With nine locations in operation, The Kookaburra Coffee is a local favorite offering coffee drinks, Aussie Pies, Baked Goods, and more. At it’s St. Augustine headquarters, it’s currently up something totally new: a brewery called Bushrangers Brewery.
The St. Johns Citizen reported last week on a major milestone for the project:
“The Kookaburra’s proposed St. Augustine microbrewery won unanimous approval from county planners Thursday after the local coffee company secured backing from a nearby church,” the coverage said. “The St. Johns County Planning and Zoning Agency approved a zoning variance and special use permit allowing Bushrangers Brewery to operate at The Kookaburra’s roastery and corporate headquarters at 470 State Road 207.”
“We’re now entering into the permitting phase,” owner Spencer Hooker told What Now on Friday. “The zoning variance was the last step. So hopefully we’ll be breaking ground in the next few months.”
Bushrangers Brewery will be brewing beer, cider, and (possibly) mead, as well. Its full kitchen will cook up unique food pairings to go with its beer offerings, too. All this is meant to take place in unified space bringing together the whole property, Hooker says.
“It’s all meant to be an indoor-outdoor space. We really want to put as much attention into the outside—and the entire campus—as we do for the inside. We’re going to put a walking-biking-running path around the property, and we’ve even been talking to some property owners in the vicinity to see if we can link these properties together.”
After what has already been a long process, Hooker says the project is finally starting to take shape.
“We’ve been working on this for quite a while. We love St. Augustine and St. Johns County, and we want to bring something to the community that can’t currently be found here. We’ll keep trying to give people the best experience we can provide.”
You can keep up with all things Kookaburra by following @thekookaburra on Instagram.
