Director and Head Roaster of Aoraki Coffee Roaster, Ken Shi found the complexities of a coffee career very attractive. After moving from Shanghai to New Zealand in 2003, Ken was running a karate dojo and studying towards a Bachelor degree in Maritime when he became a coffee roaster.
Ken has seen all sides of the industry as a roaster, barista trainer, technician and coffee competition judge - as well as winning awards himself. Ken was the 2017 NZ Coffee Cup Taster Champion, and took home the Australia International Coffee Awards Silver Medal alongside the Australia Golden Bean Awards Silver Medal from 2018-2020. For the past five years, he has been a judge at the NZ Barista and Latte Art Championship.
“New Zealand is a world-class coffee nation that never stops learning.”
His favourite coffee comes from Luis Anibal Calderón, Finca Villa Betulia, Colombia.
“It’s extremely tasty, especially their pink bourbon and affordable geisha.”
If he was able to explore a coffee growing country, Ken would love to visit Ethiopia.
“I’m a believer, so I would choose Ethiopia for the coffee and to visit King Solomon’s mines.”
He is also drawn to Brazil, where his family have historically had businesses and he has cousins he has never met.
To Ken, a great roast is achieved through consistency in heating methods and attention to even the smallest of details.
“It’s the accurate tracking of roast profile curves and the easy control and maintain setup - just like a black belt in Karate, every single detail is important. It’s not just the kicking and punching, it’s also the kata, the kumite, it’s everything.”
At Aoraki Coffee Roaster, Ken has customers who travel from far and wide to snag a bag of his beans.
“Some regular customers drive north from two hours away, just for a fresh long black and a bag of any seasonal blend I give to them.”
As coffee is a seasonal product, he doesn’t just rely on one unchanging coffee blend. Ken develops his recipe to suit the supply of beans available.
“We keep cupping, keep changing the recipe we are using. We have to master the taste, the balance of acidity, sweetness, bitterness and umami.”
Currently at Aoraki, Ken is using two different coffee roasting machines - an old classic single drum roaster and a modern indirect double drum roaster. For each machine, Ken carefully selects the most suited single origin coffee.
“The flavours, the feel, and the aftertaste all need to hit the spot.”
For the future of the roasting industry, Ken sees the growth in demand for more direct trade, fair trade and environmentally friendly coffee. To provide healthy cash flow while recovering from the restrictions and effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ken also predicts more and more coffee roasteries will have their own cafes or espresso bars.
He hopes to set up a larger roaster in the future, to increase his roasting capacity in line with growth in sales.
When not roasting, Ken takes on other roles as Co-Chair Events and Community Portfolio and Membership Portfolio of New Zealand Specialty Coffee Association and Chapter Director of Buddha’s Light International Association, North Island of New Zealand. He can often be found at different cafes and events, supporting local business.
Ken’s wife Daisy is a keen gardener and offers unlimited support to his pursuit of the business. Recently, Daisy planted several coffee bushes already bearing cherries.
“To grow our own coffee plants and produce green coffee beans in New Zealand will be very exciting!”
Ken credits his path to becoming a true coffee roaster to three key people in his life - Aaron Wyatt, Owner of Roma Coffee, Emma Markland Webster, World and NZ Coffee Events Manager and Man Xin, Abbess of FGS New Zealand.
His advice to fellow roasters is to jump out of your comfort zone.
“The more you fail, the more you learn!”
Read about Aaron Wyatt of Roma Coffee here.
