James Carter from River Roast, the producer that supplies coffee to The Bearded Cactus in East Maitland, believes Hunter people are moving away from alcohol and towards coffee as the social beverage of choice.

He said that coffee knowledge was becoming more in depth and widespread around Maitland.

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Many people are interested in what type of brew they are drinking and where the beans came from.

“It [coffee drinking] has become a big thing,” Mr Carter, a 20-year veteran of the coffee business, told the Mercury. 

“A lot of people think there are similarities with the wine industry – people are learning more and more about it.

“I don’t even know myself why I find it so attractive. 

“From a business point of view, there is so much involved in it from the roasting to the drinking and the growing – there are so many aspects to it that I can make a career out of it for my whole life.

“From a personal point of view there is definitely a social aspect. People are moving away from pubs because you can’t drink and drive.”

River Roast and The Bearded Cactus are among the vendors listed to appear at this year’s Maitland Aroma festival.

“Aroma was started as an opportunity to revitalise the [then Heritage] mall with food and they took a chance with coffee,” Mr Carter said.

“It created a coffee focus in Maitland, rather than the other way around.

“It has introduced a lot of people in the outer regions of Maitland as well [to different types of coffee].”

This year’s Aroma, hosted by Maitland City Council, will be held in the Riverside Car Park on August 15 and 16.