After a restless night sleep and disappointing stay at Granite Gorge Camping Ground we were bound for Cairns but not without a stop at the recently improved COFFEE WORKS! I wasn't quite sure what to expect, deceiving from the outside, a plain shed structure in the industrial area of Mareeba, neither of us connoisseurs of coffee, but my curiosity forbid me to drive right by.
OMG - Never judge a book by its cover! The saying could never have rang truer. Gallo Dairyland was impressive and very hard to beat but Coffee Works was right up there with them. I was quickly falling more and more in love with the Atherton Tablelands and drawing inspiration for my own future business ventures.
Entering Coffee Works we were greeted with bright coloured steel statues (all available for purchase), equally bright and chirpy staff and so much to look at! Gratefully, a very knowledgeable and friendly staff member approached us and explained the options of browsing the gift shop or taking the tasting experience. From memory i think full price was $15 pp but we had a $5pp discount coupon... i really am becoming a coupon queen. The tasting experience was definitely worthwhile and so much so that once again i found myself in a place i never wanted to leave.
You would never know you were in a shed in the middle of an industrial estate... in a way i felt i had been transported to Byron Bay or Bangalow. The atmosphere alone was worth bottling. The $15 experience was inclusive of alot, not just a look around. We quickly stuck our stickers to our chest and our host walked us through to the tasting area to explain the procedure. The room was filled with numerous urns of hot coffee, both Australian and World varieties, milk, tea and to my surprise... more chocolate. Our host handed us a cup and explained that we are free to drink and try as many varieties of coffee and eat as much chocolate as desired! Had i died and gone to heaven? She then explained that when we are reading we could continue through to the coffee museum, onto the coffee roasting and packaging shed, through to the gift shop, coffee shop and chocolate shop. Lucky there was no rush, and the best thing was that we were then left to ourselves to take our time, and stay as long or little as we liked!
On to the coffee, i hoped we weren't planning on sleeping tonight. I think we could have driven for days. Different flavours of chocolate pieced where available including chilli, coconut, white, dark, some others i can't remember and a very interesting Lime and Cracked Pepper Chocolate? I can see you screwing your nose up, but truly it was very nice... not something you could eat a block of, but definitely something intriguing to serve with coffee to dinner guests.
The museum was amazing, at the entrance to yet another shed we picked up our handheld radio's. Very cleverly each item in the museum was numbered and on entering that number into the radio, you heard a detailed explanation of the item, what it did, what year it was used, what country etc. Highly valuable as some of the items where over 100 years old and very unfamiliar. I never new coffee was so highly regarded so many years ago. There were thousands of artifacts, all very interesting, and 6 individually themed booths. On a whole the layout of the museum was very well thought out, interactive, interesting and exciting... none of which i had ever associated with a museum previously.
Through to the amazing gift shop, one of those places you feel like you're exploring and seeing something new everytime you look, and then yet again, like a shining light from heaven, another chocolatier and shop. Although i demonstrated great willpower and walked away with nothing, both Ben and I had consumed enough coffee and chocolate in the tasting to last a lifetime... and there was nothing stopping us all day going back to the free stuff!
Being November, not long until Christmas, the chocolate Christmas trees were very impressive. I snuck in a quick photo and can't wait to make them one Christmas. Exploring there craftsmanship and detail they look incredible but would be achievable!
Just like Gallo Dairyland, Ben had to drag me kicking and screaming to leave this wonderful place. Do It! I had forgotten what good service was until now.
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