24th Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Adelaide’s Orana is Australia’s best restaurant

Lifestyle
Adelaide, Awards, Restaurant

By Melissa Keogh

Adelaide food hero Jock Zonfrillo’s Orana has been crowned Australia’s best restaurant, marking the first time in two decades the Gourmet Traveller award has gone to a restaurant outside Sydney and Melbourne.

The Rundle Street establishment was named Restaurant of the Year at last night’s Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards.

The gala dinner, held in Sydney, is considered the night of nights in the hospitality world and celebrates the release of the 2018 Australian Restaurant Guide.

In a statement on his Facebook page, Jock commended the Orana team for taking the award for South Australia.

“For the last 16 years I’ve been on a journey and to tell you the truth it’s one I never knew I’d have to make,” he says.

“I’m saying that it’s called a journey because you cannot know what you will discover, what you will do with what you find, or what you find, will do with you.

“One of the things I have found is the most amazing team who don’t just work at a restaurant, they are part of something so much bigger making it our journey and I can’t thank them enough.

“I love each and every one of you, thank you so much for all the hard work, dedication and sheer tenacity involved in bringing this award home for #southaustralia.”

Restaurant Orana in Rundle Street is renowned for its intimate setting and 18-sdf

Restaurant Orana in Rundle Street is renowned for its intimate setting and 18-20 course degustations featuring native produce.

Scottish-born Jock is renowned for ‘foraging’ and using native ingredients in his dishes, but also for his work with indigenous communities.

Earlier this year, his Orana Foundation announced it was working with the University of Adelaide to form a native wild foods database.

With the help of a $1.25m SA Government grant, the database will drive research and determine how native foods can best be produced commercially.

Orana – which means ‘welcome’ in some Aboriginal languages – offers 18-20 course degustations featuring native produce such as lemon myrtle, green ants and ruby saltbush berries.

Four other SA eateries made the top 100 of the Gourmet Traveller list including Magill Estate (14), Hently Farm (50), Botanic Gardens Restaurant (54) and Africola (56).

24th Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Look out USA! Beerenberg sauces are on their way

By Melissa Keogh

South Australian sauces will soon hit supermarket shelves in California after much-loved jam and condiment maker, Beerenberg, caught the eye of a US distribution giant.

The sixth-generation Hahndorf farm is releasing six of its Slow Cooker sauces in 100 Californian independent supermarkets by October.

The sauces will be distributed to stores across the Golden State by US giant United National Foods Inc.

The Slow Cooker sauce range, which includes a Spanish chicken, French chicken (coq au vin), and Cuban mojo pork sauce, aims to add convenience to classic, slow cooked dishes.

Beerenberg marketing director Sally Paech says the sauces were launched in Australia last year and were an instant hit.

“We were so happy with it and people were raving about it, there hasn’t been a premium offering like this that gives you a really beautiful meal,” she says.

“You add (the sauce) to your protein and other pantry items and put it in the slow cooker.

“There’s nothing on the market that offers a slow cooked sauce so we saw a gap in the market.”

The sauces are designed to add convenience to slow cooked meals.

Beerenberg also exports its products to South East Asia but Sally says the United Foods shipment was the company’s first “big order” to the US.

She hopes it will kickstart success in the American market but says the world of food exporting can be tough.

“It’s a really competitive environment,” she says.

“We produce jams, sauces and dressings, which are all different products in different parts of the supermarket and we’re competing against multiple brands.”

Sally says the majority of Beerenberg’s exported products are single-serve portions, such as small jams, which are distributed to hotels and airlines.

The company is also in the midst of a multi-million dollar expansion to its Hahndorf site.

A new warehouse and offices have been built near the existing building and a new factory is also under construction, expected to be completed by mid-2018.

Sally says the expansion was necessary as product demand has increased significantly.

“Our factory is flat chat, it was built in the 1980s and it’s not big enough for what we need to put out onto the market,” she says.

Beerenberg is behind more than 90 products.

Many of the ingredients used in the spreads and sauces are grown at the 81ha Hahndorf farm including strawberries, chillies, gherkins, plums and quinces.

The Beerenberg family Robert, left, Sally, Carol and Anthony Paech.

Beerenberg is headed by three Paech siblings, Anthony, Robert and Sally, alongside their mother Carol.

Their father Grant Paech, who passed away in 2015, founded Beerenberg in 1971 after launching a roadside stall selling strawberry jam made in the family’s kitchen.

In 1987 Beerenberg struck a deal with Qantas for mini jam jars to be supplied to passengers.

As the years rolled on the small company grew to become an Australian household name.

Grant also pioneered the pick-your-own-strawberries concept which lures thousands of visitors to the Hahndorf farm to pick their own fruit.

The strawberry fields will soon be scattered with hungry fruit pickers, as mid-October marks the typical start to the strawberry season.

The Beerenberg Slow Cooker range is available at independent supermarkets nationally, at the Hahndorf farm shop and online.

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23rd Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Stringing success with Adelaide’s guitar man

By Melissa Keogh

For 30 years Adelaide craftsman Jim Redgate has strummed the right chord with some of the world’s most accomplished classical musicians.

From his southern suburbs home studio in Port Noarlunga the plumber turned Elder Conservatorium of Music graduate designs and handcrafts classical guitars, loved by the industry’s best.

When one of the world’s most talented young classical guitarists, Ana Vidović, was handed one of Jim’s guitars before a performance she was so impressed she played it for the entire concert.

Despite his rise to fame in the classical guitar making world, Jim says he has never felt the need to move his business away from South Australia.

Jim Redgate in his Port Noarlunga workshop. PHOTO: John Laurie.

“I’m from here, my family is here and I think it’s a fantastic place to live,” he says.

“There’s not really any reason for me to go interstate.”

Jim didn’t grow up in a musical family and didn’t discover the guitar until the age of 15, the same time he left school to become a plumber.

After completing a four-year plumbing apprenticeship, he decided to switch it up by studying a degree in classical guitar performance at Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music.

Before long his craftsmanship skills crept into his musical interests and he became curious about the makings of a guitar.

“My trade background was always still there and the guitar looked like it would be something interesting to make,” Jim says.

“My father was a tinkerer so I had an upbringing where I was always making things in the shed.”

Jim crafted his first guitar on his kitchen table in 1985.

Drawing inspiration from fellow SA craftsmen, namely the late Bryan de Gruchy, and harpmaker Tim Guster, Jim settled into life as a luthier.

Jim Redgate’s South Australian made guitars are highly sought after by musicians around the world. Image credit: dmportraitcouture.com

“The guitars that I was building had a bit of an Australian feel about them in terms of materials and colours,” he says.

The modern-style classical guitars are made from internationally sourced materials, in addition to Australian blackwood from SA’s South East and Tasmania.

Jim is renowned for making double top guitars, the sound boards of which are made from two thin sheets of timber separated by a man-made, honeycomb-like material called Nomex.

Retailing between $11,000-$15,000, the double tops are lightweight but powerful in sound clarity, are tailored to the customer and take months to create.

“I’ve never had to advertise, it’s all through word of mouth,” Jim says.

“I tend to make between 12 and 15 guitars a year.

“The finish with the shellac takes more time than building the guitar, but it’s about 100-160 hours all up.”

Jim is also involved in the Adelaide Guitar Festival, a four-day biennial event that is fitting for Australia’s first and only UNESCO City of Music.

The event is curated by renowned Australian guitarist Slava Grigoryan, a proud user of Jim’s guitars.

Apart from influencing the development of the classical guitar with his modern methods, Jim also makes his mark on Adelaide’s live music scene as a member of surf band GT Stringer.

He’s a fan of local trusty gig pubs The Wheatsheaf and the Grace Emily hotels and says they play an important role in supporting homegrown music.

“Many world class musicians are from Adelaide and we definitely punch above our weight in terms of talent,” Jim says.

22nd Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Adelaide Hills pear cider is world’s best

By Melissa Keogh

Pop the top off a Sidewood Basket Pressed Pear Cider and you’re about to sip on the best dry pear cider in the world.

The team at Adelaide Hills cidermaker Sidewood has good reason to propose a toast this week after winning the World’s Best Dry-Style Perry/Pear Cider at the 2017 World Cider Awards in London.

The cider, made from fruit sourced from Hills orchards, was ahead of 25 entrants including five other Australians.

Sidewood’s Basket Pressed Apple Cider also won a gold medal.

Sidewood owner Owen Inglis says the win was a testament to the passion, hard work and commitment to quality by head cidermaker Michael Redman and his team.

“Our handcrafted cider – fully produced in the Adelaide Hills – has always contained just fresh 100% Adelaide Hills grown apples and pears,” he says.

“Our dedication and desire to producing a pure, fresh product without fillers or sweeteners means we never comprise on quality which has paid us dividends with this award.”

The Basket Pressed Pear Cider is the World’s Best Dry-Style Perry/Pear Cider.

Head cidermaker Michael Redman says the win was a pinch-me moment.

“I had to pinch myself. Yes it was real,” he says.

“Now as the dust settles a mad rush is on to make sure we have enough stock on-hand for the impending boom.”

The six-week cidermaking process begins in the orchards with fruit selected for flavour and acidity.

The fruit is then crushed and cool fermented at Sidewood’s Nairne cidery within hours of picking.

Sidewood mills, presses, ferments, cans and kegs at Nairne.

An orchard has also been planted, allowing the company to “take control of the growing process”.

The company says that tests conducted in October 2016 found that Sidewood ciders had one of the lowest sugar contents in the market, with 1.8g of sugar per 100ml.

This is compared to a market average sugar content of 4.56g per 100ml.

The overall World’s Best Cider will be announced in September.

Sidewood is predominantly a winery, with wines made by internationally renowned winemaker Darryl Catlin.

It began cidermaking in 2014.

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22nd Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Carters create wine and gin with a difference

By Melissa Keogh

Adelaide Hills couple Brendan and Laura Carter have pursued a life of passion for quenching thirsts and satisfying even the most cultured of gin drinkers and wine sippers.

Aside from creating some of the most adventurous drops to hit South Australia’s craft beverage scene, the pair is helping maintain the spirits of grape growers across the region.

The Carters run Australia’s only remaining grape-grower’s co-operative label, Harvest, allowing local growers to improve returns on their crops during poor harvests.

Any grower within a 5km radius can deliver their grapes “rain, hail or shine”.

“If we’re in a disease-driven year then we just have to work harder to make bloody good wine,” Brendan says.

“If it doesn’t work out we can still pay them for the grapes and move them to the distillery and turn it into coffee liqueur.”

Laura, 26, and Brendan, 27, are leading South Australia’s innovative distilling scene.

Operating all their ventures from a 1920s cold stores in Gumeracha, Brendan, 27, and Laura, 26, are also behind Ochre Nation bar, wine label Unico Zelo, and Applewood Distillery.

From Ochre Nation the Carters use native ingredients to create premium, sustainable beverages made from fruit varieties that require minimum irrigation and intervention.

Earlier this year Applewood had foodies in a spin with the limited release of a gin infused with native green ants.

Another big hit has been the Økar, an aperitif made from riberries which are a tart, indigenous fruit.

Whether it’s ant-infused gin or using native jarrah to mature wine and whisky, the distilling duo have set out to create “the most Australian businesses possible”.

Break down their business model and it’s quite simple – just use what you’ve got.

When most winemakers would sob into their oak barrels over a smoke-tainted harvest, the Carters lift spirits by turning it into coffee liqueur.

When a 150-year-old orchard in Montacute Valley spits out a crop of “ugly” disfigured lemons that would otherwise go to waste, the Carters turn it into limoncello.

This waste-not-want-not ethos has led the Carters to be leaders of the beverage game and walking encyclopedias of their industry.

Applewood, Harvest and Unico Zelo products are produced at Gumeracha.

Aside from passion, the pair also has an unwavering commitment to South Australia and say their success would have been impossible to achieve elsewhere.

“SA has such a close proximity to quality produce that it really allows primary producers and value-adding enterprises to thrive,” Brendan says.

“Not to mention the sheer sense of camaraderie that binds all the producers together.”

Both were born in the eastern states but studied in Adelaide – Brendan winemaking and Laura agriculture.

“We have one of the best winemaking colleges in the world,” Brendan says.

“We churn out some of the most amazingly talented winemakers globally.”

Applewood gin makes the most of native Australian botanicals.

The Carters are predicting a boom in state’s craft beverage industry.

“I think it’s entirely reasonable to think that SA (beverage industry), in particular the distilling industry, could quite realistically steamroll the global industry in the next 20 years,” Brendan says.

“With the right management and the right assistance, for sure.”

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21st Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Top five Barossa Gourmet Weekend picks

By Melissa Keogh

It’s no secret that the Barossa Valley is a mighty fine region, scattered with wineries that stand tall among the world’s best.

Barossa Gourmet Weekend from September 1–3 will feature the region’s world-class drops alongside culinary delights for what is bound to be a pretty darn good way to start spring.

Festival director Andrew Dundon says that while the focus for the Gourmet Weekend has always been on the wine, 2017 will also celebrate authentic food.

“While the traditional focus for Gourmet Weekend has, and always will be on the wine, this year is about celebrating the strong, authentic food culture that underpins the Barossa lifestyle,” he says.

The 2017 program features 44 free and ticketed events including intimate tastings, exquisite dining experiences, masterclasses, brunches, garden parties, picnics, platters and flame-grilled feasts.

Here’s a list of the top five happenings at Barossa Gourmet Weekend.

1. The Young and The Restless

A new breed of Barossa producers will unleash a selection of culinary food and wine delights on Friday September 1.

The new kids on the block will be lured from their back shed into the limelight, to seduce foodies and wine lovers with their wares.

Participants include Arno Wine Co., Brothers at War Wines, Bruno & George Wines, Durand Distillery, Eperosa Wines, Forage Supply Co, Geyer Wines, Rasa Wines, Rock of Wisdom, Sigurd, and Yetti and the Kokonut.

When: Friday September 1, 6pm–midnight.

Where: Tanunda Showhall, Elizabeth Street, Tanunda.

Tickets: $30.

2. Adelaide Crows Breakfast

Food, wine and footy will be merged together for this nostalgic event at Seppeltsfield Wines.

Seppeltsfield executive chef Owen Andrews will cook up a Barossa breakfast while a replay of the 1997 Grand Final hits the big screen.

Two-time premiership player Darren Jarman and fellow ’97 premiership teammate Peter Caven will join the stage from 10am to reminisce on former glory and ponder what 2017 could hold.

2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the Adelaide Crows’ 1997 premiership win.

When: Sunday September 3, 8.30am–midday.

Where: Seppeltsfield Vintage Cellar, 730 Seppeltsfield Road, Seppeltsfield.

Tickets: $42.50 (including brekky and first glass).

3. Barossa Brewers’ Tap Take-over

Although the Barossa is renowned for its quality wine, it’s also hitting the right notes when it comes to beer.

Head along to Stein’s Taphouse to taste some innovative froths from Rehn Bier, Greenock Brewery, Ministry of Beer and Western Ridge Brewing Collective.

When: Saturday September 2, midday–10pm, Sunday midday–5pm.

Where: Stein’s Taphouse, 18-28 Barossa Valley Way, Nuriootpa.

Tickets: Free!

4. Poh, Pizza and Paella

This trifecta of delights is one of the nine Gourmet Trail events to unfold across the weekend.

Poh, Pizza and Paella is hosted by Lindsay Wine Estate, featuring the much-loved Poh of JamFace and MasterChef fame.

A new tempranillo – The Bull Fight – will be matched with Poh’s famous seafood paella and rustic pan-fried pizzas.

Food and wine will be available daily from 11am, while a DJ will be cranking the tunes both days as well.

When: Saturday September 2, 11am–5pm and Sunday September 3, 11am–5pm.

Where: Lindsay Wine Estate, 15 Vine Vale Road, Tanunda.

Tickets: General entry to a Gourmet Trail event is $10, which gets you a souvenir glass and access to all Gourmet Trail events. Can be purchased on the day or pre-booked here.

5. The Gin Sessions

This food and gin matching experience presented by Durand Distillery and Elli Beer (cookery queen Maggie Beer’s daughter) Catering is one not to miss.

From 11am Spanish style G&Ts will be matched to freshly shucked oysters.

The midday session is all about the Singapore sloe gin sling and fresh crushed lime along with hirasama king fish gin ceviche with chervil and ruby grapefruit.

At 1pm the focus will be on the classic shaken martini with Barossa fried chicken pieces with rosemary salt.

Millennials, you haven’t been forgotten. From 4pm espresso martinis will roll out with all things chocolate.

When: Saturday September 2, 11am–5pm.

Where: Tanunda Town Square, 66-68 Murray Street, Tanunda.

Tickets: Free!

For more Barossa Gourmet Weekend info, including shuttle bus services, visit the website.

18th Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Riverland students gain wisdom from Aboriginal elder

By Melissa Keogh

Students at St Joseph’s School Renmark have expanded their knowledge by being treated to the wisdom and teachings of a local Aboriginal elder.

Respected mentor Howard ‘Uncle Barney’ Lindsay visited the Year 3/4 class recently to engage children in traditional values such as respect and trust.

Uncle Barney is from the Gerard community and regularly visits Riverland schools to inspire students with history and dreamtime stories.

Uncle Barney inspired students with his didgeridoo.

Gerard is a small Aboriginal settlement near the town of Winkie and was the final resting place of well known tracker Jimmy James who helped police track criminals for decades.

During Uncle Barney’s visit, St Joseph’s students painted artwork using ochre, a red earth pigment from the Spring Cart Gully Quarry between Renmark and Berri.

“It really caught my eye, and not only my eye but by heart,” Uncle Barney says.

“Ochre is really important to my culture. If you have red ochre it is like gold.”

Uncle Barney also played the didgeridoo, told dreamtime stories and shared tales of his upbringing.

Students made paintings using ochre, a natural earth pigment.

The support worker and school bus driver never learnt to read or write but has instead engaged students in storytelling for many years.

Year 3/4 classroom teacher Greg Reeks says engaging students with a respected member of the community brings a realisitic aspect of learning to the classroom.

“It’s not just learning with a (computer) screen, it adds a whole other level to their knowledge of the Riverland,” he says.

“These people live right next to us and are so valuable to the community, so we’re trying to tap into that.”

Students wrote letters to Barney Lindsay to express their gratitude over his visit.

Students wrote letters to Howard ‘Barney’ Lindsay to express their gratitude over his visit.

Greg says students recognised the importance of respect for nature and fellow classmates.

“Barney grew up in an area where everything he ate was virtually from the bush and that’s where he learnt respect for the land and the importance of caring for nature,” he says.

“Respect and trust are one of our main focuses at school.”

Aside from Uncle Barney’s visit, St Joseph’s students were also treated to one of Adelaide’s best sporting experiences – an AFL game at Adelaide Oval – in June.

The Port Adelaide Football Club donated to the school 57 tickets to attend a clash between Port and North Melbourne.

Greg says the trip helped lift the spirits of the children, some whose families are suffering from huge loss of fruit crops due to hailstorms in 2016.

“And with the drought a few years ago there have definitely been hard times,” he says.

“It’s about trying to teach children to have confidence and believe in themselves.”

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17th Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Adelaide pops the lid on Ferment the Festival program

By Melissa Keogh

The natural, funky process of fermentation will be celebrated at the first festival of its kind in Australia come October.

The country’s leading chefs, food producers, educators, and winemakers will gather in Adelaide for the inaugural Ferment the Festival from October 19-22.

The official program will be unveiled tonight (August 17).

Cheese queen Kris Lloyd, of Woodside Cheese Wrights, is behind the celebration that will see masterclasses, bars and ‘ferment labs’ take place in Rundle Park.

Fermentation is the process responsible for making many foods and beverages, such as cheese, bread, smallgoods, beer, wine and gin.

It’s also behind the latest trendy foods, kimchi and kombucha.

On Saturday October 21, the Brand South Australia team will celebrate I Choose SA Day at Ferment, encouraging festival-goers to support the myriad of local food and beverage innovators.

Fermentation is the magical process used to make many of life’s necessities, e.g. wine, cheese, and chocolate. PHOTO: Duy Dash.

Award-winning Adelaide chef and festival patron Jock Zonfrillo will kick off Ferment with an exclusive eight-course feast under the stars.

Attendees will also learn to make butter, kimchi, sauerkraut and other fermented treats with chef Simon Bryant, MasterChef finalist Jessie Spiby, cheesemaker Mitch Lloyd, cultured butter expert Pepe Saya and author Rebecca Sullivan.

Wine writer and marketer Paul Henry will lead a VIP wine tasting masterclass.

Beverage legends NOLA, Applewood, Hills Cider and 23rd St Distillery, among others, will offer a hands-on insight into the fermentation and brewing of wine, beer, cider, tea, whisky, brandy, espresso martini, and gin and tonic.

Kris Lloyd says the event will showcase how South Australians are leading the way with food.

“It is an exciting time to be bringing fermentation to the forefront, while the concept of fermentation might be new to some it has actually been going on for thousands of years,” she says.

“We look forward to entertaining and educating people about it, especially seeing all the recent commentary around the health benefits of eating fermented food.”

Ferment the Festival is an evolution of Cheesefest which ran for a decade until 2015.

For tickets and further information visit the website.

16th Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

From Mt Gambier to NYC: SA milliner a head above of the rest

By Melissa Keogh

The dazzling lights of New York City are a world away from the idyllic country side of South Australia’s South East.

But Mt Gambier milliner Ashlee Kalantarian is about to give New Yorkers a taste of what SA style is all about.

In September, the mother-of-two will showcase her Ashlee Lauren headwear at one of the world’s biggest celebrations of style – New York Fashion Week (NYFW).

It’s a big achievement considering five years ago she began crafting the bespoke headpieces at home from her garage.

Ashlee Kalantarian has turned a passion for craft into a business which will enjoy the spotlight in New York and the upcoming Adelaide Fashion Festival.

The accessories will also hit the runway at the Adelaide Fashion Festival (AFF) in October, giving Ashlee the chance to rub shoulders with established and emerging SA designers.

“I create my pieces all from my garage which I have transformed into a studio,” she says.

“It’s a slow process … it takes hours to complete one piece.”

With the South East’s social scene thriving on horse racing events, Ashlee launched her first race-wear collection in March this year.

The headpieces take about six weeks to design.

“That’s what blew me out of the water and that’s where NYFW picked me up from,” she says.

Ten Ashlee Lauren pieces will be showcased through NYFW’s Fashion Palette, a platform that elevates Aussie designers and connects them with the big players.

She will share the spotlight with eight other designers, while Adelaide hair care company Davroe is the official hair partner.

The Mt Gambier community helped raise $22,000 to help cover the costs of the stint, while $11,000 was raised through an online crowdfunder.

Ashlee Lauren will hit the SA fashion scene on October 12, for the AFF Couture Culture runway show.

“I’m really fortunate to go to New York but (AFF) will connect me to local people,” she says.

Many social media gurus have been snapped wearing Ashlee’s accessories, including fashion and travel blogger Jasmin Howell who has a following of 252,000.

Ashlee began her love affair with design while studying visual communications at university before catching the travel bug and living in London, Canada and Dubai.

Dubai was where she became a flight attendant for Emirates and met her husband, Ali.

After falling pregnant with their first child, the pair relocated to Mt Gambier to be closer to Ashlee’s family and raise their children in the country.

The Ashlee Lauren label took flight when she made a brooch bouquet for her own wedding in 2012.

Word of her talent soon spread and her accessories were selling on popular online marketplace, Etsy, and featured in Bride Australia magazine.

Now 20% of her customer base is from overseas while her accessories also retail at Adelaide couture label Alexis George.

“Living here has given me so much love and support, I don’t know if I would have been able to get that anywhere else,” Ashlee says.

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15th Aug 2017 by brandsa2018

Country coffee lovers lifting the game

Business, Regional
Coffee, Eyre Peninsula, Regional

By Melissa Keogh

Two years ago Port Lincoln’s Richard Scott borrowed the kids’ popcorn maker in a DIY attempt to roast coffee beans.

Now the Eyre Peninsula local, along with his wife Sue, has adopted a much more sophisticated roasting technique, honing his craft under the auspices of some of Australia’s most decorated coffee creators.

The couple is behind Boston Bean Coffee Co which has been delighting speciality coffee appreciators across their region in the hope of lifting its coffee game.

Richard and Sue Scott are dedicated to serving good quality coffee in Port Lincoln.

Specialty coffee is recognised as being made from high quality coffee beans which can be easily traced back to their origin.

The awards have also been rolling in for Boston Bean Coffee Co recently, with the business winning a bronze medal at the 2017 Australian International Coffee Awards for their Symmetry – Specialty coffee blend.

The coffee company also took two silver medals and three bronze, and was awarded Reserve Champion at the 2017 Royal Hobart Fine Food Awards.

The Scotts say specialty coffee is hard to find in country towns, but holds the potential to luring more tourists.

“We thought, why don’t we start educating people in our regional area so that when people come to visit from all over the place they can go, ‘wow’, we went to the Eyre Peninsula … and we got a great coffee,” Sue says.

The Boston Bean Coffee Co’s blends and single origins are sold to individuals, cafés and businesses, while the company also often hosts pop up cafés at events across the region.

The couple research and experiment with beans sourced from premium coffee growing regions including El Salvador, Brazil and Ethiopia.

Boston Bean Coffee Co has won a swag of medals at the Australian International Coffee Awards and the Royal Hobart Fine Food Awards.

“I think our coffee journey started to a large degree in Melbourne, the epicentre of coffee in Australia,” Richard says.

“I know a lot of people in Adelaide don’t like that but it definitely is, and we really loved what they (Melbournians) were doing over there with specialty coffee.

“We just wanted to bring that quality of coffee into the Eyre Peninsula.”

Boston Bean Coffee Co uses a Loring coffee roaster – a “clean, green machine” which retains the flavour of the beans while having a lower impact on the environment than traditional roasters.

The Scotts also use compostable ‘Vegware’ cups, which break down within 12 weeks and wreak less havoc on the environment than typical takeaway coffee cups.

Australians are estimated to churn through one billion disposable coffee cups each year.

Boston Bean coffee can be found online, and at events and cafés across the Eyre Peninsula.

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