the love story... of australian coffee

Once upon a time, there was a thriving coffee industry in Australia and by 1900 over 40% of the coffee consumed in Australia was grown in an area that stretched from Northern New South Wales to Cooktown.

The Australian coffee bean won international recognition for its quality and a strong following in Europe.

Through the early and middle 20th century, Australian coffee came under the onslaught of cheap imports and experienced steady decline only revived with the establishment of two major plantings in Far North Queensland, on the Atherton Tablelands near Mareeba and the mechanisation of picking in the 1980's. Today, around 90% of the coffee grown in Australia comes from the area around Mareeba. The Atherton tablelands provide the ideal climate and elevation for the production of a truly great coffee bean.

The Atherton Tablelands have a deep red volcanic soil sometimes 30m (100ft) deep. The excellent fertile soil, an average temperature of between 20°-25°C (68°-77°F) and a rainfall of over 900mm (35in) per annum, creates an environment, which is excellent for the production of high grown Arabicas coffee.

The Arabicas coffee plant flowers once a year and produces one crop of berries. The flowers are white and resemble jasmine. The coffee cherry sets in clusters along the branches of the bush. They are first green; ripen to a cherry red and if over ripe, turn black.

Harvesting and grading is done using a wet method where the black cherries fall to the bottom of a tank of water, while the red and green cherries are pushed against a grating which allows the red cherries to pass through due to them having been softened by absorbing water, thus separating out the green cherries. The red cherries are then processed and it is from these that coffee comes.

During processing the pulped seeds from the red cherries are washed and dried in large grain driers to a moisture content of around 11%. The dried seeds are then hulled to remove the last casing from the cherry and graded ready for roasting. The beans are roasted to the desired level, which releases the aromatics and caramelises the sugars thus producing the desired taste.

The Australian industry is characterised by people passionate about coffee who truly love their association with the magic brew.