OZONE COFFEE ROASTERS

2011-03-16T11:24:00.001+13:00

BREW METHOD & CUPPING WORKSHOP

2011-03-15T16:36:00.009+13:00

Next Workshop - Thursday, March 24th at 7pm

February’s event saw a table full of coffees from the 4 corners….several Indonesian offerings (including a Kopi Luwak), some great coffees from Honduras, Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya and even a Robusta coffee from Uganda….all in all 15 coffees on the table.

We mixed it up with the participants too, with some coffees we expected to be under whelming…it is good to taste a defective, past crop or commodity grade coffee once in a while…all the cuppers found tasting these coffees very insightful ….and as a roasting team it exposes our pallets to flavours we may not have come across and continues to build up a sensory memory.

Throughout 2011 we will be hosting an event every month. Each event will offer up a different brew method or 2, as well as cupping coffees from many different origins…their will always be something unique in the mix.

The roasting team would love to see any keen cuppers come along, taste some extraordinary brews and talk all things coffee.

WELBOURN Primary School get earthquake supplies down to CHRISTCHURCH

2011-03-02T16:07:00.011+13:00

PM John Key said last week "its not Christchurch's test, it NZs' test" ....and amongst the many great stories we are hearing of NZers' getting stuck in to help our fellow NZers down in Christchurch is the children of Welbourn Primary School here in NP. They saw the need and quickly mobilised to collect food and water (and even write a few notes of support) and get a pallet load of much needed supplies down to a community distrbution centre.(along with dressing in red and black too) On ya! Welbourn School!

2011-02-23T14:37:00.000+13:00

SINGLE ORIGIN Cupping Workshop

2011-02-22T11:05:00.005+13:00

This Thursday - February 24th at 7pm

Come along and taste a array of origins of
different terroir, varietal and processing.

Guaranteed a sensory experience!

CANADIANS LOVE OZONE COFFEE

2011-02-15T12:27:00.009+13:00

Andy from Te Aro Roasted has reported back from his Down Under Espresso Tasting Event and it would seem the Canadians appreciate our NZ style of roasting and blending for espresso.

"The event drew in a real mix of people with a turnout of around 80 people – consumers, baristas, coffee shop owners, and other roasters. Coffee was generously donated from the invited NZ roasters including Ozone Coffee Roasters.

There was a little concern about how the coffees would travel, but the 27 hour flight didn’t seem to affect the quality or taste.

The blend from Ozone Coffee Roasters had big chocolate notes, it was juicy, had a smooth acidity, and a full-body. They generously donated a large amount of coffee, and we were running it on the weekend for customers – great feedback. Ozone started in 1998, and Andy met Paul Newbold (Roaster at Ozone) in Guatemala last year."

Thanks Andy Wilkin and the team at Te Aro Roasted for the invite and brewing our coffee to perfection!

TARANAKI Half Iron Man 2011

2011-02-14T12:38:00.012+13:00

This Sunday Nic, Craig and Courtney participated in the inaugural Taranaki Half Iron-Man....apparently already been dubbed NZ's toughest.

Ozone Coffee Roasters team 1 came 2nd overall in the Mixed Teams event on a very hot dy here in NP. Craig crossed the finish line with a great time and Isabella helping with the sprint of the last few metres.

Team 2 finished well in the teams event also...awesome swim by Nic against the tide, Lachie cycled well on a hilly course with a head wind on the return to transition and Courtney showed sheer determination in the heat on the 21km run.

NZ vs OZ in CANADA

2011-02-10T16:24:00.001+13:00

Andy Wilkin, a Kiwi I met at Cup of Excellence in Guatemala last year is roasting up a storm in Toronto.
He recently gave us the call up to send coffee over to his upcoming tasting event....this Friday (maybe our Saturday).....so we have packed up a few kilos of FTO Espresso and Empire to battle out with a few other Kiwis, a few Australian Roasters and the Canadians tastebuds.
Wish we could attend....should be a great night....all the best Andy and the team at Te Aro Roasted.

SINGLE ORIGIN OFFERINGS

2011-02-08T16:50:00.002+13:00

This week are offering up 2 great Single Origins

Guatemala El Progreso from the Santa Rosa region is a stellar, classic Guatemalan coffee

Kenya Muthe Wathi AA is a from the Nyeri District, a renowned growing region and has all the distinct Kenyan characteristics in the cup.

Both these coffees are very limited and availability may mean we never have these again....definitely need to be enjoyed while we have them to roast

COLOMBIAN San Sebastian back on the roast schedule

2011-01-11T16:32:00.004+13:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL !

2010-12-24T10:18:00.019+13:00

Lukes been good!

The very cool, very chic, very Christmas ...Cafe Govett Brewster

Apparently all of us have been good this year! ...Paul

Karen too!

Santa is excited about Fleur R's gift

Terri has been good also!

Whatever St Nick!

Santa getting serious Christmas loving from Jason

Nic been questioned by Santa re naughty or nice?

Merry Christmas Karla... from cousin Santa

EL SALVADOR San Emilio

2010-12-22T12:10:00.005+13:00

Pulped Natural goodness for Christmas

The Land in which we Roast

2010-12-17T12:25:00.002+13:00

HARIO pour over, CHEMEX and HARIO Syphon feature at the Decenber workshops.

2010-12-17T12:04:00.003+13:00

Thanks to all the keen attendees at the latest December round of Cuppings and Brew method workshops.

The ground swell of New Plymouth non -pressurized coffee brewing fans has begun.

Tasting all things coffee

2010-11-30T11:17:00.001+13:00

COLOMBIA San Sebastian

2010-11-16T11:33:00.005+13:00

NOW ROASTING
Colombian San Sebastian
from the Huila Region...more specifically La Plata at a nice high altitude of 1800-2000m
Clean, sweet classic Colombian ....classy!
Come in and try through the Chemex or Pour over

ROASTING THIS WEEK - GET YOURS NOW!

2010-11-04T09:20:00.000+13:00

The Taste of Thailand?

2010-10-14T09:28:00.005+13:00

Just had some '100% premium gourmet Arabica and Robusta' coffee from the North and South of Thailand dropped off....a chance to try Hotel Sachet coffee from another place. Thanks Ray?

Each 25g 'All Day' serving comes with a filter paper...thats a cool idea....but the coffee?

HOMETOWN HEROES

2010-10-12T16:10:00.004+13:00

You need to check the latest URBIS

A great write up on our hometown NP featuring
many cool people and places that help to make
NP such a cool place to live.

Grab a coffee, put your feet up and read on.

ozone morphing

2010-09-10T13:34:00.004+12:00

HARIO V60 Coffee brewers are here

2010-08-24T16:48:00.007+12:00

All the way from Japan. HARIO brewing equipment is here.

There is no better choice than the HARIO V60 dripper for taste and design. Warning...picture not to scale.

OZONE Bean Store can now brew you a tasty single origin HARIO style.

Dont you think NP needs one of these?

2010-08-17T15:28:00.002+12:00

CHEMEX

2010-08-04T13:44:00.011+12:00

OZONE COFFEE ROASTERS love brewing their morning coffees on the CHEMEX coffee makers.

For some time now the CHEMEX has been making a resurgence....but this is no new brewing method....German-born Chemist Peter Schlumborn began working on a cleaner, purer way to brew coffee in the late 1930's.

Ask us Ozonians about this brewing method that treats coffee in a gentler, softer way to other brew methods...which allows origins to shine.
The Ozone Bean store has 3 and 6 cup CHEMEX coffee makers for sale along with the specialised brewing papers so you, along with Monica from FRIENDS can enjoy brewing in what is a coffee making design piece from the New York Museum of Modern Art.

SUBE Benificio | GUATEMALA CITY | GUATEMALA

2010-07-28T11:51:00.009+12:00

Heres a short film on the SUBE Benificio in Guatemala City. Coffee is delivered here after processing, stored for a while, then milled, sorted and bagged up....ready for export.

Finca Santa Isabel / Santa Rosa Municipality / GUATEMALA

2010-07-19T17:28:00.010+12:00

...new and improved version.

Buying a Cup of Excellence

2010-07-14T16:57:00.005+12:00

The 2010 CoE Guatemalan Auction is 1am Thursday morning our time...that means by the time we start up the roaster tomorrow we will know if we have obtained one of the 29 lots from this years winning farms.

UGANDA Gumutindo

2010-06-29T11:55:00.014+12:00

Coffee of the Month for June

UGANDA
Gumutindo Co-operative
Washed Process
Fair Trade Certified

Another beautiful East African offering...creamy body, floral nose,
chocolate and fruit flavours, soft acidity...a great single origin.

Ethiopian Sidamo

2010-06-23T11:21:00.009+12:00

Back by popular demand...a Ozone team favourite for home coffee brewing.

Ethiopian Sidamo
Arabica - Heirloom Ethiopian
Washed Process
Fair Trade Certified

Guatemala Finca El Injerto

2010-06-21T16:57:00.005+12:00

This stunning coffee is back at Ozone Coffee Roasters. Roasted today!

Finca El Injerto is located in a unique, isolated micro-climate in the region of Huehuetenango.

A washed process coffee, this Bourbon varietal offers up a clean, sweet, balanced cup.

Paul is back and so is our Public Cupping sessions

2010-06-15T14:58:00.003+12:00

About time we started up the ever popular cupping [tasting] sessions.

A great way for you NP folk to come and taste some new coffees and get some intel on your home coffee requirements...weve got new Chemex and Swiss Gold stock in too.

This Wednesday 2.30pm at the Ozone Bean Store...all welcome...

World KeepCup 2010

2010-06-10T10:11:00.006+12:00

I vividly remember the All Whites making the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain....football went mental at primary school, Europa petrol stations had these really cheap footballs that were so light you could curl them like a pro...and you could easily make your own uniform...all you needed was a white tshirt and shorts and some black insulation tape.

The All Whites face Slovakia on Tuesday night...show your support....we have the ability to create the coolest [unofficial - not approved by FIFA] All White supporters KeepCup.

The Cup of Excellence Experience

2010-06-08T09:20:00.005+12:00

Back home [and safe] and dealing with the NZ winter...no wetter than Guatemala at this time of year, just a whole lot colder.

Im officially hooked on travelling to origin, cupping some of the finest fresh crop coffees available and meeting some great coffee folk from around the globe...

Me and Vytautas aka 'Vytas' form SVIEZIA KAVA in Lithuania at Finca Santa Isabel

...we are happy to be in the fields of Guatemala.

CoE #1 complete

2010-06-02T14:00:00.013+12:00

As you can see in the photos below, travel didnt happen exactly to plan.
After the ash from Pocaya closed the airport we quickly realised that we needed to make alternative plans.
Instead of an amazing day planned in Antigua [have to go next time!] 6 of us attendees took a 5 hour bus ride to El Salvador in the start of cyclone Agatha, through some of the worst roads I have experienced and the border check point.
Arrived to San Salvador, checked into a comfy hotel and tucked into a great meal...a welcome end to an adventurous day for all.
A good feeling getting out of El Salvador on Saturday morning....it poured down all night...420mm to be exact. I was literally the only passenger not taking a bag of Pallo Campero [deep fried chicken goodness] into the U.S

Guatemala to NZ [via El Salvador]

2010-06-01T16:17:00.016+12:00

Friday's Blog on Tuesday?

2010-06-01T15:34:00.002+12:00

So my day 5 of Guatemalan CoE blog didnt happen...thats because Thursday night Pocaya erupted, black ash fell in Guatemala City and the internet at the Hotel was no more.

Friday we awoke to black ash on the ground throughout the city, and the realisation the airport would be closed for our flights out on Sunday.

...but the cupping of the top 10 scoring coffees still went ahead.
An outstanding 10 coffees to judge and award their final scores for ranking...you will have to wait for the official results out from CoE.

What an honour to be there for the official awards night...to see the reaction of the coffee producers gaining Cup of Excellence awards was a real privilege.

Cup of Excellence Guatemala 2010 - Day 4: Round 2

2010-05-28T15:07:00.000+12:00

Today the coffee lots that made it through the first Round have been cupped again for a final ranking for auction - Round 2 was 4 sessions of cupping.

At this stage a coffee can still be eliminated...only 1 went today, eliminted by a defective cup on one table!

This is table 1 Session 3...4 other cuppers at the table at a time...from all different nationalities. Have cupped with some legendary cuppers from Japan, Brazil and Guatemala this week...unreal learning experience.

Cup of Excellence Guatemala 2010 - Day 4: Round 2 Cupping

2010-05-28T00:36:00.000+12:00

Cupping set to go all day today...four sessions to rank the coffees that have made it all the way through...some stellar coffees yesterday...very clean, sweet, juicy, with great acidity and lots of classic Guatemalan coffee characteristics, along with a few more unique tasting coffees that may perform well today.

Still nice and warm here with thunder storms and heavy rain fall every afternoon...I hear its got cold in NP...warm up with an Ozone coffee!

Cup of Excellence Guatemala 2010 - Day 3: Completion of Round 1

2010-05-27T16:07:00.000+12:00

Day 3 of CoE Guatemala and the completion of
Round 1...all coffees scored highly by the Guatemalan national jury.

3 sessions today...4 in store for us tomorrow...and some stellar coffees cupped today.

After cupping today, we travelled through Guatemala City to SUBE San Miguel Petapa coffee mill.

Here they receive deliveries of coffee farms coffees and are stored in their parchment until ready to be milled and bagged for dispatch.

Finca Santa Isabel

2010-05-26T17:12:00.000+12:00

After Round 1 of cupping today we drove an hour or so out of Guatemala City with our hosts ANACAFE to the stunning farm, Santa Isabel.

My first trip to origin, and to a coffee estate after buying, roasting and tasting coffee for 11 years!...Guatemala is a beautiful part of the world and Santa Isabel is a phenomenal coffee farm.

Dedicated to shade grown, organic and sustainable practises it was obvious this was a highly successful estate with attention to detail at every part of the process creating very high quality coffees...watch our website for more photos and info on this stunning farm.

Cup of Excellence Guatemala 2010 - Day 2: First round

2010-05-26T16:56:00.000+12:00

The real cupping begins...the first day of Round 1 which involves tasting the coffees selected by the Guatemalan National Jury in last weeks competition.

Cupped 3 sessions of samples with the results revealed and some discussion about the coffees after each session... any coffee scoring under 84/100 or found to be defective does not go through to the next round of the competition.

CoE Guatemala 2010 - Day 1: Calibration

2010-05-25T15:32:00.000+12:00

In the beautiful ANACAFE headquarters, day one of this years Cup of Excellence International Jury Program began.

First up, a brilliant presentation from William Hempstead [Director of ANACAFE] about Guatemalan coffee and ANACAFE, the Guatemalan National Coffee Association...they are leading the way with their support of the 90,000 coffee producers they represent, and the research and technology they are employing and developing to communicate their coffee knowledge and stories to the coffee world.

Then it was on to 3 sessions of calibration. First up, a cupping session to get the International Jury scoring on the new electronic scoring tablets.

The afternoon involved 2 sessions cupping the same set of 6 different Guatemalan coffees to get the jury calibrated and into CoE scoring mode.

Tonight was the official, but nice and informal [and delicious] welcome dinner ...heaps of coffee related stuff to talk about with coffee tasters, roasters and brokers from around the world...Nth America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Centro Histórico

2010-05-24T16:36:00.000+12:00

Mapa en Relieve

2010-05-24T11:33:00.000+12:00

CoE Guatemala 2010 starts tomorrow with calibration and training us in the art of digital scoresheets...so another day in Guatemala city to get over the jet lag, get familar with the delicious local food and see the sights.

Visited the 'Mapa en Relieve" ...a large scale [1800 sq metres] topographical-relief map of Guatemala with all its borders, lakes and volcanos...was keen to jump the fence for a closer look, but obeyed the signs.
Our taxi driver then drove us to a very cool market....then onto lunch with 3 other attendees from Nova Scotia and Lithuania...check it...tacos for everyone!

¡Hola from Guatemala City

2010-05-23T11:55:00.000+12:00

After leaving NP, NZL at 3pm Friday, the air bridge getting stuck to our flight out of AKL, a 2 hour delay and an onboard safety briefing which was carried out in pitch black on Delta Airlines, I finally landed in Guatemala City 1am Sunday NZ time...travel time = you do the math. It was very welcoming to exit Guatemala City International Airport and to be greated by Doris from ANACAFE, our host during the CoE Cupping week.

Ventured into the historic part of the city for lunch and to take in some of the sights of this beautiful city. Incredible architecture! Catedral Metropolitana de Guatemala [pictured] has weathered many events and earthquakes in its 200yr history.

Venice Beach loves OZONE this much

2010-05-22T15:06:00.001+12:00

INTELLIGENTSIA COFFEE, Venice Beach, Los Angeles

2010-05-22T14:37:00.000+12:00

After a 12 hour flight, a visit to this leading edge coffee bar with 5 epsresso machines and 2 pour over set ups was well worth the cab fare out to Venice. We were treated to pour over in-season offerings from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Panama...sweet, clean and mighty tasty...and some great barista hospitality to match. Greated at the door, we were taken into this awesome brew room and asked how we wanted our coffee today...very cool concept!

Cup of Excellence - Guatemala 2010

2010-05-21T09:14:00.000+12:00

The 2010 Cup of Excellence program is in full flight with Central America coffee nations first up. The International Jury is judging the Honduras competition and Guatemalan lots are nearing completion of National judging....with International judging starting in Guatemala City on the 24th May.
Leaving today for Guatemala via L.A...a very, very cool week ahead...7 days of tasting some of the best coffee Guatemala has to offer and visiting Farms and Mills in one of the worlds most historic coffee lands.

Ozone Bean Store. 47a King Street. NP

2010-05-18T11:03:00.000+12:00

COFFEE of the MONTH

2010-05-12T16:33:00.000+12:00

UGANDA Gumutindo

Grade A Arabica / Washed Processed / Certified Fair Trade / Certified Organic

A new offering from a new generation coffee co-operative, helping to rebuild the collapsed coffee industry of Uganda.

This high-quality Ugandan Arabica coffee has impressed us all at Ozone with its sweetness, soft acidity and medium body. The quality of this coffee produces clean flavour's of chocolate, floral notes and a creamy mouth-feel and aftertaste.
Brews a superb single origin cup of filter of plunger coffee and its sweetness and body lend it to a fine espresso origin also.

Dreamtime!

2010-05-10T14:17:00.000+12:00

If youre lucky enough to be in the surf mecca that is Opunake on the Taranaki Surf Highway [45] call in to Dreamtime. Tasty, tasty Fair Trade espresso beverages and everything you need to surf...including the local lowdown on the best surf spot on the day.
Called in Saturday and was treated to a mean L/B....cheers Craig.

Public Tasting

2010-05-06T12:40:00.000+12:00

Public Coffee Tasting this Friday 2.30pm - 7th May - coffees from Uganda and Ethiopia on the table this week.