A Guide to New Zealand's Coffee Roasters

Jonny McKessar’s entry into the roasting business was a logical step from his previous experience in, and lifelong passion for, coffee. These days, he runs a small team of roasters and oversees each batch.

The coffee you drink at his flagship or partner cafés could be from anywhere in the world - blends are not set in stone, and depend on what Jonny thinks tastes best.

There’s a small espresso bar out front of the roastery, and although limited in space, this doesn’t stop the coffee ends from flocking to get their fix.

Started on Ponsonby Road in 1992, Atomic Coffee Roasters are an iconic Auckland brand priding themselves on consistently great coffee.

Atomic buy from Fairtrade certified co-operatives, so be assured your coffee is grown ethically and sustainably. As specialty roasters, every bean Atomic buy is selected and roasted for specific characteristics in the cup. They have a diverse selection of blends including ‘Veloce’, a rich and robust roast, characteristically Atomic.

A stalwart of the New Zealand coffee roasting scene, Allpress are an understated brand with a glowing international reputation.

Having expanded into Australia, London, Japan, and Singapore, the Allpress folk keep their roasting local to ensure the roasted beans are as fresh as possible. Each roastery comes complete with its own espresso bar decked out in the distinctive Allpress design aesthetic.

Self-proclaimed “coffee nerds”, Espresso Workshop were founded on a simple goal: to unlock the flavour potential of specialty coffee and promote single origin beans. They base their bean selection on flavour quality, so if the coffee is of a high standard and a pleasing experience on the palate, it is likely to make the lineup at their HQ in Auckland.

They’re an experimental lot at Espresso Workshop and have something for even the fussiest of caffeine fanatics.

Lamenting the lack of quality espresso in Hamilton in the mid 1990’s, Glen Woodcock and Glen Crompton set up Rocket Coffee. Their now emblematic brand serves a loyal coffee drinking public from a agship café and a number of wholesale cafés around the North Island.

Purchasing their beans from farmers across Latin America and Africa, Rocket roasts a blend made up of two coffee bean varieties that change with the season.

Manuka Brothers was formed when two brothers-in-law decided the local coffee scene needed some shaking up, and in true Kiwi fashion, created their own flavour and brand. This small but growing business takes coffee to another level by carefully roasting the beans over Manuka wood, meaning the resulting flavour is a whole lot warmer, sweeter and more complex than that from its gas-fired regular counterparts.

A local favourite and for good reason, Hawthorne are an integral part of the close knit Havelock North community. More than your average regional coffee roaster, they’ve been serving and roasting coffee since the 1990’s, as well as supplying the rest of the country with their impeccable beans.

Their espresso bar, attached to the front of their roastery, is a stylishly curated space where you can experience the brand first hand.

From humble beginnings, Ozone Coffee Roasters have become both a nationally and internationally recognised brand. You’ll find their coffee in cafés from Glenfield to Roslyn, as well as a café and roastery flagship in London.

Their home base is in New Plymouth’s West Precinct, renowned for its arts and hospitality scene. Here they offer everything for the coffee bean enthusiast at their Beanstore, from beans to brewing equipment, as well as serving simple food in their café.

New Plymouth’s Proof and Stock Coffee has earned itself a loyal following for not only making a delicious brew, but for its origins: the coffee is roasted in a suburban New Plymouth garage. The roastery has fast become a favourite neighbourhood hangout. If you don’t make it to the garage, try Proof and Stock’s coffee in Fork n Knife’s seriously good affogato.

Good design comes second only to quality coffee at New Zealand’s best dressed specialty roaster, Coffee Supreme. Their carefully considered minimalist aesthetics are evident from their packaging right through to the fit outs in their cafés in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Their roastery located on Hopper Street in Wellington, is home to a small espresso bar which is open weekday mornings for excellent espresso, coffee beans and brew supplies.

New Zealand’s eccentric brand of coffee roasting, Havana Coffee Works began putting its stamp on the domestic market in 1989.

Early pioneers of direct bean trade, origin travel and curious experiences have allowed Havana to establish close relationships with growers across Cuba, Vanuatu, Sumatra and Bolivia. Havana HQ is a vibrant café, roastery, office, bean dispensary and, more importantly, an accurate representation of the energetic brand.

An environmentally driven brand, Peoples Coffee are committed to not only producing incredible coffee, but ensuring the well being of the farmers who supply their beans.

Completely Fairtrade and organic, they source exclusively from small lot farmers who band together to form co-operatives. In Wellington, Peoples continue to champion ethical and sustainable practices by serving their coffee in compostable takeaway cups and bags. And, if you fancy your coffee white, the milk is organic too.

Starting out as a small roaster and café, Mojo have built up a recognisable brand thanks to their multiple cafés in Wellington and Auckland.

At their roastery on the Wellington waterfront at Shed 13, they roast three signature house blends, ‘Dr. Mojo’s Medicine’, ‘The Injection’ and ‘Feelgood’. They also roast a range of single origins, micro lot beans and over 90 other coffees from around the world. Traceability from origin ensures they can deliver a ‘crop to cup’ approach with involvement in every step of the way.

Although relative newcomers to the Wellington roasting scene, Rich Coffee Roasters are by no means amateurs. Owned by Cam McClure (one of the masterminds behind Flat White in London) and Richie Russell (Monmouth Coffee’s roaster for 10 years), they turned their efforts to roasting at home after they spotted their dream roaster (a Petroncini) and thus, an opportunity.

Their focus is on wholesaling their coffee to select suppliers, working alongside them to serve the best coffee they can. For a taste, head down to the roastery, open Saturdays 9.00am-3.00pm.

C4 Coffee Co are the quiet achievers of the country’s coffee roasting industry. They’ve been sourcing and supplying coffee for over 20 years.

C4 operate out of a very cool space in central Christchurch, which plays host to their entire operations. Sourcing, roasting, shipping, brewing and serving their specialty coffee under one roof, you can watch it all happen from the comfort of your armchair in their café.

At home base, the team roast a range of different blends, including their famous ‘Krank’, alongside a rotating selection of no less than 12 single origin options available at any one time.

Starting out as a one man roasting operation in New Brighton, Switch Espresso have grown to become an iconic Christchurch brand thanks to their holistic approach to both coffee and hospitality.
Sourcing beans from Trade Aid and organic co-operatives from around the world, Switch roast several different single origin coffees which are made into a range of superb blends for both wholesale and at home brewing. They also serve single origin coffee via syphon, filter and Aeropress at their small collection of cafes.

Found in Christchurch’s port town, the Lyttelton Coffee Company are a roastery and café with a strong sense of community and sustainability.

At Lyttelton Coffee Company, they offer a five bean blend, best suited to white coffee, a selection of single origins for black espresso and a three-bean blend suitable for both black and white coffee.

Jailbreaker Coffee are a company that exists to serve others, redistributing 70% of their profits locally and globally, including back to the growers of the coffee they use. Most of their Fairtrade and organic coffee beans are sourced through Trade Aid, giving a robustness around transparency of fair trading practices and quality control.

Their house blend, ‘Jailbreaker’, is an ever evolving mix of beans from around the world, roasted to perfection at their café, Addington Coffee Co-op.

Andy Norman and David Pai are the friends behind Embassy Coffee. In 2014 they turned their mutual desire to source the freshest coffee possible for their cafés and wholesale clients, into reality.

Focusing very much on the freshest beans, Andy and David buy their coffee around the harvest calendars of each origin. So you can expect your coffee early in the year to be from South America / Central America, and then later in the year from Ethiopia, Kenya, Burundi, and Guatemala.

Family-owned Prima Roastery and Coffee Bar is a hidden gem. The roastery supplies coffee to a number of cafes within the city, along with training, support and equipment.

Prima was the first roastery in Aotearoa to use compostable packaging for its coffee way back in 2011, and its crew is serious about sustainability. Prima was presented an Ecoware Waste Warrior Award in 2018 in recognition of its dedication to waste reduction.

Beans make their way to the Fairtrade-certified roastery from the major coffee regions across the globe, and a range of blends and origins are available from the coffee bar.

Unknown Chapter is best known by the brunch community, and since its in-house St Asaph St cafe coffee roasting moved off site, many have forgotten these good folk run a seriously tight roasting operation. Pick up Unknown beans for for that hit of caffeine at home. Taste test the merchandise at the cafe in town and you'll be left wanting more.

A coffee company that like to do things a little differently, you won’t find branded t-shirts, shouty street signs or pushy sales staff coming out of Common Ground Espresso. Instead, their focus is on simply providing great coffee to the good people of Dunedin and Central Otago.

Big on small batch quality, they brew by espresso at their roaster for their two ‘Dispensary’ cafés and cafés who share a ‘common’ code.