How Small Batch Coffee Roaster Crafts Award Winners in Sunshine Coast

Hint... Organically grown coffee with just the right balance of nuanced flavours with months of dedication.

Sean McGowan has been curious and passionate about coffee for so long he has made five trips to Origin. Nothing excites him more than an opportunity to craft an exclusive coffee blend. What follows is his story of a twelve-month journey, together with the head roaster, Kris McDonald, in pursuit of an audacious and intrepid coffee.

Background

Montville Coffee has tried and treasured beauties that are proven in the marketplace – the Sunshine Coast Coffee and the Woodford Coffee Blends. We knew that Woodford was serving those customers who really enjoyed a robust experience, a ritual that served their every coffee need when they demanded it – and it was faultless. The Sunshine Coast Blend was tailored to those other coffee drinkers who either wanted a coffee that was laid back and very mellow or something they could mull over and share.

Our Objective

When we considered how we could help the market to understand that we had matured as a roaster, we came up with the idea of putting together a coffee that was arguably more astutely refined. Something that when it was in the cup was equally as assertive as the Woodford Blend and equally as luscious as the Sunshine Coast Blend.

Local Provenance

The Sunshine Coast Hinterland is renowned for its fresh produce and its high quality, sweet, creamy dairy. We knew that we wanted to serve coffee drinkers who wanted a specialty coffee experience with an intense sweetness that would be enjoyed with this exceptional local milk.

The Coffee Origins

To craft this cup, we needed to have body and richness as well as acidity and juiciness all of which we knew we could get from our range. We chose Colombian Premium Coffee to really influence that caramel flavour, which we knew would be an iconic, recognisable experience. Then we wanted to balance that out with a little bit more nuance so we looked for characteristics like Panella and roasted fig, and hints of nutmeg from our Sumatra Gaya Premium Coffee. We wanted to make sure that there was a solid proportion of Ethiopia Limou Premium Coffee to give the high notes great features and attributes.

Our Process

The coffee was created through about eighteen or nineteen recipes. We started with a base and then created four other profiles. From there we would make one proportion different in each cup and try to appreciate how we were adjusting the flavour closer and closer towards our mission statement. When we were really happy with what was in the cup, we knew we had accomplished our objective.

The Personality

When the name Fredrick was raised in the room, someone asked, “Who is Fred? What does Fred bring to Montville Coffee?” We looked at the coffee, we tasted the cup and said that Fred was everything we wanted him to be. He was audacious, intrepid, and adventurous; he was rich and assertive; yet approachable and modest. The Fredrick Blend stands tall as a black coffee experience showcasing the quality Origins that we source. For milk based coffee drinkers, Fred is a coffee with nuance and delicacies that is so well balanced that the flavours are still really present and identifiable.

☕️ View our award winning Fredrick Premium Blend

The Results

As a small batch roaster of quality Organic Fairtrade coffee, we wanted to ensure that the marketplace had the opportunity to experience Montville Coffee outside of the Sunshine Coast and there was no better place for us to do that but with our peers. It was wonderful to take Fred into the Golden Bean environment and have our peers tell us what they thought of our net result given all the objectives that we had. We didn’t go there looking for it but it was comforting and very humbling to have Fred validated as a really outstanding cup of coffee that deserves recognition not just for the hard work that we have put in but the work and attention the growers put in at Origin.

What’s next for Fred?

Fred wants to be in those spaces where customers tip their hat and acknowledge, “this is really good coffee. So good that I want to come every day and revisit this character and this experience.” So, Fred wants to be in the best coffee houses all up and down the East Coast and beyond. He is in pursuit of finding those people and introducing himself. That’s his goal.