Buttons’ Brew: A Coffee Made to Honor a Surf Legend

Buttons Kaluhiokalani never did anything halfway, and he never did it without a grin. He carved 360s nobody had seen before, rode switch like it was the most natural thing in the world, and treated every session as a reason to laugh. So when his ʻohana trusted us to help carry his spirit forward, we knew it could not be just another product with a famous name slapped on it. It had to feel like him.

That is Buttons’ Brew.

Buttons came up in the waves off Waikiki and Ala Moana and brought a skateboarder’s imagination to surfing — landing the first carving 360 ever caught on film and riding switch-stance before anyone had a word for it. He spent his last years teaching kids to surf with the same joy that made him a legend.

Why coffee

Ask anyone who shared a lineup with Buttons and you hear the same thing: he showed up early, he showed up stoked, and he made everyone around him better just by being there. That is the energy of a morning cup before the paddle out — the quiet minute on the lanai, wax in one hand and coffee in the other, the day still full of possibility. Coffee felt like the honest way to keep a little of that going, every single morning. Buttons’ Brew coffee is our way of bottling that optimism and handing it back to you, one cup at a time.

What is in the cup

Buttons’ Brew is a Hawaiian blend built on Waialua-grown beans from Oʻahu’s North Shore, rounded out with high-grown lots from Costa Rica, Colombia, and Kona. It is smooth and full-bodied, with notes of toasted nut and cocoa and a clean, lightly sweet finish. It comes whole bean or ground, in six flavors — from Plain to the spiced-vanilla Halekulani Blend, Vanilla Macadamia Nut, Espresso, Chocolate, and Hazelnut — in sizes from a 2 oz sample to a 5 lb bag. Brew it in a french press, a pour-over, or your everyday drip machine; it was made for real mornings, not just special ones. The label carries an original illustrated portrait of Buttons, the afro and the grin, exactly how the water remembers him. Keep it sealed and cool, grind just before brewing, and use water just off the boil for the best cup.

Made with the ʻOhana

This was built with the family, not around them. Buttons’ Brew is made in partnership with Love Like Buttons, the effort led by Andreanna Kaluhiokalani to carry his name and aloha forward, and proceeds go back to the ʻohana. It is an official family collaboration, blessed with their aloha — a tribute, not a cash-in. Every bag pours into the people and the community he loved.

Keeping Buttons’ Stoke Alive

Pour a cup of Buttons’ Brew, brew it strong, and drink it slow. Then go paddle out and have fun out there, the way he always did. Share it with whoever is heading to the beach with you, and raise a cup to a man who gave the ocean back to everyone he met.

Read the full story of Buttons Kaluhiokalani →