EAT LOCAL WEEK IN TASTE
After owning a Gold Coast coffee shop for almost 30 years the Williams family felt a change brewing, writes Emily Macdonald
SAM Williams has always been a cup half full kind of guy. So when his dad Tony – who has owned Base Espresso in Broadbeach for almost 30 years – announced he was buying a coffee farm, rather than dwelling on the mountain of work ahead, Sam focused on rallying his relatives.
The Williams family took over the Gold Coast’s only coffee farm in September – the middle of the harvest season.
The two acre site on Mount Tamborine, while 550m above sea level, is the lowest altitude it’s possible to grow coffee trees. And all 650 of them had to be picked by hand.
“This was Dad’s idea, his vision,” Sam says. “Turns out he’s one of our best pickers. I’ve worked as a barista here, there and everywhere. You pull the shot, you steam the milk, but the work that has gone into those beans beforehand is incredible.”
Known as Mt Tamborine Coffee for its first 12 years, the now Green Lane Coffee plantation on Alpine Terrace is truly a family business.
Also involved are mum Lee who balances the books and Sam’s sister Fiona Newberry who does the baking for the cafe. Cousin Liam Smith roasts the coffee and Liam’s wife Megan makes coffee scrubs and soaps.
While the cafe and online store are doing well, Green Lane Coffee will truly come into its own during Scenic Rim Eat Local Week with the launch of guided tours and experiences.
“We will become one of about five places in the world where you can see where coffee is grown, roasted and then have a cup of it,” Sam says.
“We’re going to offer everything from visual tours where we walk people around and show them everything we do right up to coffee experience days where you learn how to pick and roast. People like to know about coffee – it’s becoming such a hot commodity.
“We want people to be able to pick their own cherries and we send it to them in two months time after it’s roasted and ready to be consumed.”
Clearly spurred on by all that caffeine, those aren’t the only big plans the family has dreamt up.
The existing crop is comprised of three varieties which were previously combined – K7, Yemen Mocha and Bourbon. Not only are they going to separate out the varieties but even earmark individual trees – taking single origin coffee to a whole new level.
“That way people will be able to taste the difference between not only the plantation’s crops but from single trees,” Sam says.
“Traceability is the biggest thing in coffee now. When people ask what you like it’s not flat white or cappuccino anymore – it’s Ethiopian Arabica or single origin Colombian.
“People also like knowing the crop is harvested ethically. I’ve had my nephews out there a couple of times but I’m not forcing them – they’re mostly willing.”
Sam just got back from a holiday to America where he visited the world’s first Starbucks store.
“I wanted to see what they’re doing over there and how things tasted,” he says.
“I think we’ve got them covered.”
Scenic Rim Eat Local Week runs from June 24 to July 2. Visit eatlocalweek.com.au