Coffee Culture
autumn 2010
coffee culture
Photograph courtesy of Mojo Coffee.
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The land of the
long f lat white
Photograph courtesy of Mojo Coffee.
grill looks at what we do with 140 tonnes of coffee beans each week.
There are about 140 tonnes of green coffee beans roasted in New Zealand weekly (a lot of it drunk by grill’s resource editor!).
I
n international trade terms the dollar value of coffee ranks second only to that of oil, a menace threatening oil’s ‘Black Gold’ title. Coffee is a grand-scale economic and cultural phenomenon and Kiwis have latched onto the bandwagon with a vengeance, even making our own ‘flat white’ mark on the international coffee culture map. In late 2009 Starbucks announced that it would be adding the flat white to its British menu, and has begun training staff “appropriately”. The Kiwi coffee evolution has been grinding away solidly over the past 20 years. Self-proclaimed coffee guru Ron Laughlin arrived in New Zealand for the first time from America in 1989, and was devastated to find that the last coffee he consumed in Hawaii, was indeed to be his last ‘decent’ one for quite some time. As far and wide as he searched, Hospitality establishments take the bulk (110 tonnes) of the weekly roast; the rest turns up in retail – supermarkets and the like.
he encountered not a single drinkable espresso, only unsatisfying percolator brews and instant horrors. Upon his return three years later, he was delighted to find that Kiwi culture had embraced the art of espresso in his absence. In Laughlin’s words, Kiwis had “found something they liked and really made the best of it”. Today, after a nationwide tour of New Zealand’s cafes and coffee stops, Laughlin is pleased to pronounce New Zealand coffee amongst the best in the world. New Zealand has, per head of population, the highest number of roasters of any country on earth, some to be found nationwide, whilst others are locally specific. One can attribute the step up in New Zealand’s coffee-making standards in great part to such pioneering roasters as Coffee Supreme, established in Wellington in 1993. Fighting the good fight alongside Supreme in the early ’90s were These days most of the beans roasted are from the very top quality Arabica variety. Very little of the horrid Robusta strain is roasted in this country.
coffee culture
the Auckland roasters Atomic, Allpress and Miller’s; collectively these can be considered the founders of New Zealand’s coffee culture. Great coffee can be found right through the country, even in Auckland, and aside from the dozen or so giants of the trade, there are a number of small to medium roasters making an impact. In Wellington there are the great roasters Mojo (one of the fastest growing companies in New Zealand), Havana Coffee Works and Peoples’ Coffee all supporting the city’s enthusiasm for the perfect cup. In other parts of the country, tiny boutique roasters are also rapidly gaining market share. Havoc in Whanganui
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the industry as our roasters, as no roast can withstand the ruthless havoc wrecked upon a great blend by a bad pour. “The great taste developed by New Zealanders’ pioneering spirit and independent thinking,” says Laughlin, “can all be lost at the barista.” Collectively, cafe owners have a responsibility to the roasters who supply them to properly train their baristas in order to deliver a deserving exemplar of the roaster’s product. Whilst Wellington’s roasts may take pride of place in New Zealand’s bean bazaar, Christchurch can proudly boast the nation’s finest baristas, with six years of consecutive triumph at the NZ Barista Championships. Auckland fails to make the grade.
“Ordering a long black in the Auckland CBD is playing with fire.” and Volcano Coffee – the only roaster in the Ruapehu district, roast to order and pride themselves on the freshness of their product (sources intimate that Volcano’s Ethiopian roast is well worth a try). Christchurch’s Hummingbird, Scoota and Zeke’s Serious Coffee in Auckland and Puhoi Coffee, just north of that city, are well worth checking out too. Ozone, based in Fitzroy just out of New Plymouth, is also worth mentioning as a roaster of quality boutique blends. Even the wild and wooly West Coast boasts its own fair trade organic roaster, Kawatiri, located about 20 kilometres south of Westport down a remote dirt track. It doesn’t get more “number 8 wire” than this; all the Kawatiri equipment was designed and constructed on location. Other hot-spots for bean fiends are Dunedin, Golden Bay and Invercargill. With so many roasting houses peppering the country, there’s no excuse not to buy fresh and local. April saw the national final of the New Zealand Barista Championships. Kiwi baristas are just as much an asset to
According to accomplished Christchurch barista Giovanni Spiteri, who has manned the tamper from one end of New Zealand to the other, there is a tendency amongst Aucklanders to settle for appearance and style over good flavour and fresh grinds, and as with any product, the market dictates the quality. “Aucklanders’ past preoccupation with latte is possibly partly to blame; it’s easy to hide a multitude of extraction-related sins under that much milk, but ordering a long black in the Auckland CBD is ‘playing with fire’.” That’s not to say that Auckland is devoid of delicious coffee – there are plenty of stand-out roasters and accomplished baristas amongst the fug of mediocrity. “It’s just a pity that the market doesn’t discern the way it does elsewhere,” says Spiteri. It’s up to owners and operators to raise the bar and drive the standard higher, bringing Auckland into line with New Zealand’s admirable and diverse coffee culture.
New Zealand has more than 140 commercial roasters. The market is dominated by the largest dozen or so. These companies import green beans themselves.
Most of the smaller roasters buy from the main green coffee bean importer, John Burton Limited in Auckland. www.grill.co.nz
taste coffee
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producer profile
It’s not just the beans A
Coffee with Mojo The Mojo Coffee Cartel began in 2003 as a small boutique roastery on Wellington’s Wakefield Street. Now operating 16 of its own cafes throughout New Zealand as well as supplying its premium blended coffee beans to popular cafes around Wellington, Mojo is still based in the capital and employs a staff of 150 nationwide from its new HQ and roastery at Shed 13 on Wellington’s waterfront. Mojo’s Princes Street café in Dunedin is home to its second roastery, supplying its renowned blends to the South Island, and the first Auckland Mojo recently opened on Queen Street, bringing the flavour to the north. There are also Mojo sites to be found in Christchurch. The Mojo HQ team are all hospitality professionals and understand the need for good support and training. All Mojo staff, as well as the staff of all cafes supplied with Mojo beans, are provided with full barista training and ongoing support. The option of machine hire is also provided to businesses which choose Mojo as their supplier. Mojo’s signature blend, Dr Mojo’s Medicine, combines six single-origin coffees from regions around the world. A complex coffee with good body and medium to high acidity, Dr Mojo’s Medicine boasts a great aroma, hints
of nut and chocolate and a spicy toffee finish. Besides the house blend, Mojo also offers The Injection, a simple blend with wine-like characteristics from Africa, Dr Mojo’s Feelgood, and an organic blend. Several single-origin coffees are also available. Mojo maintains a high standard of ethical practice in purchasing its beans. Most are sourced from communities with which the company has forged solid trading relationships. Representatives from the company regularly visit these communities to communicate with their growers in order to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship. Mojo believes that its ‘relationship coffee’ is “more than fair”, as strong, durable relationships are forged and maintained to benefit both the grower and the consumer. Ranked in both the 2007 and 2008 Deloitte/Unlimited Fast 50, Mojo continues to grow, enjoying a solid and loyal customer base with over 18,000 VIP customers around New Zealand. Consumers can expect to enjoy consistent quality, and commercial clients a high standard of efficiency and ongoing support.
www.mojocoffee.co.nz info@mojocoffee.co.nz • 0-4-385 3001
uckland-based roasters picked up half the gold and a sizable number of the other medals at the New Zealand Coffee Awards. North Shore based roaster Altura also gained the Supreme Award. A fitting tribute to Chris White and Altura’s 20 years in the roasting game. As with the cheese awards featured on pages 19 & 20 winners were a mix of tiny roasters such as Christchurch’s Switch Espresso and Wellsford’s Rush, with its Rush Espresso judged New Zealand’s best Roasted Espresso coffee, and the bigger roasters including Cerebos, Altura and Jungle. After two very long days of blind tasting the 12 judges chose the following gold medal winners. Supreme Award Altura Coffee (Auckland), Eclipse Flat White Blend Café magazine Trophy: New Zealand Espresso Rush (Wellsford) Anchor Trophy: Traditional Flat White Altura Detpak Trophy: Ethically Traded Coffee – Espresso Switch (Christchurch) Waiwera Mineral Water Trophy: Organic Coffee Robert Harris Heritage Hotels: Supermarket Plunger Blend Jungle (Auckland) MIT Trophy: Supermarket Filter Blend Havoc (Wanganui) Foodservice Filter/Plunger Wildcat (New Plymouth) Decaf Coffee Volt (Auckland) For a full list of medal winners and a coffee roaster near you go to www.grill.co.nz New Zealand has more roasters per head of population than any country on earth and 63 of these coffee roasters entered around 250 coffees in the 2009/2010 New Zealand Coffee Awards. www.grill.co.nz
The bean’s knees Around 250 coffees from 63 New Zealand coffee roasters were entered in the 2009 New Zealand Coffee Awards and after two long days the 12 judges awarded the following medals. NZ Roasted Espresso
Ethnically Traded Company
Ethically traded
Gold
Switch Espresso Ltd (Chch)
Zap
Silver
Bruno Rossi
Primavera
Silver
Kokako
Rangatira
Silver
Switchcoffee Ltd (Napier)
Espresso Blend
Bronze
Pomeroys Coffee and Tea
Organic Espresso
Company
Blend
Bronze
Volt
Volt Earth
Company
NZ Espresso
Bronze
Toxic Coffee
Toxic Action
Gold
Rush Coffee Ltd
Rush Espresso
Silver
Celcius Coffee
Firehouse
Silver
Matakana Coffee
Matakana Blend
Bronze
Robert Harris
Natura Blend
Bronze
Excelso Coffee
Encore
Bronze
Fixation Coffee Ltd
Jolt
Foodservice Filter/Plunger Company
Filter/Plunger
Gold
Wildcat
Lignite
Silver
Robert Harris
Harris Blend
Silver
Hawthorne Coffee
Kidnappers Breakfast Blend
Bronze
Volt
Volt AMP
Bronze
Switch Espresso Ltd (Chch)
Rev
Bronze
Toasted Espresso
Nude
Flat White Company
Flat White
Gold
Altura Coffee
Eclipse
Silver
Rush Coffee Ltd
Rush Espresso
Silver
barista @ home
Ultimo
Silver
Orb
Lattitude
Bronze
Chiasso Coffee Company
Milano
Bronze
BP Fair Trade
Wild Bean
Bronze
Altezano
House
Organic
Decaf Company
Decaf
Gold
Volt
Volt Pulse
Silver
Karajoz
Karajoz Decaf
Silver
Coffee Lab
the Decaf
Bronze
Altura Coffee
Altura Decaf
Bronze
Coffee Lala – The Coromandel Coffee Co
Lalabye
Bronze
Bruno Rossi
Cafe Aria
Bronze
Ozone Coffee
FTO Decaf
Bronze
Robert Harris
Viva Decaf
Supermarket Plunger Company
Supermarket Plunger
Gold
Jungle Coffee
Java
Silver
barista @ home
Ultimo
Silver
Celcius Coffee
Capital
Bronze
Avalanche Coffee
Melt
Bronze
Coffee Lala – The Coromandel Coffee Co
LaLa
Bronze
Karajoz
Signature Range Blue Mountain
Bronze
Switchcoffee Ltd (Napier)
Market Blend
Supermarket Filter Company
Supermarket Filter
Gold
Havoc Coffee Roasting
Daily Havoc
Company
Organic
Gold
Robert Harris
Fairtrade Organic
Gold
Robert Harris
Euro Blend
Silver
Volt
Volt Earth
Silver
Revive Espresso
Silver
Altura Coffee
Altura Organic
Revive Orange Label
Bronze
Celcius Coffee
Capital
Silver
Hawthorne Coffee
Bronze
Coffee Lala – The Coromande Coffee Co
LaLa Organic
Te Mata Triple Blend
Bronze
Karajoz
Signature Range After Dianner
Bronze
Switchcoffee (Napier)
Espresso Blend
Bronze
Celcius Coffee
Capital
Bronze
Avalanche Coffee
Blizzard
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coffee taste
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