Hot on the heals of Sarah’s tomato farming, I discovered another urban farmer here in sunny old Sydney.
Rob Forsyth, owner of Forsyth Coffee, WBC judge and roasting vetran of more than 30 years is also a micro coffee farmer. In the backyard of his business neighbour in the moderately affluent Sydney suburb of Willoughby not more than 20 metres from a main freeway, roads and shops are three 8 foot tall coffee trees.
Forsyth Crop 2007
Rob explained that his main reason for cultivating the unknown species of coffee was to help his staff to understand the complexity of harvesting and processing coffee prior to roasting. While many of his staff are familiar with ‘green’ or ‘raw’ coffee, not many have seen a plant or cherries on a tree. Most of them are local students who get their first opportunity to work and first taste of coffee at Forsyths.
Second Forsyth Tree
Each spring as the cherries ripen, Rob encourages his newest members of staff to harvest and hand process the coffee so as to gain some insight into what farmers have to go through each year to provide coffee for roasting. They then roast it and brew it to complete the cycle.
Forsyth Retail Store, Willoughby, Sydney AUSTRALIA!
While they cannot vouch for the taste it’s nice to know that even in this busy and opportune city, more people are being made aware of the whole journey from crop to cup.
