Grower: Second Alarm Farm; Jim Chestnut & Edna Arakawa

Tea Maker: Jim Chestnut & Edna Arakawa

Location: Volcano Village, Puna District, The Big Island - Hawaii, United States

Elevation: 868 m (2,850 ft)

Cultivation: Natural (Organic, but no certification)

Signature Teas: Orchid Isle Oolong

"We are very humble to share our Tea with you, from our ohana to yours. Mahalo!"

• • •

Second Alarm Farm is a small, 3-acre farm owned by Jim Chestnut and Edna Arakawa. On the farm, they grow tea along with coffee and ornamental orchids. They also have another farm nearby, where they grow macademia nuts.

To craft their teas, they harvest and craft the leaves completely by hand. Each handcrafted batch is just a pound or less per harvest. They use natural material from the rainforest as compost for their plants. In 2015, they won Third Place in the Non-Commercial Division for Oolong Tea, at the first ever TOTUS (Tea of the United States) competition, held in Hawaii.

Second Alarm is located in Puna District, on the east side of the Big Island. The farm is just a few miles away from Puna Forest Reserve, Hawaii's largest remaining lowland wet forest. The area has abundant rainfall and rich, volcanic soils. The area is home to native flora and fauna found nowhere else in the world, making for a uniquely Hawaiian terroir.

The family also runs a small guest house and tea farm in Volcano Village, allowing visitors and especially tea lovers to be surrounded by tea and pick their own tea leaves.