As a barista, chef and hospitality worker, Kelly Taylor had a keen interest in coffee roasting, often joking about the idea, which turned into reality in 2015 after her six-week travel to various roasteries in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.
Taylor's Southland-based ROAR Coffee is based on the values of service, support and relationships to provide locals with quality coffee, which they believe to have nailed after early experimentation.
Staying true to their approaches of simplicity and 'special, not specialty', ROAR Coffee's origin blend is a mixture of Colombian and Guatemalan varieties, perfect for both black and white brews.
Every roast has three key features, consistency, clarity and freshness and in order to achieve that, ROAR Coffee prefers medium over dark roasts. However, achieving that can be pretty tricky due to the region's weather conditions and relies heavily on repetition and intuition.
"We are firm believers in fresh is best, and we roast a few days every week to ensure our product is just that."
Taylor finds feedback rewarding and loves seeing regulars grab some coffee.
"One of the most satisfying things is when a potential new customer calls because they have tried our coffee at an existing customer's establishment. I'm stoked to have created a product that manages to speak for itself! Some of our relationships with our customers are spanning nine years. We have made some great friends along the way."
The roastery’s long-term relations are seen not just with their customers but even with their bean brokers, from whom they have been sourcing for over two decades.
"The cost of shipping and logistics, along with supply and demand post covid has meant it's harder in Aotearoa to run a small business, but we have refused to compromise on the product we use. Sure, we could get cheaper beans from other places, but we stand by what we produce with a passion that never even entered the equation."
ROAR Coffee also supports local suppliers while sourcing their bread and meat. The retail section of their RoastedxToasted cafe has a huge selection of New Zealand artisan products like Robbie's, Hastie Bros, Salamis and Forge Studios. The cafe also entered the 2022 Toastie Takeover and reached the top five People's Choice this year.
Taylor aims to continue taking ROAR Coffee down a sustainable path and dreams of visiting America and Japan to learn more about their coffee culture.
