By Gabrielle Hall
Hayden Maher’s farm upbringing gave him a natural interest in how his food is grown, so it is no great surprise that this coffee-lover would want to know exactly where and how his brew is produced.
An interest in ‘tinkering around’ with machinery – another trait from his rural childhood – also found Hayden inquisitive about roasting his own coffee beans.
Initially he invested in a small, benchtop roaster to roast coffee beans for he and wife Kelly to enjoy, but as interest grew with friends and family, the Mahers realised there could be a business in it.
And so Horrock’s Bounty, a newly-established coffee roasting business in South Australia’s Clare Valley, was born.
The Mahers are now roasting Colombian, Honduras and Peru coffee beans sourced from an importer in Melbourne and roasted in the Horrock’s Bounty plant in Watervale, about 125 kilometres from Adelaide.
A specialty line of Horrock’s Bounty Cold Brew is also being produced.
“Cold brew is, as it sounds, brewed cold which means it leaves behind a lot of the bitterness so it doesn’t need a sweetener and can be enjoyed black either straight or with cold water depending on the desired strength, or with milk,” Hayden says.
The quality and source of the coffee is of utmost importance to Hayden and he carefully chooses his beans based on their flavour and background profile.
“We source organically and ethically-farmed beans, and currently all our coffee is Arabica and of single origin,” Hayden says.
“For Kelly and I, it’s part of our lifestyle that we’re looking more at how our food has been produced and where it comes from. In this case, we have a real interest in how it gets from ‘bean to cup’.”
Freshness is also paramount.
“One thing we found over time was that freshness was the key to good coffee,” Kelly says.
“Horrock’s Bounty coffee from roast to delivery is two to three days, so it’s always fresh.”
The Horrock’s Bounty name was chosen to reflect its origins in the Clare Valley, with the nearby township of Penwortham established by John Ainsworth Horrocks, who was also thought to have established the region’s first vineyard.
Taste Horrock’s Bounty coffee at the Sevenhill Hotel, Cogwebs in Auburn, Mintaro Maze, Raw Eleven café in Kadina, or purchase beans at the Clare Valley Wine, Tourism and Business Centre or Only The Good Stuff in Clare – both also stocking the Cold Brew – or Bindlestick in Jamestown. Also monthly at Sevenhill Producers Market and available online.
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