When I heard there was a hidden coffee shop that converts into a techno boiler room by night, I was determined to find it. My quest on a corner of Pitt Street didn’t take long. I ascended escalators, then wandered through Chambers Arcade. In an unassuming line of grey shops, I was greeted by a translucent, glowing green square: FBR. It’s quiet outside, but there’s more to this cafe than you’d think.

Entering the eerie liminal space, it’s clear this tiny 15-seater isn’t a cafe to work on your laptop or take a meeting. I soon learnt that, impressively, FBR founder Sebastian Cincotta designed, built and automated everything – from the glass brick walls, glowing floors and seats with in-built speakers, to the computers optimising temperature and dosage.

While I waited for my coffee, I played the shop’s Game Boy with an 8-bit game reminiscent of Snake. There are also old-school TVs set up with classic games for you to get lost in. Laboratory-style glass doors double up as a whiteboard for the team to write out the equation for the perfect coffee. It’s a handy reference for anyone who wants to learn more, or is mathematically challenged (like me).

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After a mini science lesson, I opted for a siphoned specialty coffee ($18 to $24, serves two), which bubbles as it brews over a Bunsen burner and is then poured into a glass carafe to cool. What I got is a clear, slightly ruby-hued pour that glows in the futuristic surrounds.

The mission at FBR is to make coffee better, using Cincotta’s physics and computer science background. In the works are projects like fully articulated robotic arms to work the coffee machine and DJ decks for the after-dark music events.

My siphoned serve was the perfect pick-me-up as the space smoothly transitioned for Cuts’n’Cups, the cocktail and music program. Every second Saturday, when the daytime entrance closes, you have to find your way inside via Castlereagh Street – for a rave (except at this rave you can get an awesome coffee).

Seats disappear as the room turns a deeper hue of neon green and welcomes around 40 dance-ready people for a program of vinyl and digital DJs until midnight. The surrounding stores are well and truly closed, so don’t worry about disrupting anyone. It’s worth a visit just to stand back and hear the hypnotising bass of techno resonating through the halls of the arcade. FBR is an “if you know, you know” sort of thing (and now you know).

The team is hosting a rave in a church, too. Head to Barneys – the St Barnabas Anglican Church on Broadway, also known as Cyberchurch – on Saturday August 31 for Do Good Things Better, a “coffee and culture festival”. Expect a line-up of local coffee makers (like Diggy Doos, Stitch and Headlands) and sets from “Eora’s greatest groove and garage DJs”. There will be cuppings, coffee stalls and giveaways, too. Plus, there’s an afterparty at Club 77, with all proceeds going towards coffee engineering research.

So, while a coffee at FBR will set you back more than your usual flatty, it’s been engineered to be the best (in Cincotta’s eyes). His job is the perfect pour, and he takes it very seriously.

FBR
Shop 9/370 Pitt Street, Sydney

Hours:
Wed to Fri midday–6pm
Sat 8am–4pm
Cuts’n’Cups every second Saturday

@fbr.cafe