TAWA5 Best Coffee

Blood may be thick­er than water, but cof­fee is pret­ty much more impor­tant than blood. We pump our veins full at these places.

Customs Brew Bar

Customs Brew BarEspres­so is just so ’90s! Cus­toms, in a beau­ti­ful­ly designed lit­tle spot on Ghuznee St, is spear­head­ing the brewed cof­fee renais­sance in New Zealand. They offer six or more very dif­fer­ent sin­gle ori­gin beans brewed in a num­ber of ways. Ralph and Char­lie will gen­tly guide you through the process of fig­ur­ing out just which com­bo of bean and method is best suit­ed to your own tastes. Of course, they can also make you a trim flat white, using their leg­endary Slay­er… but just don’t ask for take­aways, OK?

Cus­toms Brew Bar: 39 Ghuznee Street

Memphis Belle

Siphon, at Memphis BelleYour hosts: Nick and Bink, two baris­tas with years of expe­ri­ence in the best espres­so hous­es in the city. They real­ly know their stuff, and between that and being new own­ers of a small busi­ness they’ll real­ly look after you. Mem­phis Belle is one of the few Welling­ton cafés offer­ing brewed cof­fee: and prob­a­bly the only one rock­ing the clas­sic siphon brew­ing devices of old. Mem­phis Belle is a delight both for lovers of cof­fee, and for the small­er but rather more fanat­ic group who admire hip­ster boy-baris­tas.

Mem­phis Belle: 38 Dixon Street

Peoples Coffee (Newtown)

Peoples Coffee, Newtown, WellingtonPeo­ples in New­town do one thing and do it real­ly well — they make fine cof­fee. The diminu­tive cafe can be found full of peo­ple get­ting their dai­ly fix, and taxi dri­vers fuelling up on the rich, dark fuel.

Peo­ples Cof­fee: 11 Con­sta­ble Street, New­town

Mojo Old Bank

Matt, Mojo Old BankWe hear a lot about Mojo’s engage­ment with social media, but at its heart is great cof­fee. Mojo Matt, the 2010 Welling­ton Barista Champ, may have returned to Aus­tralia, but his lega­cy remains in Old Bank’s great cof­fee. Pop­u­lar with both office work­ers get­ting their dai­ly brew and those just want­i­ng to relax in their out­door seat­ing, Mojo Old Bank is an inner city gem.

Mojo Old Bank: Cor­ner of Lambton Quay & Willis St

Cubita

Shiny and blackWhat would Cubans know about cof­fee any­way? Plen­ty, as it turns out. This small cafe on Tarana­ki Street may be over­run with Saatchi posers, but they’ll still get you your hot strong cup to go very quick­ly. It’s nice too, that a large lat­te will only (only!) set you back $4 in this world where many places are edg­ing up on a fiv­er. In fact, for $5, you can get a cof­fee AND an empana­da. Nowhere else in town will offer you that!

Cubi­ta: Cor­ner of Tarana­ki Street & Courte­nay Place

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