Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in Volume III of B.H. Magazine. For access to future issues, subscribe here.
On the left, cascading rows of Arabica coffee trees descend into a lush valley. To the right, a pine forest stretches skyward, with trees so tall they seem to graze the clouds. Nestled between them stands a treehouse, crafted from the neighbouring pine trees. This picturesque scene could easily belong in Central America or East Africa – but it’s Brookfield, a leafy suburb 25 minutes from Brisbane’s CBD.
Andrew Banks stands beside the treehouse, his eight-year-old Border Collie, Coco, bounding at his feet. An industrial chemist by trade, Banks spends his spare time here, on his family’s farm, helping his father grow custard apples and avocados for Brisbane’s largest fresh food market. But coffee is where his true passion lies. “I don’t wake up thinking about avocados and custard apples,” Banks says. “I wake up thinking about coffee.”
In 2020, Banks launched Savages Coffee, named after the road where his family’s property lies. It’s the closest coffee farm to Brisbane, and one of only 50 or so Australian coffee farms, which are scattered between northern New South Wales and North Queensland.
Many of these farms are small and face challenges such as labour-intensive processes, high land costs, and low yields. “It takes eight kilos of [coffee] berries to produce one kilo of roasted coffee beans,” explains Banks. “This year, we picked 2.4 tonnes of berries. After processing, we ended up with 300 kilograms of coffee. That’s why hand-picking is so laborious.”
Despite these hurdles, Banks is determined to change how Australians perceive locally grown coffee. Of the six billion cups of coffee Australians consume annually, only 0.5 per cent is made with home-grown beans.
“The issue is that people haven’t tried it, and aren’t going to pay for something they’re unsure about,” says Banks. “At the markets, we give out free samples. People try it and say, I like this. We’d have zero chance if we stood there and said, you want to buy expensive coffee? I grew it myself.”
Banks often asks his customers a simple question: What’s your coffee farmer’s name? It’s his way of encouraging people to think about where their coffee comes from.
For now, Banks is focusing on staying small and local. Expansion would require costly equipment or a larger workforce. A coffee bean colour sorter, for example, which separates defective beans from high-quality ones, costs around $20,000.
“We’d like to get all the locals on board, and then slowly expand,” he says. “But if we move into new markets [too quickly], we lose part of our story – we’re no longer the local coffee farmer.”
Further north in Mareeba, Far North Queensland, Jack Murat is one of the country’s largest coffee farms, spanning over 70 hectares. Founded by Jemal Murat and his family, the farm is named after his grandfather, who originally grew tobacco on the farm. Today, the farm is pioneering Australian-grown coffee on a larger scale.
In 2024, Murat bought an existing cafe in North Bondi – the first time, to his knowledge, that an Australian coffee farm has directly brought its beans to a major city. “Earlier on, people didn’t give us a chance,” admits Murat. “But it has started to shift. We recently attended an event in Sydney and brewed our coffee for some of the industry’s heavyweights. I think they can finally see there is a good, local product and they’re very keen to work together.”
A breakthrough for the farm came recently when the coffee growers tested machine-picked and machine-sorted berries against hand-picked ones. They found the rate of under-ripe and over-ripe beans was lower than what a decent hand-picker could achieve. That’s significant, “because hand-picking on our farm would require a labour force of 150 to 200 people,” Murat says.
New research published in the Journal of Sensory Studies found Australian-grown coffee has its own distinct flavour. The report described it as “sweeter, nuttier, and fruitier” with “low-medium intensity in acidity, smooth textural mouthfeel, and a medium-long aftertaste.” This is largely attributed to Australia’s terroir, broadly classified as having cooler temperatures and longer ripening periods.
Murat agrees their coffee has a distinct flavour, but says they are able to use processing methods to add more complexity. “There is an underlying flavour profile [to our coffee] linked to the region and the environment,” says Murat. “Many of the processing methods are used in the wine industry – like anaerobic fermentations and extended fermentations – and help to add a new dynamic to the base profile.”
For Hany Ezzat, sales manager at Canberra’s Ona Coffee and founder of specialty ceramics brand Ni Wares, Australian coffee holds enormous potential. “We don’t have the terroir traditionally associated with high-quality coffee,” admits Ezzat. “But we’re starting to see people manipulate the environment to grow specific trees or varieties of coffee, and use processing skills. Now we can actually start to enjoy Aussie coffee.”
He points to collaborations, like Ona Coffee’s work with Crater Mountain Coffee in North Queensland, which produced a high-scoring specialty coffee using specific yeasts. The coffee even featured in the 2022 World Barista Championship, where the French champion used it as their espresso – an unprecedented milestone for Australian coffee. Still, Ezzat acknowledges barriers.
“Some of the biggest obstacles with Aussie coffee are all the red tape and costs behind it,” Ezzat says. “The labour costs on Australian-grown coffee is still more expensive than coffee that gets air-freighted here from a different country.”
Ezzat believes we’re more likely to see Australian coffee as a premium offering rather than an everyday product. “We definitely don’t have the volume and the size to make it work,” he adds.
Beyond farming, innovation in Australia’s coffee industry continues to thrive. Ezzat’s Ni Wares produces ceramic cups specifically designed to enhance coffee’s sensory experience. The idea sprouted when Ezzat was competing in a barista championship.
“I was deciding what cup I wanted to use, and I really liked two of them,” he recalls. “One of them had a thick rim, and the other had a thin rim, and they highlighted different parts of the coffee. Because the competition only allowed me to use one, my solution was to make a cup with two different rims to help the judges enjoy specific parts of the coffee.”
Ezzat says the shape, colour, weight, and feel of his cups are all carefully considered. “Ni Wares was built around the colour pink, because coffee is perceived to be up to 40% sweeter when the cup is pink,” he says. “Usually people complain about their coffee not being sweet enough.”
He’s released a number of different shapes, including a thin cup shaped like a champagne glass, and a round one shaped like a red wine glass. He says the cup’s shape highlights different aromatics in the coffee.
Today, his cups are used in barista competitions and cafes worldwide. Since launching in early 2024, he’s sold over 4,000 units, with less than 10 per cent of those sales occurring in Australia. “What wins in the barista competitions sets the precedent for the coffee industry five-to-ten years ahead,” he says.
Meanwhile, innovation is also taking place at Australian universities. At The University of Queensland, Dr. Jaqueline Moura Nadolny has been testing a supersonic brewing machine developed by engineers from the University of New South Wales. The machine extracts flavours in minutes, rather than the 12 to 24 hours usually required for traditional cold brew.
“The three-minute extraction was too bitter, while the one-minute extraction had nice flavours but was very mild,” she says. “The sweet spot is probably somewhere in between.”
She believes the machine could have a major impact on cafe efficiency and economies, and one day, might become commonplace in cafes globally. “With cold brew, not only do you have to wait 24 hours, but sometimes there’s transportation costs involved, too,” she says. “Being the first [to introduce this technology] would be great as Australians are well-known for good coffee.”
As the aroma of Australian coffee drifts further across the globe, one thing becomes clear: the journey from farm to cup here is unlike anywhere else. From small-scale growers to large-scale innovators, the industry is fuelled by passion, persistence, and a distinct sense of place. With groundbreaking research, collaborations, and even sensory-enhancing ceramics shaping the future, Australian coffee is carving its own niche.
Indeed, this is just the beginning.
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