Skybury coffee plantation is Australia’s oldest Coffee plantation. They have been growing coffee and red papaya near Mareeba since 1987.
Ian and Maion MacLaughin decided to leave Zimbabwe in 1981. First, they moved to Oman then the UK and eventually ended up in Perth in 1987. They set off on motor bikes to travel and explore Australia and ended up on the Atherton Tablelands where they established Skybury Coffee that same year.
The farm is home to three generations, Ian and Marion, with two of their three children and five of their grandchildren who also call the farm home. Paddy’s Green is a 470-acre property near Mareeba. The coffee plantation has 90,000 trees and produces 40 tonnes of green coffee every year and over 2 million kilos of red papaya. Between the coffee, papaya and the tourism operations, Skybury employs about 90 people.
The farm has been established to incorporate sustainable agricultural management principles. The MacLaughlin’s are committed to research and develop for long term sustainable farming. These practices include water conservation, renewable power, erosion control, integrated pest management and dual cropping. They believe in keeping things local. They employ locals, purchase goods local and sponsor community events.
When the coffee tree is in blossom, the flowers smell like jasmine. At harvest time, the cherry, which contains the coffee beans can be eaten straight from the tree, they are red and sweet.
The coffee trees are harvested by a machine that gently shakes the trees, this allows only the mature cherries fall off.
During harvesting time, the coffee cherries are processed in vats of water. The water is used to clean and classify the cherries.
Heavy coffee is taken first and sent to the classifying machine where the cherry splits and the beans come out.
The beans are then sent to a second machine that removes the skin and pulp. The beans are then sent down a channel where the lightweight coffee is skimmed off leaving the heavier beans to go to the fermentation tanks.
The beans are fermented overnight (24hours) before going to the dryers.
The mark of good coffee comes from the Crema or cream on top of the coffee. The oil that comes from the coffee indicates that the beans have been extracted correctly.
Lightly roasted beans allow for the true characteristics of the coffee to come through in its flavour. A dark roast takes away from the sweetness of the bean as it is burned off during roasting.
Fun fact: coffee trees can live for 80 to 100 years, sometimes they are referred to as the Centurion plant. Productivity peaks between six to eight years and production declines at about 10 years.
The Skybury café opened in 2006 and has a working roastery. Not only can you purchase meals to enjoy in the café, but they also have coffee beans available to purchase, fresh pawpaws plus locally distilled spirits and liqueurs that are made using Skybury papaya and coffee beans.
We will be visiting Skybury on several of our upcoming tours that we have planned which start in Cairns. Check out the website for more information about these tours. Specifically the 15 day Outback Exploration and the 13-day Tag Along Queensland tour.
