Mareeba Qld 3 August 2019

Mareeba Qld 3 August 2019

Billing itself as the 'Disneyworld of coffee', Coffee World in Mareeba seemed worth a visit, if no other reason than to have a cup of the stuff. Being the sceptic that I am I wasn't expecting much, and the view from the street tended to reinforce that.

Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

However, upon entering and paying our admission, we were led to the tasting room where there are 'a lot' of coffees on tap, along with liqueurs, tea and chocolate. Each one of the brews was comprehensively labelled and available for your tasting from some thermos thing with a pump on top. I tried all of them and to be perfectly honest, couldn't really tell much difference between them. One of the four Australian ones on offer turns out to be Black Mountain Coffee, which we see all the time in Canberra and which I had naturally thought had something to do with Canberra's very own Black Mountain. Not so, it is grown up here around Mareeba, along with the rest of the 90% of all Australian coffee.

I tried the tea, but they all tasted 'brewed', as tea does when it's sitting about in a pot all day. No worry,  I moved on to the liqueurs, which seem nice enough, but not really my thing. And how could one not try the chocolate, especially a dark one called Decadence? Any very nice it was too.

Moving on, we went out the back and into the 'museum of coffee'. What you see is a real eye-opener. The main part of the collection came from an Ian Bersten, who started grinding and brewing coffee in the 1960s and opened up places like Bellaroma. He also likes to travel, speaks five languages and was an avid collector of coffee paraphernalia. Coffee grinders and coffee machines basically. But oh what a collection. From the original espresso machine  and lever action machine, to a vast range of percolators and pots, mostly unique or very rare. The owners of Coffee World (or is it Coffee Works as the website says) Annie and Rob Webber, were also mad collectors and after they bought Ian's collection in 2006 they found themselves with this stunning collection of some 8000 pieces. 

The first of its kind a Gaggia machine. Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

Another first of a kind. Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

Good Grief! A Mr Cappucino! We had one of these. All it did was froth the milk, and take 30 mins to clean....
Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

The whole thing is presented really well with plenty off interesting signs and articles and history all thrown in, all they need is a ride or two and they would really have a theme park to rival Disneyland.

Battle of the sexes, 1600s style. Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

Battle of the sexes, 1600s style. Coffee World. Mareeba Qld

Having spent several hours there and as it was now one o'clock, it seemed a good idea to eat lunch there as well. Lunch was excellent: for me a steak sandwich with gourmet trimmings and for Judy, chicken skewers with a delicious salad. And of course - Coffee!!!!