Australia | Crater Mountain | Lucy Stocker | Catuai Rojo Specialty Lot

Tasting Notes: See below for each processing methods tasting notes.

Cupping Score: 84.5

Our coffees are scored using the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) protocol by Q Grader–certified cuppers. A score of 80+ qualifies as specialty grade — clean, well-processed, and high quality. 80–84 coffees are more common and often used in blends. 85–87 are brighter, more complex, and better suited for high-quality filter brews. 88–90 are exceptional, and 90+ coffees are ultra-rare, often Cup of Excellence (COE) winners — the best in the world.

Suitable To Go With Milk?: Yes

Some of our light roasted filter coffees are bursting with bright, fruity acidity—think citrus, berries, or tropical notes. While these flavours shine on their own, they don’t always play well with milk. The acidity can clash with milk’s natural sweetness and creaminess, sometimes creating sour or chalky flavours.

Roast Style Espresso

Filter roasts are lighter with a shorter development time, designed to highlight clarity, acidity, and fruit-driven complexity — perfect for black coffee and filter methods. These roasts can also be used for espresso, especially if you enjoy brighter, more vibrant shots. Try longer brew ratios or turbo shots to tame acidity and bring out sweetness. Espresso roasts, on the other hand, are developed further to encourage deeper caramelization and Maillard reactions, producing richer, chocolatey, and nutty flavours that shine in milk and offer a fuller-bodied espresso. We don’t usually roast omni (one roast for all brew methods) — in our experience, it tends to be a compromise that’s average at both. But occasionally, for larger lots or versatile blends, we may do an omni roast to suit both black and milk drinkers.

Roast Level Medium

This is a more accurate reflection of the actual roast level rather than internal & external colour readings and is based off roasting weight loss %. <11% is Nordic ultra-light; 11-13% is Light with balanced acidity and sweetness; 14-16% is Medium for rounded body and caramel; 16-20% is Dark for rich, chocolatey and intensity; 20%+ is Starbucks/Italian for bold, smoky depth. Some would say the higher the %, the 'stronger' the coffee.

Roasting Weight Loss 15.0%

Coffee roasting weight loss refers to the significant reduction in the mass of green coffee beans during the roasting process, typically ranging from 9% to 25% depending on the roast level. This phenomenon primarily occurs due to the evaporation of moisture, which constitutes about 9-13% of the bean's initial weight

Internal Agtron: 79

This is a more accurate reflection of the actual roast colour than external as its measured after grinding, internal Agtron reveals how far into the bean the roast has penetrated. Our filter roasts often score over 100, preserving acidity, florals, and the unique vibrant characteristics of each origin and process. Please bear in mind that grind courseness can affect the internal colour readings, so it is impossible to compare from roaster to roaster using this colour reading.

External Agtron: 59

This refers to the surface colour of the whole roasted bean, but it's not always a reliable indicator of roast level - Some of our most vibrant and lightly roasted coffees like our Ecuadorian Sidra, may appear medium-dark (Agtron 50–60) due to their surface color, yet are in fact light roasts with minimal development time. Surface colour can be affected by the original green colour, bean type, density and moisture - so don't judge a bean by its exterior.

Agtron Spread: 20

The Agtron spread is the difference between the colour of whole beans and ground coffee, showing how deeply the coffee is developed. A spread of 0–10 usually are very dark, oily roasts typical of Italian-style which we dont offer at our Roastery. Spreads between 11–20 and 21–30 represent the roast levels you’ll find in our espresso coffees, balancing sweetness, acidity, and body. Spreads above 30 make up most of our filter coffee range, featuring very light, bright roasts that highlight fruity, floral, and complex flavours. Within this, spreads from 31–40 offer clarity and vibrancy, while spreads of 40–50 showcase ultra-light roasts with delicate acidity and nuanced character.

Roasted On Machine: RoastMax 5kg Gas Roaster

The Roastmax 5 kg gas roaster (model RMS5) is a powerful and precise machine tailored for small‑to‑medium coffee businesses or café installations, offering a production rate of 5 kg per 14 minutes using high-output LPG or natural gas burners delivering 100 MJ of direct heat. Its robust build features a double‑skin drum with cast‑iron front plate, four independent motor controls, thick insulation, and a tri-capacity cooling tray that cools roasted beans in just 3 minutes. With electronic ignition, precise temperature control down to 0.1 °C, an integrated datalogger for both bean and air temperatures, and a countdown timer with alarm, it offers professional-grade roast profiling and consistency, and is fully compliant with AGA standards.

Coffee Storage Climate Controlled

This green coffee is stored at 23°C in a climate-controlled room, which is a step up from standard warehouse storage, as the ambient temperature does not fluctuate as much

Varietal: Catuai Rojo

Catuai Rojo, or Red Catuai, is a compact, high-yielding Arabica coffee cultivar developed in Brazil by crossing Mundo Novo and Caturra. As a red-fruited variant, Catuai Rojo produces cherries that mature to a deep crimson color, which can influence fermentation characteristics and flavor development during processing. Its small size and resilience to wind and rain make it ideal for high-density planting, especially in hilly regions. While it is susceptible to leaf rust without proper management, Catuai Rojo is prized for its clean cup, medium body, and balance of acidity and sweetness—often expressing notes of stone fruit, red berries, and caramel when grown at higher elevations.

Processing Method: Washed

In the washed process, coffee cherries are depulped to remove the skin and pulp, then fermented to eliminate the mucilage before thorough washing. This method produces a clean, bright cup with pronounced acidity and clarity, highlighting the coffee’s intrinsic flavors. It’s widely used in regions with ample water resources, such as Colombia and East Africa.

Decaffeinated? No

Producer: Lucy Stocker

Farm: Crater Mountain

Region / Area: Upper Barron, QLD Australia

Altitude: 1040 MASL

Harvest Period: October – December 2024

Sourcing Partner: Direct From Farm

Import into Beanconqueror

Import into xBloom (18g)

Katrina and I (Rhys) had the pleasure of meeting Lucy from Crater Mountain Coffee at a roasting conference in Melbourne in March 2025. Tasting her coffees and hearing her story was genuinely inspiring—it was a reminder of just how far Australian coffee has come. The quality, care, and innovation we saw from local producers like Lucy proved that Australian-grown coffee is now competing confidently on the world stage.

We were so impressed by the depth and character in every cup that we knew we had to support it. That’s why we’ve committed to buying Crater Mountain’s 2024 and 2025 harvests—because we believe in what Lucy and her family are doing, and we’re proud to share their coffee with you.

Perfect for a delicate, smooth and naturally sweet flat white or cappuccino bursting with flavour. Equally as good without milk for clean and sweet espresso shots.

We recommend this coffee for use with espresso machines as well as plungers, aeropress and stovetop percolators, with or without milk.

About Lucy & Crater Mountain

Crater Mountain Coffee is a specialty coffee producer located in Upper Barron, Far North Queensland, Australia. It is recognized as Australia’s highest-altitude coffee farm, with an average elevation of 1,040 meters above sea level. The coffee is grown on volcanic slopes, contributing to its distinct flavor profile.

They cultivate around ten different Arabica varieties, with a focus on Bourbon and Catuai cultivars. All coffees are grown, processed, milled, and colour sorted on-site.

Crater Mountain has gained international attention, with its beans selected for the 2022 World Barista Championship and World Brewer’s Cup. The farm uses innovative fermentation techniques, including wine and champagne yeasts, to enhance fruity flavors.

Committed to sustainability, they minimize chemical usage and use gravity-fed irrigation systems.

About the process - WASHED

Lucys tasting notes... "Washed: was very clean, nice honeydew melon, green apple, very clean acidity as it cooled. Probably had the lowest sweetness & body out of the samples, but I didn't mind that about it because of the cleanliness..."

Density Sorted & Pulped Washed
Wine Yeast Fermentation for 2–4 days
Dried on Raised Beds in a humidity-controlled greenhouse for an average of 8 days
Aged/Stabilised in Parchment for 2 months

About the process - Pulped Natural

Lucys tasting notes... "Pulpled Natural was very clean, nice honeydew melon, green apple, very clean acidity as it cooled. Probably had the lowest sweetness & body out of the samples, but I didn't mind that about it because of the cleanliness..."

In cherry for 2 days
Pulped & Washed
Dried on Raised Beds in a humidity-controlled greenhouse for an average of 10 days
Aged/Stabilised in Parchment for 2–4 months

Coffee in Australia
Over the past ten years, Australia's specialty coffee scene has continued to evolve, shifting from being a nation of skilled coffee consumers to one of ambitious producers. While much of the country’s coffee culture has historically focused on roasting and brewing imported beans, the last decade has seen a rise in high-quality, locally grown coffee—especially from Far North Queensland. Farms at higher altitudes are producing exceptional Arabica, thanks to unique microclimates and increasingly refined processing techniques. This movement has helped reposition Australian-grown coffee from novelty to serious contender on the global stage.

Crater Mountain Coffee, situated in Upper Barron, Queensland, has been at the forefront of this change. As the highest-altitude coffee farm in Australia (1,040 MASL), Crater Mountain has drawn international attention, with its beans featured in world coffee competitions and praised for their clarity and complexity. Their innovative use of wine and champagne yeast fermentations has pushed flavor boundaries and aligned them with modern experimental processing trends. Alongside them, Jack Jamal Coffee has carved a reputation for quality and consistency, known for producing clean, balanced profiles and focusing on traceability and sustainable farming. Together, these producers represent a new era of Australian-grown coffee—defined by elevation, experimentation, and excellence.

SKU: crater_mountain_washed_200g
Package Weight: 250g

Always outstanding coffee, great service and fast postage.

Crater Mountain Deliciousness

I really like the taste of this coffee. It is also Australian grown, owned and processed which I find appealing.

It's a very good blend.. about heavy chocolate taste. But excellent

It's a very good blend.. about heavy chocolate taste. But excellent

Aussie Coffee

I was surprised how good our Aussie Coffee is. Crater Mountain Coffee is quite mild but still a very pleasant coffee. It is worth a try.

Really nice espresso

How does my coffee come packaged?

Despite some of our product images looking very fancy our coffee is packaged into a plain brown paper foiled lined bag with a Swiss WIPF degassing valve. This offers superior oxygen and moisture protection. We recommend once you crack the seal you store your coffee in AirScape containers or Weber Workshop Bean Cellars for a single dosing option.
You can also freeze/vacuum seal in small lots, then use straight away once removed from freezer.

We don't have fancy printed bags with ziplocks (more plastic), we save that cost and buy better quality green beans so you can focus on your cup quality instead of fancy marketing and artwork.

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Australia | Crater Mountain | Lucy Stocker | Catuai Rojo Specialty Lot