There’s more to a cup of Te Aro coffee than meets the eye. Each cup has a story, and we want you to taste it.
It begins with a search around the globe for premium, 100% Arabica green beans.
We source primarily from micro-lots, the most sought-after beans on the market due to their limited quantities and unique, exceptional characteristics. As supporting members of the Cup of Excellence, we also bid in competitive auctions to procure the highest-rated beans of the year.
Sustainability is also a priority at Te Aro. We source many certified coffees, including Fair Trade, Organic, UTZ, and Rainforest Alliance.
We make sure to buy our green beans at the peak of their season, so the coffee you’re drinking year-round is always in its finest form.
But we don’t just take the growers’ word for it; we roast and cup each sample of green beans, testing for aroma, body, tasting notes, and acidity. If we don’t love every facet of the coffee, we don’t buy it. It’s as simple as that.
Roasting:
At Te Aro, we know each bean is full of amazing potential. Our goal is to unlock all the nuances of aroma, flavour, and body contained within our beans so you can experience all the coffee has to offer.
To bring out the best in our beans, we use a state-of-the-art Sivetz Hot Air Fluidized Roaster. This roaster uses a bed of hot air to gently blow the chaff, or husks, off the beans while they roast, which eliminates the problems of smoke-damage, uneven heating, and pungent tar buildup present in traditional drum or barrel roasting methods.
We like to roast our coffee on the lighter side, because we’ve noticed that when beans are roasted too dark, the delicate flavour notes get burned away. We prefer instead to create blends and discover single origin beans that have the full body and intense flavour of traditional dark roasts without the harshness.
Freshness:
To make sure you’re taking home the best tasting bag of beans, we roast multiple times a week in very small batches for the tightest quality control. Frequent roasting is absolutely imperative when working with green beans, which, once roasted, are highly perishable and only at their optimum flavour for 10-14 days. Roasting in small batches allows Andy Wilkin, Te Aro’s founder and SCAA Certified Roaster and Cupping Judge, to closely monitor each batch and adjust for the most minute environmental changes, resulting in a consistently excellent product.