s private Thirsty Gecko bar, which boasts an ocean-view, second-story lānai.

Book a late-afternoon tour to enjoy sunset and perhaps an extra pour.

Merch and munchies: T-shirts (from $25) and other logo wear at the Thirsty Gecko are exclusive to the tour. A well-stocked kiosk offers more apparel and other items at the pub, next to where the shuttle van drops off tour participants.

Designated drivers: The brewery tour serves beer, but the Kona pub next to the tour’s shuttle van stop serves soft drinks, including a gingerade made with local ginger and organic lemonade ($4).

Vanessa Houle and Devin Magallanes took to beekeeping on her family’s Kea‘au farm in 2013 to help rebuild the island’s pollinator population, which had been hit hard by introduced pests.

Excess honey led them to start making mead, or “honey rocket fuel,” as Magallanes jokes, in 2016, and home-brewing awards soon followed.

Their spacious Big Island Meadery tasting room opened in October 2023 with a 19-foot bar made from a fallen ‘ōhi‘a tree and eye-catching panels on the importance of bees.

Drinking it in: Sample any or all of 6 meads on tap in 1.5-ounce pours ($1.50–$2.50 each); a flight of 4 comes on a wooden tray carved to hold the stubby glasses in place.

Dry and Semi Sweet Traditional meads will appeal to wine drinkers, while the ruby-hued Roselle, made with hibiscus and macadamia nut honey, tastes as bright as it looks. The sweet-tart Liliko‘i Ginger and velvety Cocoa Vanilla meads are delectable showcases for local produce.

Merch and munchies: Make a veritable meal of it with a meat or veggie charcuterie board ($20); or nibble on French bread, honey, and cheeses ($10). Petite beeswax candles shaped like beehives ($3), Albizia honey with comb ($8–$10), and traditional mead shot glasses made of horn ($7) are just some of the tempting non-potables.

Designated drivers: Kids and nondrinkers can enjoy a variety of island fruit slushies ($5) or a tasting flight of honey samples ($6.)

Oregon natives Kelleigh Stewart and Brandon von Damitz transplanted themselves to an overgrown Puna coffee farm in 2010 and within 3 years were producing award-winning beans as well as milling and roasting for fellow farmers.

Now renowned for Kona coffees, with offerings from around the state, their Big Island Coffee Roasters company opened its first café and tasting room, along with a larger roastery, in Hilo in August 2023.

Drinking it in: Stewart has created 2 tasting flights, each with 3 coffees: “bright and sweet” and “dark and deep,” referring to lighter or darker roasts. 

The “bright and sweet” flight includes 2 roasts of 100% Kona coffee (Kona Peaberry and Kona Bloom) and a 100% Ka‘ū-sourced Ka‘ū Morning Glory. In general, Stewart recommends light roasts over dark, “so you can still taste the different flavors.”

Self-guided and guided tasting prices had yet to be set as of January 2024; full pour-over cups of various Hawaiian roasts start at $7.

Merch and munchies: Pair your coffee or mamaki tea with a locally made sweet or savory treat ($5–$8), including fluffy popovers and a warm egg bite with tangy feta cheese.

In addition to the wide selection of bagged coffee beans (10-ounce bags from $28), logo items such as Hawaiian coffee lip balm ($3) and a MiiR thermos ($40) can also keep the lip-smacking vibe going.

Freelance writer and Frommer’s guidebooks author Jeanne Cooper enjoys sharing sunset cocktails with her husband and friends on Hawai‘i Island’s Kohala Coast.