Phoebe Rose Coffee Roasters are back in your kitchen this August, and if their name sounds familiar, it's because they've been here before – last gracing our subscription boxes back in 2023. A lot has happened since then, and we're stoked to welcome them back with a blend that's every bit as thoughtful and distinctive as their story.
The Accidental Roasters
If you've ever stumbled into something great by chance, you'll appreciate the Phoebe Rose story. They're what you could call "accidental coffee roasters" – a Hamilton-based small-batch roastery that never actually planned to become one.
Their journey kicked off in April 2019, working alongside a café operator who was set to open an industrial-style café in their building. They'd purchased a roaster, spent months developing bean combinations and roast profiles, and had everything dialled in. Then COVID arrived, the café project came to an abrupt end, and suddenly they had a roaster, some carefully crafted coffee, and nowhere for the beans to go.
Rather than walk away, they decided to give it a go themselves. That unexpected pivot became Phoebe Rose Coffee Roaster, with the brand taking shape around the beginning of 2020. Today, they're still roasting on that same 10kg Toper drum roaster – an older machine they've progressively upgraded with their own automation and engineering, paired with Artisan roasting software. It's a combination of traditional drum roasting and a slightly engineering-minded approach to improving control and consistency.
What They Stand For
For Phoebe Rose, coffee doesn't need to be complicated or intimidating – it just needs to taste great. They're passionate about producing approachable coffee that works whether you're deeply into your brew method or simply looking for a reliable everyday cup.
Consistency is at the heart of what they do. They roast in small batches and keep refining their processes so that when someone finds a Phoebe Rose coffee they love, they can come back and enjoy that same experience again and again.
This Month's Featured Roast: Mariana Blend
Mariana brings together four origins with quite different characteristics, giving the blend depth and strength without becoming one-dimensional.
Bean origins: Colombia - Indonesia - Ethiopia - Guatemala
Roast Characteristics
Mariana sits towards the darker end of the Phoebe Rose range. The blend combines both dark-roasted and medium-dark-roasted components rather than roasting everything to exactly the same level. This approach lets them build the heavier body and deeper flavours of a darker coffee while still retaining some of the individual character, sweetness and aromatics of the beans.
The result is a coffee that's bold and full-flavoured, but still smooth and balanced.
Tasting Notes
The dominant note is rich dark chocolate, followed by a balanced combination of floral character and dark roasted nuttiness. As the coffee develops, it finishes with a distinctive long, fine-wine-like character that gives Mariana a little more complexity than you might expect from a darker blend.
Expect: Dark chocolate - Dark roasted nuts - Subtle floral notes - Long fine-wine finish
It has plenty of flavour and body, so it works particularly well for someone who enjoys a stronger coffee, and it also has enough presence to carry beautifully through milk.
How to Brew
For Mariana, the Phoebe Rose team would go for a short black. Drinking it without milk really lets the dark chocolate and nutty character come through first, followed by that slightly floral note and the long wine-like finish that makes the blend distinctive.
That said, Mariana also makes a fantastic flat white. It was designed with enough body and intensity that the coffee flavour doesn't disappear once milk is added – so if you're a milk-coffee drinker, this is definitely a blend that can stand up to it.
Find Out More
Tell us how you enjoyed Mariana by reaching out on Facebook or Instagram, and of course head to Phoebe Rose to learn more about their coffee and where to buy it.
If you're passing through Hamilton, be sure to stop in and check out their café – it's now well completed and has been welcoming customers in-store for some time