Rare coffee for strong tastes
By Lee Mylne | theage.com.au | 29 March
A kangaroo has narrowly escaped becoming roadkill under my wheels just a few minutes from my destination, so I'm ready for a strong drink when I reach Queensland's Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms.
Strong coffee is what's on offer and is the reason for my 40-minute drive from Townsville. Once the local watering hole and overnight accommodation for bullock teams and Cobb and Co coaches heading to the Queensland goldfields, the former Eureka Hotel was built in 1865 and owners Michelle and Allan Sharpe believe it is the oldest building in north Queensland.
But that's not why locals and tourists are beating a path to the door of their historic split-log inn. The roaring trade - hundreds turn up at weekends - is largely down to one thing: cat-poo coffee. And cat-poo coffee, what's more, that will set you back $50 a cup.
Kopi luwak, favoured by Jack Nicholson's billionaire character in the recent movie The Bucket List, is - so he says - "the most expensive beverage in the world". I'm game to try it, albeit somewhat tentatively. But first I want some details, and Michelle is happy to explain.
"Cat-poo" may be the gimmicky name that has made the punters curious but the real name for this unusual brew is kopi luwak (luwak coffee).
The cat-like luwak or Asian palm civet (Paradoxus hermaphroditus) is found in the coffee-growing regions of Indonesia. Luwaks like eating ripe coffee cherries but do not digest the inner bean, which can later be retrieved from their droppings.
The beans are washed, dried and roasted lightly so that their complex flavours are not destroyed.
Allan Sharpe says the digestive juices in the luwak's stomach break down proteins in the beans, making a smoother brew with no bitterness. And all that, he says, makes it the world's rarest and most exclusive coffee. It sells for $1250 a kilogram.
Allan found kopi luwak while looking on the internet for a "house" coffee when the couple started their business two years ago. At the time, there was only one other outlet for it in the world, in Vienna (it is now also sold in Sydney and New York).
The Sharpes initially imported 4.5 kilograms, almost 2 per cent of the year's production. They sell a $50 cup about four or five times a week.
"People come here for an experience and many don't mind paying for that because it is a beautiful coffee," says Michelle. "It's a really smooth blend, quite strong but not bitter. But I think we've only had one customer who bought a second cup."
My coffee arrives and despite the fact that it's Saturday, it's not in a paper cup. The menu explains that on weekends, public holidays and school holidays (when business is brisk) paper cups are used to cut down on water use. "Oh no!" says Michelle. "Never for kopi luwak! And we use china cups for tea and on request."
And so I sip. It's good, but I don't think I want another one. In fact, I confess, as Michelle hands me the "Certificate of Experience" which comes with your luwak coffee, I'm really a tea drinker and probably can't tell the difference between this and a $3 cup of espresso.
My admission has a surprising result. Soon I'm a taste-tester for the tearooms' proposed range of new offerings for tea drinkers. My eyes widen as the dried, heart-shaped ball of Chinese green tea in the water infuses and blossoms into a red flower. It is like magic, floating in the water like something from the bottom of the ocean.
"It is called Enchanted Heart, and it was served to Chinese emperors," says Michelle. "The dried tea is folded and hand-stitched into the design of the flower. The tea is jasmine, tiger lilies and amaranth."
If the drinks are exotic, the food at Herveys Range reinforces the heritage theme with scones, cakes, meat pies and other home-style dishes.
If you want to walk it off or explore the area further, there's a 1.4-kilometre walking track around the property that leads to Mason's Lookout (named for the Sharpes' 10-year-old son), above a disused railway tunnel.
Allan also takes tours on a 12-seater bus along the former Greenvale Rail corridor, which passes through five long tunnels and into some spectacular, otherwise inaccessible, countryside. Mountain Way Tunnel Tours take about 90 minutes and run from the tearooms daily. The cost is $25 for adults and half-price for children aged five to 12.
As I prepare to leave, I look at the visitors' book. "Superb, bizarre, rare and decadent," writes Paul of Thuringowa. It seems to sum up the whole experience.
Lee Mylne travelled courtesy of Tourism Queensland and Townsville Enterprise Ltd.
Fast facts
Getting there
Herveys Range Heritage Tea Rooms is on Thornton's Gap Road, Herveys Range, about 45 kilometres west of Townsville.
* Open daily 9am to 4pm, except Christmas Day.
* Phone (07) 4778 0199 or see www.heritagetearooms.com.au.
* Kopi luwak gift boxes can be bought online, from $90 for 30 grams.
First published by TheAge.com.au on March 29 2008
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