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Background to coffee in Australia
 Coffee originally grew in the
highland rain forests of Ethiopia. Over 1500 years ago it was taken to
Arabia and then on to mainland Europe and the Americas. However
actually pin pointing who discovered coffee and how has been the
subject of much myth and speculation down through the centuries.
Stories and legends abound all of which add to the mystique of the
brew. Coffee is an ancient beverage with modern appeal.
In Australia coffee began to be grown commercially in the late 19th
century. Those first coffees were well received in Europe and won
medals in London in the late 1800’s. However, by early last
century Australia’s high labour costs led to the decline of the
local coffee industry which could not compete on price with Brazil,
Africa, Central America and Indonesia, countries which still dominate
the world coffee trade.
The Australian coffee industry was re-established in the early
1980’s with the advent of machine harvesting. This enabled
growers to reduce harvesting costs to 1/10th of hand harvesting and
therefore be more competitive with imported coffees.
Only Arabica coffee, which is preferred for the roast bean and ground
coffee market, is grown in Australia. As coffee is essentially a
tropical rainforest plant it requires, amongst other things, frost free
conditions and high rainfall to thrive. This limits the areas suitable
for coffee production in Australia largely to pockets on the tropical
and sub-tropical eastern seaboard.
Australia is fortunate to be largely free of the pests and coffee
diseases which afflict many other countries. This has allowed the local
industry to develop its "clean green" image. |
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Coffee
processing
In the Northern New South Wales the coffee plant flowers in late spring
/early summer, covering the branches with small white flowers that
resemble jasmine in both appearance and scent. The coffee cherry begins
to ripen to a deep red colour between July to ONovember. There are
several harvests during this period with only the red cherry being
processed after the green and over ripe/black cherry (naturals) have
been separated out. Each cherry contains two coffee beans which are
obtained by pulping the cherry in a processing machine. The mucilage or
"slimey" covering on the bean is then removed either by fermentation in
large vats or mechanically under pressure in the processor.
The natural cherry which resembles raisins is kept and hulled to later
blend with the processed cherry. This gives our coffees greater
complexity and a rich full body.
The coffee is then laid out to dry in the sun on beds or placed in a
large dryer. Once dry the beans are hulled to remove the paper like
parchment they are encased in. They are then graded for size and
quality. The end product is called green bean and this is how coffee is
traded around the world.
The harvest and processing of coffee on the plantation can been viewed
during the season by arrangement. |
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