The Story behind the collection

Ian Bersten was born in Australia 1939 and The Bersten Antique Coffee & Tea Collection & Museum is a result of Ian Bersten's lifelong passion for coffee and tea. Ian began roasting coffee in a small shop in Sydney in 1968. He is an entrepreneur, writer, and has invented a coffee roaster, coffee brewer, coffee hoppers, and a coffee grinder. In more recent times, he invented the Chaicoffski gourmet coffee and tea brewer. Ian has written four books, the most famous of which is in every serious coffee roasters library, Coffee Floats Tea Sinks.

Ian's passion led him to dedicate 37 years of extensive research, including countless trips across the globe visiting vaults and historical archives to trace the origin, history and evolution of every style of coffee maker. His attention to detail and insistent demand for facts, led him through the Patent Offices in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the USA. He then went on to source and collect over 2000 significant coffee and tea making treasures dating back to the late 1700's. Coffee World is the culmination of Ian's life's work, and is one of the largest and most significant collections of its kind in the world. In 2012, Ian was inducted into the Cafetto Coffee Roaster Hall of Fame, being recognised as an individual who has made a significant lifetime contribution to the Coffee Industry.

Rob and Annie Webber, the owners of Coffee Works, have been in the coffee roasting business since 1988. Rob and Annie purchased the collection from Ian in 2005 and Coffee World was created in 2007.