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About

LIKE ALL THE BEST IDEAS THROUGHOUT HISTORY, UNDERGROUND COFFEE ROASTERS CAME ABOUT FROM WATCHING LATE NIGHT TV AND DRINKING.

In this case the year was 2007, the drink was an espresso and the TV program was Paul Bassett’s 13-part show, Living Coffee. It turned Lapstone Hotel licensee Tim Briggs into a man with a mission: to offer his customers the best pub coffee in Australia.

OK, so it was a bit out of left field: Tim came from a strong wine background and had run hotels for many years, but he’d got the coffee bug bad. Paul Bassett was World Barista Champion at the time. Tim sent him an email outlining his vision – and Paul duly ignored it.

Yes, it took a little while for Tim to convince Paul that he was serious about receiving coffee training, but then the pair embarked on a decade-long journey into the world of coffee and they haven’t looked back.

Happy punters at the hotel have been enjoying Paul’s coffee for many years, but now Tim has taken his coffee pilgrimage to the next level. 

Tim recently bought a micro roasting business, complete with and all the software-based roasting profiles that had been developed over many years.

Tim thought the product was fantastic, but knew the blend could be improved with a little tweaking. Enter Josh Benbrook, former head roaster from Morgan’s Coffee, who came on board was instrumental in instigating subtle changes in both blending and sourcing specialty beans through his industry contacts. The coffee world is rapidly changing and it is important to be on the cutting edge of technology and techniques. Underground coffee has made sure they are up to date with these innovations by working with industry leaders such as Anne Cooper at Equilibrium Master Roasters and Mark Beattie at Coffee Roasters Australia.

Underground Coffee Roasters (UCR) has been sourcing their beans through suppliers who have a direct relationship with growers (Direct Trade). It’s a system that provides farmers with the best outcome and UCR with the best possible product.

Each varietal of bean is roasted to its full potential as UCR applies individual profiles depending on size, density, moisture content and weight. These individual beans are painstakingly blended to create beautiful and complex roasts. Each roast style whether for espresso of filter coffee must fall into our strict parameters of moisture loss , roast development percentages, temperature and colour both external and internal.

“We let each roast ‘sing’ to us and it tells us the timing and subtle adjustments that we need to make,” says Josh.

Of course, freshness is the key to great flavour. Coffee beans will often only have a ‘best before date’; UCR roasts to order to ensure ultimate freshness and stamps a ‘roast date’ instead.

Specialty beans bring the blends to life and you won’t find UCR doing the old industry trick of substituting cheap beans into a blend. No chance.

“I’ve got a background in the wine industry and have seen iconic wine brands fall apart because they tried to capitalise on the strength of their brand name but offer inferior product,” Tim says.

“This kind of behaviour is a short-sighted grab for cash and not part of our plan. We started this business not to be an overnight success, but to offer other coffee lovers a great product at a competitive price.

“The coffee industry is very exciting, as it hasn’t been completely taken over by multinationals and consumers have such an emotional connection with their drink. In Australia the competition is extreme and it’s led to our nation having arguably the best final product in the world.”

THE BRAND

Our distinctive branding sets us apart in the industry and has turned us into a distinguishable and respected coffee company across a large number of cafes and venues. The strong, eye-catching packaging design of our signature coffee blends likewise adds to the visual language that has made Underground Coffee Roasters so recognisable.

A key part of the success of the brand is our mascot, a Citroen H-Van named Henri. The disctinctive post-war styling of the H-Van evokes the same retro-Continental theme that underpins the rest of the Underground brand and it is one of our strongest and most effective branding tools.

Equipped for both coffee and hot food, Henri is available for functions and events where you require a fully self-contained mobile cafe experience or simply need to increase your capacity at a stationary location.

As part of our supplier arrangement, we can also organise in-store signage, marketing material or other branded materials such as barriers and flags.

OUR STaff

tim-briggs

Tim Briggs

Director & Owner

Tim’s strong business background has come from running and growing large scale hotels both in NSW and WA and is committed to providing exceptional customer service. His passion for coffee kicked off while watching Paul Bassett’s (World Barista Champion) series Living Coffee, but it wasn’t until he started drinking single origin coffees that his interest really sparked in this amazing product.

Tim believes the Australian coffee industry is arguably the best in the world as it is constantly evolving and surrounded by people who love to push the boundaries. He also believes all people in the industry need to keep an open mind, constantly learn, and embrace innovation.

While the coffee industry is driven by passion, Tim believes as a roastery this must be backed up with sound economic management and structures to give the best support to our customers.

shelley

Shelley Borysko

Accounts & Owner

Shelley is not only our Accounts, HR and payroll officer, she is also part owner of Underground Coffee. Shelley had a long career as administrator for the Lapstone Hotel before establishing Underground Coffee in 2015 with partner Tim, she splits her time between the Roastery, Glenbrook Café, chasing two small children and still finds time to help in Admin at the Lapstone Hotel.

ashlyn

Ashlyn

Head Roaster

Coffee roasting produces over 800 compounds and is an incredibly complex chain of chemical reactions. The roaster must understand the science but must be able use their magic to create the best possible outcome – they must be a mix of artist and scientist. Ashlyn our rockstar roaster has both attributes in spades. With a degree in medical science and a passionate baker, she can make the magic happen.

Ashlyn is always looking to learn and improve her skills and knowledge. Recently she has been exploring more of the coffee world at ECRE in Alexandria, where she has really applied the science of her degree.

In her spare time, she designs, bakes and decorates cakes, and plays Netball and Broomball (definitely worth a Google). If you want to chat anything coffee or quantum physics, Ash is happy to chat.

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