Our Coffee

Our plantation is in North Queensland, inland from Cairns, on the Atherton Tableland/Cairns Highlands. Grown at an altitude of 500 metres, our 100% Arabica coffee is a 50/50 mix of Bourbon and Catuai. We have been exporting for 15 years and we use advanced growing practices, grading and cupping standards. From planting, our coffee trees grow for 3 - 4 years before they are first harvested. Because Mareeba has such good growing conditions for coffee, we can control and synchronise the flowering of our trees to ensure a uniform ripening. This means that we have a concentrated, single harvest which covers a period of 4 - 6 weeks. In some parts of the world, because of less favourable weather conditions, some coffee farmers have to harvest 2 - 3 times a year. Harvest time takes place in June/July each year.


Coffee Trees in Flower - Skybury Coffee Plantation

The Skybury Coffee Plantation has traditionally produced most of the Australian crop and we are still the largest producer accounting for over half of the national crop. We are, however, in the world arena a very small producer and only harvest between 120 to 140 tonnes per year.

We have created a form of 'wet processing' to achieve it's unique and highly valued taste profile. Having one of the world's most sophisticated processing facilities, we can 'shape' the flavour of our coffee and achieve taste profile elements found in other processing styles or create our own uniquely Australian style.

The Skybury system combines speed and control to create the perfect cup and we are able to process coffees from field to dry and stabilised in 1 hour against a world norm of 3 days. We do however extend by choice, certain aspects of our process to highlight different tastes. We leave a small amount of the mucilage on the beans by interrupting the fermentation process. We have a high speed wash and touch dry system which locks in flavour and allows the bean to absorb the remaining mucilage. When our coffee is roasted the mucilage 'caramilises' and releases a sweet, chocolately flavour.

Our coffee is enjoyed all around the world, from the corridors of the UK Houses of Parliament, the street cafes of Paris, Berlin and Madrid, to the cutting edge coffee shops of Melbourne and Sydney.

Enjoy a very fine Australian coffee.