Santa Barbara organic farm tour

Oh America, the land that coffee forgot! I'm sorry, but that battery acid festering in drip filter pots, or the insipid-flavoured muck served in "grande" milkshake containers at Starbucks is not coffee, not as Australians know it, anyway. And please, when I ask for a cappuccino, I'm not ordering a soup-bowl of froth ...

But at Santa Barbara, 150 kilometres north of Los Angeles, a revolution is quietly taking place, one that gives hope to travelling caffeine addicts. Here, in the coastal foothills of the Santa Ynez range, an exotic fruit farm called Good Land Organics is producing the continental United States' first commercial crops of organic coffee. And, trust me, it's a fine drop.

Located on loamy slopes shielded from icy winter winds and cooled by Pacific breezes in summer, Good Land Organics is abundant in fruits rare beyond the tropics – zingy Australian finger limes, avocados, dragonfruit, lychee and cherimoyas, or custard apples. But what started as an experiment nine years ago in conjunction with the University of California is starting to dominate farmer Jay Ruskey's life, as America's interest in specialty coffee – with an emphasis on flavour and sustainability – catches up with the rest of the world.

"The coffee industry is starting to trend towards varietals, like wine," Ruskey tells me as he plucks a ripe red coffee bean off a heavily laden shrub and pops it into his mouth. "Sorry," he says laughing, and chewing. "This is sooo delicious. Here, try one."

The coffee cherry is sweet, like watermelon with a hint of rosewater. "Hey," I joke, "This would make a great drink!"

"You can't make good coffee without perfect beans," Ruskey continues. "But, like wine, you can make bad coffee from good fruit. It's all in the fermentation process, and that's something we're still trying to refine."

Mass production is not on Good Land Organics' agenda – instead, Ruskey prefers to keep sales local and intimate. Following the business model of neighbouring Santa Barbara County wineries, he believes interested parties will come to them – his farm is the cellar door, his workshed the tasting room. Roasted beans are available only at the farm, online, or in a few select outlets; and most of his business comes from a stall at Santa Barbara Certified Farmers Markets.

Showcasing the region's staggering abundance, these iconic markets are held in a different location each day, with Saturday and Tuesday dedicated to Santa Barbara city and the rest of the week in regional centres. Growers bring their certified organic produce direct to the consumer, allowing customers to meet the farmers, ask questions about their cultivation practices and to taste before purchasing.