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