Buying Brown Beans in NZ, Help!

[longtalsal]

we are currently living in a friends house in NZ, out of Auckland for the summer, luckily he has a Caravel and Lido, and i brought a bag of my beans with me. Now my beans are running low and I need a supply of freshly roasted beans!

I tried a place called Kokako in Ponsomby, but they are 3rd wave style, underroasted, bright, acidic coffee of the type I detest!

I had a search for active kiwis on the forum, but most of them seem to have been inactive for a long time, so if anyone knows any Kiwis that roast in a more traditional fashion, or maybe a home roaster here that would sell me some of their browns I would be rapt!

Otherwise if anyone is aware of a commercial roaster that roasts to order or to a decent degree then I will give them a shot.

[kofekitt]

Hi, i'm living in Aussie now, but used to live in NZ, if you're happy to order online, try coffee supreme, they have a handy online tool where you suggest flavours you like and they suggest a blend to suit. I also used to like Havana, based out of Wellington, especially the 5 star blend.

[habahabanero]

I can highly recommend Coffee Supreme, they're Wellington based but the beans will usually be on your doorstep the next day and NZ postage is cheap. Unless they've radically changed their style they don't do 3rd wave roasts.

There used to be a boutique roaster in Parnell, just down the road from where you found Kokako. If I remember correctly it was run by an Italian chap - I haven't been for years, but I think it's the Espresso Workshop at 19 Falcon street, Parnell.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find good coffee in NZ, there are just as many snobs there as in Aus. Let me know how you get on.

[longtalsal]

Thanks for both those leads, I will follow them up!

[gtstcactus]

did you have any luck?

[diode123]

Coffee Supreme 'Supreme Blend' is brilliant.

[260zman]

I currently roast about 1 to 2 kg a week at home here in Te awamutu which is just south of Hamilton. I supply a local garage with his weekly supply of beans and my own personal use. If you'd like, i can do some and courier them up to Auckland for u- no worries.

[LeroyC]

we are currently living in a friends house in NZ, out of Auckland for the summer, luckily he has a Caravel and Lido, and i brought a bag of my beans with me. Now my beans are running low and I need a supply of freshly roasted beans!

I tried a place called Kokako in Ponsomby, but they are 3rd wave style, underroasted, bright, acidic coffee of the type I detest!

I had a search for active kiwis on the forum, but most of them seem to have been inactive for a long time, so if anyone knows any Kiwis that roast in a more traditional fashion, or maybe a home roaster here that would sell me some of their browns I would be rapt!

Otherwise if anyone is aware of a commercial roaster that roasts to order or to a decent degree then I will give them a shot.

I've only just seen this post sorry. How did you go? Are you still there? I love in Christchurch and have lived in Auckland in the past. NZ has a large number of independent roasters, most of which are pretty good. I prefer beans roasted in Christchurch or Wellington as the climate suits roasting better but there's some great roasters in Auckland too. I'd recommend Jungle Coffee from Coffee Systems in Onehunga, as well as Allpress and Avalanche which are both in the inner west. Avalanche are really good value and are heaps cheaper than the other two but just as good I reckon. I've never tried them but people seem to like Roasted Adiqtion and Karajoz too.
Other than that try some of the good ones via mail order. Definitely Coffee Supreme as recommended above, but also C4, Switch Espresso and maybe Flight Coffee or Havana. There's heaps more but that's a start. Good luck.

[longtalsal]

still here! we have settled on the Avalanche, (which we discovered at Countdown!), its actually damn good. We just found an Allpress outlet in Ponsonby, grabbed a bag, but its not great.

i have just ordered some from Coffee Supreme and when we run low I will 260Zman a tap and see if I can try some of his!

thanks for all the helpful advice peeps!

[260zman]

Great! I'm keen for any feed back so it will be my pleasure to roast some for u when you're ready.

[GrahamK]

Not sure how useful the following is in terms of vicinity to where you are but I have mate in Waipu who buys his beans from Rush Coffee that I believe are local to him (located at Ryan Road Wellsford about 75mins north of Auckland). I cannot vouch for the coffee except that he gets it fresh, it has a roast date, and he likes the coffee.

GrahamK

[LeroyC]

still here! we have settled on the Avalanche, (which we discovered at Countdown!), its actually damn good. We just found an Allpress outlet in Ponsonby, grabbed a bag, but its not great.

i have just ordered some from Coffee Supreme and when we run low I will 260Zman a tap and see if I can try some of his!

thanks for all the helpful advice peeps!

Good to hear, yeah the Avalanche presents good value. I avoid buying from the supermarket if at all possible, but if I must I usually go for the freshest out of Avalanche and Gravity. Avalanche 'best by' dates are 6 months from roast date so it's not hard to work out how old they are, and from memory Gravity is 12 months so it's even easier. I never tried Allpress myself so I'm interested to hear you weren't keen on it. They're expensive as well so I won't bother. Hope you're enjoying your Auckland summer.

[andy108]

Hi I'm in hamilton and must say rocket is the best I've had, it's roasted here, otherwise Havana in Wellington, by the way I use a rocket evo 2, and mazzer grinder, cheers

[260zman]

Rocket coffee have definitely got it going on. Best place in Hamilton to buy a coffee too.