Auckland Coffee

alun_evans

Ok, let me start this post by stating for the record I am a Wellingtonian born and bred. I was suckled on a diet of coffee from those early Welly roasteries- L'affare, Havana etc. I am only saying this because I know wellington being Wellington - Auckland being Auckland- there will be a ton of different views, some well balanced, some parochial on which is best- Auckland or Welly-town coffee.

Lets quickly draw up the lines of combat. In the Gold(and black) corner we have - L'affare, Supreme, Revive, Ripe, Havana, Mojo and Emporium (please excuse those I forgot). In the Blue corner - Atomic, Atlas, Altura, Allpress, Burton Hollis (etc). How do things stack up?

I want to leave this topic open to ragging debate-so I am reserving comment somewhat. What I can say is on my recent trip to NZ I saw plenty of Wellington brands in the Blues backyard, just a sprinkling of the Auckland ones south of (say) Taupo.

admin

Hi there - am actually heading off across the Tasman [to Auckland] this weekend; Wondered if there were any other cafe recommendations? What about the Ponsonby Road ones like: Dizengoff, or even grungier alternatives like: Brazil or Benediction on Karangahape Road? -A

alun_evans

Both Ponsonby and K road are worth a look. If its not too cold you could do the trek from the College Hill end of Ponsonby right back to the Top of Queen Street via K-Road. There is plenty of choice along the way. I would be keen to hear your feedback on what you find. One thing I would comment on (totally impatially at this stage) is the old combo of well tried blendings - Colombia/Guatamalan/Ethiopian is getting a wee bit tired. Variations are fine, but when you stumble accross roasters who have opted to look outside the square it is either a/. refreshing or b/. (if you drink the foresaid blends 365/year) odd! This is the crux of my arguements about the state of the industry there- 10 years ago innovation was all important- today conformity is more to the point.

admin

thanks for that Alun -  not as much feedback as I would have expected tho - might have been wrong about the 'vibrant' thing!! -A

DoubleRistretto

Yeah Admin - think you may have been a bit flattering about our kiwi cousins with that 'vibrant' thing in your intro. - dead ducks [not kiwis] ha, ha. In fact, more like dead pukekos by the side of the road' [i think might be the kiwi expression!]. dR ;D

admin

Hi guys - have just got back from a weekend in Auckland; have to say there was an interesting mix of cafes - places like Ponsonby Rd - Dizengoff & One 2 One a bit gentrified, Santos still good. However the hot cafe belt in AK at the moment is a slightly grungy suburb called Kingsland: places like Roasted Addiqtion, Shaky Isles and Benediction - all pretty good. All-in-all, visited about 15 cafes in 24 hours! -A

DoubleRistretto

Hi Admin - what were the Ponsonby ones like? from memory Santas was actually opened by a brazillian guy - is that still any good? dR

alun_evans

I understand Santos is still going- focusing somewhat on wholesale supply as well as having their own cafes. Agree Kingsland is the "new Ponsonby", a number of small, quality focused places down that way as well as the roasting ops for Atomic. Also booming is the Richmond Road area, just off Ponsonby Road- verging into the grandfather of all urban revival suburbs, GreyLynn. Infact interestingly cafe's still seem to be opening pretty regularly. There are 4 opening in Parnell alone this month- to add to the 700+ cafes already listed in the Auckland area.