Brisbane born and bred Parallel Roasters has opened its flagship cafe and retail space in Albion. The new store came to life after previous tenant Camp owners Nick Maschke and Kristina Sika stepped back from their business, giving Parallel owner Ben Graham, who held a stake in Camp, the perfect space. “It’s definitely been a goal to get into the retail space,” Graham said. “[We can now] show the public what we can do when we have total control over the product.”
Parallel Roasters was created on the notion that coffee exists in two distinct worlds working in parallel to each other. They aim to support producing countries and their communities of coffee growers by supporting ethical, transparent importers who treat farmers as partners. The Brisbane coffee scene has long looked to larger cities like Sydney and Melbourne as the centre of quality coffee, but Parallel Roasters believe Brisbane is growing into an independent and self-sufficient scene.
The new shop has been transformed since housing Camp, now featuring bench seats and fixtures surrounded by white and navy walls. But the big changes come in the coffee. Within the Parallel Roasters store Ben can try things he could not attmept with Camp. “We make sure that we always have our full range of coffees available to take home and as many as we can on the bar. We’ll always have two filter coffees on batch brew available, always two espresso options and a filter pour-over as well.”
You may also like this story about I Heart Brownies.
