GROWING

Laura Valley estate coffee is cultivated using modern environmentally aware methods of farming practices.  We use a nutrition programme, irrigation and integrated pest management practices that are sympathetic to biological farming.

HARVEST

The coffee is harvested between July & August using a specially built Korvan harvester.  This harvester selectively harvests beans, causing only the ripe red coffee beans to be picked.  In order to harvest the maximum amount of coffee at a mature state, the coffee is harvested twice.

PULP WASH & DRAIN

Next the coffee is put through what is known as an aqua pulper, where the skin and pulp is removed from the cherry.  This is an environmentally friendly process where the washing water is recycled and used for irrigation.

DRYER

Next the coffee is sundried in a mechanically circulating dryer that we built on site.

It looks like a great big bowl being stirred but there is only a 20cm layer of beans being dried.  As the heat source, we use one of our greatest resources in Australia, the sun.  If the weather is overcast or raining, the roof can be rolled over the bin and the beans can be dried by blowing hot air up through the mesh floor of the bin.

MATURING

Once dried the coffee is then stored in conditioning bins, where it is left to mature in parchment form for several months.  The idea is similar to maturing wine.  This gives uniformity to the product and results in an improved taste profile.  It evens out the moisture in the beans which gives it a more round taste. 

HULLING

The dry parchment skin that the coffee has been stored in is taken off the coffee bean by putting it through a machine called a huller.  This rubs off the parchment and leaves the polished green bean.

GRADING

Our grading plant is a series of gravity tables that separate and sort the beans using different sizes of shaking sieves.  The beans are graded according to size and shape.  

PACKAGING

All our green bean coffee is bagged in 20kg hessian bags for delivery to the roaster.  This is important for the comfort of our staff.

ROASTING

We use a Diedrich roaster to release the beautiful flavours from our coffee beans.  This is a vital part of the process where we once again use modern knowledge and technology in an environmentally considerate way to produce a high quality coffee.

A rare but naturally occurring bean that is often the last bean growing on a branch.  It develops only on rounded bean rather than two halves as normally occurs.  These coffee beans, known in the trade as P berry are the most even bean to roast with a very distinct round coffee taste that is stronger than other grades.