Australian Grown Coffee: What Terroir Really Means

TERROIR IS A FRENCH TERM USED FOR CENTURIES IN THE WINE INDUSTRY TO DESCRIBE HOW A PRODUCT EXPRESSES THE NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLACE IT’S GROWN. IT ENCOMPASSES A COMBINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND HUMAN ELEMENTS - CLIMATE, SOIL TYPE, TOPOGRAPHY, ALTITUDE, RAINFALL, SUNLIGHT, AND CULTIVATION METHODS - THAT TOGETHER SHAPE THE FLAVOUR AND STRUCTURE OF WHAT’S GROWN.

IN WINE, TERROIR IS WELL ESTABLISHED AND, IN MANY CASES, HIGHLY REGULATED THROUGH APPELLATION SYSTEMS, WHICH DEFINE THE BOUNDARIES AND EXPECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECIFIC GROWING REGIONS. IT’S WHAT MAKES A PINOT NOIR FROM BURGUNDY DISTINCT FROM ONE IN THE YARRA VALLEY. TERROIR IS NOT JUST ABOUT TASTE - IT’S ALSO ABOUT IDENTITY.

AUSTRALIAN WINEGROWERS MAY LACK CENTURIES OF LEGACY AND THE PRESTIGE OF THE OLD WORLD, BUT THAT FREEDOM FROM TRADITION HAS ALLOWED THE INDUSTRY TO EXPLORE AND INNOVATE. THE SAME SPIRIT IS EMERGING IN AUSTRALIAN COFFEE - AND WE ARE CERTAINLY EMBACING IT ON OUR FARM.

DOES TERROIR APPLY TO COFFEE?

YES, BUT IT’S STILL TAKING SHAPE. IN COFFEE, TERROIR PLAYS A SIMILAR ROLE TO WINE. IT INFLUENCES SUGAR DEVELOPMENT, ACIDITY, BODY, AND AROMA, LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR A COFFEE’S POTENTIAL. BUT UNLIKE WINE, COFFEE ISN’T FINISHED AT HARVEST. IT MUST BE PROCESSED, DRIED, ROASTED, GROUND, AND BREWED - EACH STAGE TRANSFORMING HOW TERROIR IS EXPRESSED IN THE FINAL CUP. SO WHILE TERROIR GIVES COFFEE ITS NATURAL FINGERPRINT, HUMAN HANDS - FROM FARM TO CUP -  SHAPE HOW THAT FINGERPRINT IS REVEALED.

THERE’S NO FORMAL APPELLATION SYSTEM IN COFFEE (YET), BUT CERTAIN REGIONS HAVE BUILT REPUTATIONS THROUGH DECADES OF CONSISTENCY. HUILA IN COLOMBIA, FOR INSTANCE, IS KNOWN FOR JUICY, FLORAL ACIDITY. YIRGACHEFFE IN ETHIOPIA IS PRIZED FOR ITS TEA-LIKE BODY AND JASMINE AROMATICS. THESE REPUTATIONS FORMED BECAUSE OF STABLE CONDITIONS, LOCAL VARIETIES, AND TRADITIONAL METHODS.

BUT EVEN THESE ICONIC REGIONS MUST CONTEND WITH VARIABILITY. TAKE THE GEISHA VARIETAL, CELEBRATED IN PANAMA FOR ITS DELICATE FLORALS AND STRUCTURE. THERE, IT’S LIKELY FOUND THE NEAREST THING TO A PERFECT CONVERGENCE OF VARIETY, TERROIR, AND PROCESS. GROWN ELSEWHERE -  INCLUDING AUSTRALIA - IT WILL BE DIFFERENT, AND IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, LESS EXPRESSIVE. NOT BECAUSE OF ANY DEFICIENCY, BUT BECAUSE THAT ORIGINAL ALIGNMENT IS RARE. TERROIR SHAPES HOW A VARIETAL PERFORMS, AND UNDERSTANDING THAT RELATIONSHIP IS WHERE THE FUTURE OF COFFEE LIES.

CHARACTER VS QUALITY: A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN LAND AND HAND

TERROIR HELPS DEFINE CHARACTER, A RECURRING SENSE OF PLACE IN FLAVOUR, WHILE QUALITY IS THE RESULT OF HOW WELL THAT CHARACTER IS NURTURED AND EXPRESSED.

A WELL-DEFINED TERROIR MAY PROVIDE CONSISTENT TRAITS FROM A FARM OR PLOT: A CERTAIN STRUCTURE, A RELIABLE SWEETNESS, OR RECOGNISABLE MOUTHFEEL. BUT THE FINAL CUP QUALITY ALSO DEPENDS ON FARMING DISCIPLINE, HOW THE COFFEE IS PICKED, PROCESSED, AND HOW CAREFULLY IT’S ROASTED AND BREWED.

EVEN TWO COFFEES FROM THE SAME VARIETY AND BLOCK CAN DIVERGE DRAMATICALLY DEPENDING ON PROCESSING METHODS - WASHED VERSUS HONEY, NATURAL VERSUS EXTENDED FERMENTATION. THE LAND SETS THE BASELINE, AND THE PRODUCER INTERPRETS IT. OUR JOB IS TO AMPLIFY, NOT OVERWRITE, WHAT THE LAND GIVES US.

AUSTRALIAN COFFEE TERROIR: DIVERSE, YOUNG, AND FULL OF POTENTIAL

AUSTRALIA’S COFFEE REGIONS ARE YOUNG, SPARSE, AND SPREAD OUT. FROM THE SUBTROPICAL HILLS OF BYRON BAY TO THE TROPICAL PLATEAUS OF NORTH QUEENSLAND, CONDITIONS VARY GREATLY - SOMETIMES EVEN WITHIN A FEW KILOMETRES. IN FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND, COFFEE CAN GROW IN:

• HUMID RAINFOREST MARGINS
• OPEN, DRY SAVANNAH
• ELEVATED VOLCANIC HIGHLANDS

THESE DRAMATIC CHANGES - IN LIGHT, RAINFALL, WIND, AND SOIL - MAKE IT IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFINE A SINGLE AUSTRALIAN TERROIR. THERE’S NO BORDEAUX OR BURGUNDY EQUIVALENT HERE - YET. AND MAYBE THAT’S THE OPPORTUNITY. AS WITH AUSTRALIAN WINE, FREEDOM FROM RIGID TRADITION ALLOWS EXPLORATION. COFFEE TERROIR IN AUSTRALIA WILL LIKELY BE FORGED FARM BY FARM, NOT REGION BY REGION - FOR NOW.

EVEN WITHIN A COFFEE SINGLE FARM, TERROIR VARIES

TERROIR DOESN’T STOP AT THE FARM GATE. EVEN WITHIN A PLANTATION, THERE CAN BE MAJOR SHIFTS IN SOIL TYPE, SHADE, DRAINAGE, AND WIND EXPOSURE. ONE BLOCK MIGHT SIT ON FERTILE RED VOLCANIC LOAM, WHILE ANOTHER HOLDS SANDY, FAST-DRAINING SOIL. AT OUR COFFEE PLANTATION, WE'VE OBSERVED HOW EVEN TWO PADDOCKS 100 METRES APART CAN PRODUCE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CUP PROFILES - IF PICKED AND PROCESSED WITH ATTENTION. THIS IS WHERE TERROIR BECOMES PRACTICAL, NOT POETIC. IT MEANS MAPPING, MEASURING, AND MANAGING EACH BLOCK AS ITS OWN ECOSYSTEM. FARMING BECOMES OBSERVATION-DRIVEN (THE FARMER UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING UNDERFOOT), NOT CALENDAR-DRIVEN.

OUR FARM: A CLOSER LOOK AT JACK MURAT’S TERROIR

LOCATED OUTSIDE MAREEBA ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE ATHERTON TABLELANDS, OUR FARM IS SHAPED BY:

• LATITUDE: ONE OF THE HIGHEST FOR COFFEE CULTIVATION GLOBALLY, ALLOWING SLOW CHERRY DEVELOPMENT EVEN AT MODEST ELEVATION
• ALTITUDE: ~600M, WITH WARM DAYS AND COOL TROPICAL NIGHTS  - A RARE COMBINATION
• SOIL: A MOSAIC OF RED VOLCANIC AND SANDY LOAM, MANAGED THROUGH TAILORED NUTRITION
• CLIMATE: LONG, DRY HARVEST SEASONS WITH STEADY SUN AND AIRFLOW - IDEAL FOR SLOW DRYING AND CLARITY IN PROCESSING
  

DESPITE THIS VARIATION, WE SEE A RECURRING FLAVOUR STRUCTURE ACROSS OUR LOTS: SWEETNESS LIKE CANE AND CARAMEL, CLEAN STONE FRUIT ACIDITY, AND A SMOOTH CHOCOLATEY FINISH. EVEN WITH DIFFERENT FERMENTATION TECHNIQUES, THAT SIGNATURE CHARACTER PERSISTS. THAT’S THE VOICE OF OUR LAND -  ITS FINGERPRINT ON EVERY CUP.

A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT - AND A MOVING TARGET

TERROIR IS NOT STATIC. SHIFTING RAINFALL PATTERNS, HOTTER DAYS, AND CHANGING FLOWERING SEASONS ARE ALREADY IMPACTING OUR HARVEST TIMING AND PROCESSING METHODS. AND WITH CLIMATE CHANGE ACCELERATING, WHAT WE UNDERSTAND TODAY MAY EVOLVE. NEW VARIETALS BEHAVE UNPREDICTABLY UNDER CHANGING CONDITIONS. THE LAND IS ALWAYS TEACHING US SOMETHING NEW -  WHICH MAKES WORKING IN COFFEE BOTH FRAGILE AND EXCITING.

BUILDING OUR AUSTRALIAN COFFEE UNDERSTANDING - NOT JUST BORROWING FROM THE PAST

UNLIKE ESTABLISHED COFFEE ORIGINS, WE’RE NOT WORKING FROM CENTURIES OF INHERITED WISDOM. AND THAT’S PART OF WHAT MAKES AUSTRALIAN GROWN COFFEE EXCITING. WE’RE STILL LEARNING:

• HOW SOIL MICROBIOLOGY MIGHT SHAPE CUP PROFILE
• WHETHER FERMENTATION INFLUENCES CAN BE MAPPED BACK TO GROWING ZONES
• WHAT VARIETALS THRIVE (AND HOW THEY BEHAVE) IN AUSTRALIAN TERROIR

WE ASK QUESTIONS RATHER THAN RECITE TRADITIONS. AND THAT ALLOWS ROOM FOR EXPERIMENTATION, HONESTY, AND PROGRESS. LIKE OUR PEERS IN AUSTRALIAN WINE ONCE DID, WE’RE BUILDING A NEW NARRATIVE AND POLITELY NOT CHASING SOMEONE ELSE’S.

TASTING PLACE

WHEN YOU DRINK COFFEE FROM OUR COFFEE PLANTATION, YOU’RE NOT JUST TASTING PROCESSING OR ROAST. YOU’RE TASTING THE LAND, THE SUN, THE SEASON, AND THE PEOPLE BEHIND IT. WE BELIEVE AUSTRALIAN COFFEE HAS ITS OWN TERROIR - ONE STILL BEING UNCOVERED, NOT YET CODIFIED, BUT NO LESS REAL. EVERY CUP IS A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE PLACE IT WAS GROWN AND THE HANDS THAT GUIDED IT. AND AT JACK MURAT, WE’RE PROUD TO KEEP THAT CONVERSATION GOING. TASTE IT HERE.