About The Coffee UndergroundTM

History   Founder, Michael Persicano, grew up around coffee.  His father worked for Coca-Cola, which owned a regional coffee company based in Houston, Texas.  He has fond childhood memories of accompanying his father to work and smelling the coffee roasting as they approached the coffee roasting plant.  Upon graduating college in 1989, he went to work for that coffee company, not roasting coffee, but as a computer programmer.  It was in that environment of being around coffee every day that he started to dream about starting his own coffee company.  Reluctant to leave his job he continued to just dream about it.  At the urging of his wife, Phyllis, he bought a tiny home roaster so he could see if he really enjoyed roasting coffee.  His passion for coffee just got stronger and his struggle with working at a job he really didn't enjoy became more intense. 

And then came a twist of fate.  The Cincinnati Enquirer publishes articles called "Dart" articles in which they pick a random page from the phone book and throw a dart at it.  They contact that person and see if they are willing to have an article written about them.  In August of 1999 they threw the dart as usual.  But the first person declined and they threw the dart again and it landed on Michael Persicano!  The reporter was intrigued by the fact that Michael roasted his own coffee and that was the focus of the article.  His statement "my dream is to start my own coffee company some day" started the ball rolling.  He received encouraging emails from total strangers and support from friends and family.  Michael founded The Coffee Underground in October 1999.  Within a few months he knew this is what he was meant to do so he left his analyst job and has never looked back.  We like to say that we got our start from a dart!

Where did the name come from?  Our company name, The Coffee Underground, has a double meaning.  When he started the company, Michael ran the business on the side while still working at his day job.  So it had that "underground" feel to it.  Also, since he was roasting in the basement of his home, which is literally under the ground, the name just seemed to make sense.  While we're no longer in the basement, we continue grow our business in that "underground" kind of way by simple word of mouth.  It's still the most genuine form of advertising - telling your friends and family about a great product.

Philosophy - The Coffee Underground was founded on the simple premise that Cincinnatians deserved a fresher approach to coffee.  We began a direct to consumer business of roasting coffee to order and delivering to their door.  Over time we have expanded this approach to like-minded retailers interested in providing their clientele the freshest, highest quality coffee possible.  Click here for a list of  retailers who stock our beans

Our American-made Primo 12lb Roaster

Wonder what your coffee looks like before you order it?  That's right, those are unroasted coffee beans.  We don't roast it until you order it! 

We use only the highest quality valve bags which lock out staling oxygen.  We pack your coffee within 30 minutes of leaving the roaster!

Our Beans - While we support the purchase of Fair Trade coffees and other certifications like Rain Forest Alliance, for us quality reigns supreme.  If it doesn't meet our high standards, it doesn't come in the door no matter what the label says.  From the beginning we saw the organization Coffee Kids, Grounds for Hope as the best way we could support coffee farmers around the world.  We only deal in whole bean because we believe that if you're buying high quality craft roasted coffees you should get the full shelf life from them.  We are coffee purists so we don't flavor our beans.  Besides, our craft roasted coffees have plenty of flavor already… why add anything to it? 

Awards and Recognition - We take pride in our community involvement - both locally in the neighborhood we live and worldwide through our support of Coffee Kids.

· Named Best Coffee with a Conscience by City Beat magazine in 2003 for our semi-annual Coffee Kids promotions.
· Achieved Bronze Bean donor status with Coffee Kids in 2005 ($1,000 to $3,000 donor level)
· In 2007 we were named a finalist in the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award for our leadership in forming the Salem Business District - a neighborhood based group of businesses focused on building a stronger relationship with the neighborhood we serve.

Have a question about our coffees or our company?  Call or email us any time!