Glee Coffee leaps from shopfront to growing distributor

Brothers Ben and Chris Gleeson founded Glee in 2009 on the Central Coast, operating a 5kg roaster from an industrial estate in Tuggerah. They now roast a tonne of coffee beans every week and service more than 30 accounts in Newcastle and the Central Coast. This month they will see their brand gain a foothold on the Gold Coast, when The Marketplace cafe opens in Robina.

When Glee chose not to renew its lease in Newcastle, it reflected how the business had, once again, grown with the times. After seven years, the coffee culture had changed for the better. When they come back to Newcastle, it will have to be a bigger cafe with the same serious coffee.

Recalling the state of play in Newcastle in 2011, Chris Gleeson says, “There were a lot of big cafes at that point. The cafes back then were more just about food, and not exactly fantastic coffee. Back then, there were maybe four or five - a handful of cafes – that you could get a good cup of coffee in Newcastle.” 

The Gleesons had learned the coffee trade in Sydney, where it’s fast-moving, sophisticated, and competitive. They felt Newcastle was ready for a better cup of coffee.

“We were unique at that point,” Chris says. “We thought, let’s just do coffee, which was what we were exposed to Sydney a few years before, where there were a lot of hole-in-the-wall shops. When we did that, it was almost like the anti cafe: cheap furniture, just a coffee machine and pastries.”

The foothold also gave them a chance to establish their brand by gaining exposure for their coffee blend for other cafes and potential cafe owners.

“We had no storefront,” Chris explains. “We had started in wholesale roasting and training. Darby Street came out of that, wanting to get out there. It was kind of tricky. We only had a couple of customers, and we had to direct people to stores with a good barista. We couldn’t guarantee they would get the experience you wanted them to have.

“But having our own store, that was only way to go viral in an area. Have 200 people come in every day and tell four of their friends. And they tell four of their friends. It was the only way to break out of being an industrial roaster.”

Now, Glee operates two full-menu cafes on the Central Coast, one at Wyong and another at Erina Heights. Both are strong businesses. And they fit the trend of big cafes now paying attention to offering a high-quality specialty coffee.

And Newcastle has changed, too.

“Now, Newcastle has 25 or 30 cafes with a good cup of coffee,” Chris says. “If we come back, it’s got to be fantastic coffee and good food. That’s what people would expect. Seven years ago it was like a breath of fresh air: ‘a great latte, ah, I can drink this.’ The market has changed.”

Lauren Henry, owner of Common Circus, an upmarket giftwares and coffee shop on Brooks Parade, Belmont, opened her shop in October 2015, serving Glee coffee.

“I went with Glee because they were local,” says Henry, whose coffee sales have skyrocketed. “I guess, moving up from Sydney, there were a few brands from Sydney I was going to drag up here. I realised how good it was, and connected with them straight away.

“I think I have the same values – it’s not about the money, it’s about producing quality. That’s why I went with them.”

From the beginning, the Gleesons have been committed to quality. Both of the brothers are, well, aficionados, unless you want to call them crazy about coffee. Oh yes, their other brother, Nick, also came on board Glee, as the roaster.

Ben was the first to leap into the coffee industry, quitting a good job with Singapore Airlines at their Sydney headquarters to chase an overwhelming passion for coffee that saw him take a position as a barista in Woolloomooloo in 2005. It wasn’t just any job – it was the first shopfront opened by Tobys Estate roasters, at their original roasting facility.

 “When I first started working in Sydney [for the airline], most people drank instant coffee at work, it was more of a lunchroom culture,” Ben says. “What started to happen, was this initial boom of coffee culture where people started getting their coffees on way to work and going out for coffee on a break  . . . it became cool to get a coffee on the way to work.”

Ben bought a home espresso machine, which he had to hunt down, and starting making coffee at home and researching on the internet how to make better coffee. He started following some coffee bloggers in Seattle, and then took a big step.

“I found a guy, Max, who had an espresso bar and he was the only one running it, from morning to mid afternoon,” Ben says. “He was a fantastic barista, taking coffee seriously. I started going to him quite regularly.

Max was not even taking a toilet break, so Ben made him an offer: “Would you be interested in me coming in for half an hour to make coffee on my lunch break? If you train me, I’ll do that. “

The deal was made and Ben found himself on the levers of a coffee machine. 

“What I found really quickly that was the part of the day I was looking forward to the most was that half an hour of pulling shots for customers,” he says. “It was the highlight of my day.”

The hobby had gotten serious – he took an extensive barista course –  and he soon quit the airline for the Tobys Estate barista job. Within three-and-a-years he had worked in quality control, barista training and roasting training.

“It was like a big apprenticeship that you could only dream about,” he says.

He helped Chris get into the industry selling espresso machines. Between them, they spent many long weekends making coffees, toying with beans and machines, until they finally decided to start their own business as roasters.

For a while, they were in business with an entrepreneur who wanted to spread coffee roasting into regional areas. But when that arrangement ended, they were keen to go out on their own, even though they only had $400 in the bank.

The keys to their success, by their own admission: a commitment to excellence, and partnering with businesses that hold that same philosophy.

“We’ve never been willing to settle for mediocre, or what we believe is mediocre,” Ben says of the roasting process. “We are always chasing better. I think that persistence is making a huge difference for us.” 

Glee’s wholesale manager Jesse Milani is called into our interview to explain how he views the characteristics of their blend. “What is amazing about our coffee, the house blend in particular, it tastes really fruity in black coffees, which you are looking for in black coffees, but then really caramelly and chocolately in milk coffees,” Milani explains.

The Gleesons dedication to coffee, chasing the perfect blend, is clear. “It is a very very fine line between the right amount of acidity, the right amount of body, the right amount of sweetness, the right amount of complexity of flavours,” Chris says., “We really ride that fine line I believe in the middle where we can get the best of both worlds with that blend.”

While they acknowledge the current global trend toward the “metrics” of making coffee – exact measurements, temperatures, even robotics, they both believe the people factor is vital at the front line where baristas can make or break a good coffee.

“At the moment, a lot of baristas are not being educated in being engaged with their senses, like being educated to use your nose, educated to use your eyes,” Chris says.

As for making a good cup of coffee, it’s a simple concept the way Ben breaks it down.

“You’ve got three things you must understand,” he says. “If any of the three aren’t right, you’re in trouble. If you have all three working well, your coffee will taste exceptional. The coffee product must be good. The barista must be good. And the equipment must be of high quality.”

That’s it, straight from the Glee bible.

It would not be an overstatement to say the brothers have made more than half a million cups of coffee. And they have been training baristas for years – Ben has even written manuals on how to be a barista.

“For us, we like to train a barista in the why – why we do every process,” Ben says “So if you jump into a different scenario - if the grinder changes, or the coffee changes, you’re not thrown because you know the why behind the process, so you can quickly navigate your way to a good product. It’s understanding.

“ And that really helps, it makes a big difference.”