Australian-grown coffee?

Discuss flavors, brew temperatures, blending, and cupping notes.
pcrussell50
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#1: Post by pcrussell50 »

I'm tenuously wading into this forum poorly armed, as most of what I know about espresso lies in hardware and technique. I know little of coffee itself--but I'm super curious to ask:

Does Australia produce any coffees of note? I never hear them mentioned, but they are unique in the developed world in that they have significant land that lies deep in the tropics. Tropical climates seem to be one of the situations that are good for coffee growth. Then again, Australia does not have much in the way of highlands in it's vast tropical regions. Then again, I do not know what role highlands play in coffee, except that I keep reading anecdotes about "mountain-grown". Is it fair to say that Australia's lack of highlands in it's vast tropics is a key factor in it's relative lack of presence in the coffee world?

And for the record, I'm not an expat Aussie or one living in America. I'm a native Yank who lived in Australia as a teenager.

-Peter
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Bob_McBob
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#2: Post by Bob_McBob »

Chris

Alan Frew
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#3: Post by Alan Frew »

90% of Australian grown coffee is bland overpriced crap. As Tom Owen once famously said, there was more flavour in the cardboard box the green coffee had been shipped in than the coffee itself. It's a combination of poor soils and lack of altitude, our "mountains" are hills by world standards and a long way south of the tropic of Capricorn, and we haven't had an active volcano for 5 million years.

Every now and then a specialty grade coffee pops up, but our variable climate makes it rare to see a consistent product 2 years in a row. Mountaintop Coffee (Nimbin) or Howe Farming (Mareeba) will sometimes come up with an 80+ lot, but they're bloody expensive. Blind cupping Australian coffees against some of the excellent Brazilian coffees now available usually results in a win for Brazil at a third of the price.

Australian coffee farmers are FARMERS rather than coffee enthusiasts, more interested in yield and ease of mechanical harvest than cup quality. Think Hawaiian Kauai plantation for a USA equivalent.

Alan

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yakster
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#4: Post by yakster »

Alan,

I remember reading in 2010 that Australian coffee was being targeted by the local fruit bat population, but haven't heard anything of this since. Is this still an issue that you know of?

I got the chance to visit the coffee plantation in Kauai, not too impressed with the mechanically harvested crop, but I really enjoyed the rest of the vacation on the island and the coffee I brought with me.
-Chris

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yakster
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#5: Post by yakster »

Wow, great timing, new article on a three-year study of Australian coffee on the 5 Senses blog, sadly the results were poor quality samples and poor processing.

A Scientific Look at Australian Beans | Blog | Five Senses Coffee
-Chris

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Alan Frew
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#6: Post by Alan Frew »

Heh... it just reinforces what I've been saying for years, as has Jim Schulman, a co-religionist. Repeat after me, there is only one truth in Specialty Coffee, Blind Cupping, Blind Cupping and Blind Cupping, and Consistent Sample Preparation is its prophet. Works for machines, too.

The really unfortunate thing about Oz coffee is that all the growers I've ever met have zero experience in tasting the end product. Most of them either drink instant coffee or tea bag tea. If the Australian coffee industry is ever going to amount to anything, it needs

1) to identify the best tasting varietals it can grow
2) to implement the best processing methods for these varietals, and
3) to find the best way to maximize the yield of the chosen coffees.

Right now, the local industry is all about maximizing yield and marketing BS. Flying Foxes (fruit bats) seem to prefer stone fruits and grapes to coffee, and have little effect on the overall crop. Weather events such as droughts and flooding rains are much more important.

Alan

SL70
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#7: Post by SL70 »

I'm also a new user tenuously wading in. I spent six years in Melbourne, a city that has in my humble opinion elevated the pursuit of espresso to an art form. I became a home enthusiast in Melbourne and had dialed in my La Pavoni Pro to sweet perfection while there (and have since had to re-dial it in on my return to Canada). After much searching and researching I found one of the 10% of Alan's Aussie growers who produce a beautiful locally grown Arabica. A Melbourne-based micro-roaster and cafe, Eureka Coffee, http://www.eurekacoffee.com.au, produces award-winning all-Australian blends and single origins based on beans grown on the family estate in the "mountains" north of Byron Bay. They also roast single origins from around the world. Shout out to Eureka! :D

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aecletec
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#8: Post by aecletec »

I've found that I prefer Brissie 'spro to Melbourne... but Melbourne had some of the most delicious filter/brewed I've tried. Still, I haven't been able to find a decent tasting Australian Bean... 1 awful (probably roaster quality), 1 passable (skilled roaster).

entropyembrace
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#9: Post by entropyembrace »

SL70 wrote:I spent six years in Melbourne, a city that has in my humble opinion elevated the pursuit of espresso to an art form. I became a home enthusiast in Melbourne and had dialed in my La Pavoni Pro to sweet perfection while there (and have since had to re-dial it in on my return to Canada).
How did you deal with the voltage difference between Canada and Australia to use your La Pavoni in both places? I have one too and I'd like to spend some time in Australia after I graduate. I was thinking I would have to buy a new espresso machine when I do.