Frenchy
Welcome to CS and I hope that you keep in touch with us from now on. I agree with others that we have a high per capita consumption of coffee, and that tastes are evolving in this country. There are parallels with wine. We had vineyards and wineries throughout Australia a hundred and fifty years ago, but it is really only in the last 30-40 years that wine appreciation has completely spread through Australian society. Similarly we have had reasonable coffee available in parts of Australia since the early 20 th century. In Brisbane, where I live, there was a very well known Russian who moved here in the mid 1920s and established a roastery and coffee shop by about 1930 which was known to and frequented by almost everyone (his family still have a commercial roastery 80 years later). When I was first at University in 1970 there were a number of good coffee shops in Brisbane and the visiting Frenchmen (and Frenchwomen!!) seemed to find them very easily.
However the current level of very widespread interest in coffee is a relatively recent phenomenon, no more that 15 years old at the most. As flynn_aus said , this site was only established in 2004 and the interest was initially small, but grew very quickly. In part it is the availabilty of good advice, freely and happily given, which I think is helping to spread the interest in high grade coffee and all that goes with it.
And from perhaps a more male viewpoint (he ducks quickly :
) this is a hobby which encourages gratification of the senses while at the same time giving us a never ending array of shiny new electrical and mechanical toys to play with (grinders, espresso machines, filter systems, roasters etc, etc) so I predict that we will now never see coffee culture diminish in Australia.Hope thats of interest and try to visit and see for yourself.
Bon Chance
S

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