Where Are the Best Coffee Beans in New Zealand?

Updated on January 20, 2024

Nothing beats the sensation of that first sip. A new coffee flavour you’ve never tried before — and now it’s all yours.

As the caramel liquid runs over your tongue, you know you’re on to a winner. Your eyes pop, your heart skips a beat, and a warm smile beams from your face like you’re walking on air. Your cares fade, your mood lights up, and suddenly life feels so good! So it’s no surprise after you’ve drunk the last drop to find yourself gazing at the takeaway cup, hungry to discover more about its flavour secrets.

When new coffee tasting experiences meet up with your coffee aficionado taste buds this way, you want to run up to the barista and ask them everything!

Of course the coffee is incredible; it is a coffee roaster after all. But why this one? What makes these particular fresh roasted coffee beans stand out head and shoulders above all the other coffee roaster treats you’ve sampled along the way?

That’s the million dollar question!

Thankfully, the answer is surprisingly simple.

And today I won’t just give you tips on tasting and bean varieties, I’ll show you how you can replicate the perfect coffee at home, every time.

What’s The Best Coffee FOR YOU

First step on your coffee tasting adventure is to start with the coffee beans and flavours you know. From here, you can reach out to the best rated coffee beans with confidence. You know the best cafés around town that make coffee just the way you like it. You also know which ones are your go-to’s for meet ups with friends … or that occasional awkward Tinder date!

But (and this is the critical part), we need to dig a bit deeper to understand WHY.

Your taste buds say, “these are the best coffee beans in New Zealand!”

But see that guy in the corner drinking the kind of coffee you don’t care for? Could be he’d disagree because your thing simply isn’t for him.

That’s what makes drinking fresh roasted coffee so exciting. The range of flavours is so diverse, there’s a perfect match for every individual. The art lies in tracking down the ideal coffee for you.

Coffee baristas can keep everyone happy by stocking a wide range, but when you’re brewing from home, you want your dream flavours ready to go from your kitchen shelf. No duds!

So … what’s your next best match? And how can you discover the best coffee beans in New Zealand for you?

Depends whether you like fruity coffee, nutty coffee, chocolatey coffee, or earthy coffee — and how much you know about the beans that produce those flavors.

Stay with me, it’s a two step process …

Knowing your tastes

Knowing yourself, and how you like your coffee, is important. Do you like sweet, chocolate or caramel flavours? Or perhaps a dark, earthy blend is much more down your alley?

Whatever your preferred bean to cup favorite, it’s worth your time to reflect on what notes you like to taste in your coffee. Most likely, you’ll have a very particular range.

This is important because it’s interesting how some notes can be hard to spot in a cup sometimes. Some will appear in the first sip of the brew, some will appear and change as the coffee cools down to room temperature. Some will sit in the front of your tongue, and others at the back of your throat. That’s the beauty of whole bean coffee!

For sure, there’s a range of flavours out there, but its often how and when their subtleties reach you that really counts. That’s why it’s really helpful to think about what you’re tasting, and the different notes you can sense in your cup as the experience unfolds.

Once you have your own dream Taste Map, you can explore new coffee horizons with confidence.

Knowing your coffee

When you’re looking for the right coffee beans for you, a huge plus is knowing how different aspects of the growing and roasting process affect the coffee flavour and the tasting experience.

Here’s a few tips.

If you’re really hot on drinking black coffee, and you have a taste for tropical, fruity flavours, then it’s time to seek out some Ethiopian beans that have been grown at a very high altitude and processed through a dry processing method. That’s a rewarding match.

If you like to drink coffee with milk, and prefer a standard sweet, cup of joe tasting joe, then make a beeline for quality Brazillian, medium altitude coffee beans that have been processed through a semi-washed method. They sure do the job!

If you’re not an industry professional, none of this may be familiar. But that’s no problem! Your local roaster could probably point you in the right direction.

But there’s another, much easier way to get all the coffee intel you need — and you can try it for yourself right now.

Bean Merchant has taken the hassle out of discovering new and exciting coffee matches.

Our exclusive Matchmaker coffee quiz analyses your taste preferences and matches them to the flavour attributes of our New Zealand coffee bean range. Think of it as your own Best Coffee Beans NZ Hotline.

So if you like chocolatey tasting coffee for example, here’s a new way to match you with a medium altitude Colombian bean you might not have seen before.

It’s quick, easy and fun way to discover new coffee, and we’ve added some more multiple choice questions to our Matchmaker quiz that direct you better to your perfect coffee experience.

More about that in a sec …

Finding the Beans

Next box to tick is your coffee knowhow.

Coffee roasters typically work in two ways. Some offer a range of coffee from different regions and processing methods, others stick with one region and do it really really well. Your first job is to a find a coffee roaster that roasts to your style.

Once you’ve found your coffee gold dust supplier, treasure them. Share your great news with friends. Connect over a great cup of coffee.

At Bean Merchant, we have a map of our incredible islands with all our choice coffee roasters clearly marked. When it comes to finding the best coffee beans in New Zealand, we’ve done all the hard work for you.

So if you’re looking to discover the top roasters in the country, everything you need to make a truly select pick is here.

Thanks to our Matchmaker Quiz, it takes no time at all to discover who roasts the best beans in the world, and how to get them delivered to your doorstep.

This fun quiz asks you 6 simple questions, then matches you with choice beans from the top coffee roasters that suit your tastes.

Unlike a regular bar quiz or TV game show, you can’t lose because we give you all the answers!

Better still, there’s no catch, no strings. Our quiz plays a key part in our online coffee subscription service, but there are no contracts, no hidden costs, and you can cancel any time.

All we want is for you to experience roaster-quality-coffee in the comfort of your own home. Because nothing compares to having all your favorite coffee close to hand. Right there in your kitchen, for immediate enjoyment with fam and friends — or chilling solo.

And that home coffee drinking experience begins with stocking up smart to suit your own particular taste.

Ready To Discover Amazing Coffee Beans
From NZ’s Best Roasters

Get Started Here

Take The Quiz

Bean Merchant is committed to your satisfaction, all the way. So if you don’t absolutely love the coffee you receive the first time, get in touch. I’ll send you a different bag of coffee, with a different flavour profile absolutely free. Only the best NZ coffee beans here, and that’s a promise!