Australia's largest coffee-growing area, around Mareeba in Far North Queensland, often described as nutty and earthy.
The Atherton Tablelands, centered on Mareeba about an hour west of Cairns, produce most of Australia's coffee. Mareeba sits at about 600 m and 17 degrees south, where warm days and cool nights give a swing like higher-altitude origins, and frost does not occur. Growers cut back irrigation in October to trigger synchronised flowering, so one mechanical pass can pick the crop between June and August. Far North Queensland coffee is often described as nutty and biscuity.
Field notes
- i
Skybury, planted in 1987 by the MacLaughlin family near Mareeba, is described as Australia's oldest commercial coffee plantation.
- ii
The Coffee Shuttle One, called the world's first mechanical coffee harvester, still works at the Jaques plantation in Mareeba.
In the cup, according to guides
- NuttyOften notedFar North Queensland coffee is described as nutty and biscuity.
Varietals
Elsewhere in Australia