From Unexpected Beginnings to Exceptional Beans: The Phoebe Rose Coffee Roasters Story

Greetings, coffee enthusiasts! We are Phoebe Rose Coffee Roasters, and we're thrilled to share our journey with you. Based in the charming city of Hamilton, New Zealand, we're a boutique coffee roastery with a story as unique as the beans we roast.

Our journey as coffee roasters began in April 2019 when we embarked on a partnership with a cafe operator who had grand plans for an 'industrial look' cafe in our building. The vision was to roast beans on-site to supply this cafe and others in the operator's portfolio. Excited and eager to embrace this new venture, we acquired and set up a roaster, ready to fulfill our caffeine-filled dreams.

We worked tirelessly alongside the cafe operator, perfecting blend ratios and roast profiles to achieve the exquisite taste they desired. Things were going exceptionally well, and we were set to provide our roasted beans to other cafes when, as you might have guessed, the unforeseen COVID-19 pandemic hit, abruptly halting our progress.

The pandemic left us with a fully-equipped roastery, perfected blend formulas, and nowhere for our beans to go. But our passion for coffee refused to be dampened. We decided to continue, despite the challenging circumstances. We were accidental coffee roasters, but the love for coffee and the groundwork we'd laid were simply too compelling to abandon. And so, Phoebe Rose Coffee Roasters was born.

At Phoebe Rose, we roast our beans with utmost care and precision using a 10kg Toper drum roaster. While it may be an older unit, we're constantly working to automate our processes. We've combined engineering ingenuity, readily available components, and industry-standard Artisan software to enhance our roasting consistency.

Our journey towards automation has begun with temperature control, which is now largely automated with minimal human intervention during specific stages of the roast. This automation has significantly improved the consistency of our roast outcomes, ensuring that you receive the best possible coffee every time.

Featured Roast: Ben's Espresso Blend

We're excited to introduce you to our featured roast of the month: Ben's Espresso Blend. This exceptional blend bears the name of the dedicated roaster who painstakingly developed it through extensive research, sampling, blending, and roasting.

Bean Origins:
- Guatemala: The backbone of the blend.
- Ethiopia: Adding unique flavors and character.
- Colombia: Enhancing the overall profile.
- Brazil: A subtle, yet significant contributor.

Roast Profile:
We roast these beans right to the edge of the second crack, resulting in a delightful darker end of medium roast. This roast profile brings out the best in the beans, creating a complex and satisfying flavor profile.

Tasting Notes and Profile:
Our Ben's Espresso Blend offers a harmonious combination of citrusy notes, natural sweetness, nuttiness, and a rich chocolatey character. When extracted correctly, it's a sensory delight that will leave your taste buds dancing. It's no wonder that this blend is the top choice for many of our customers when they reorder.


As coffee enthusiasts ourselves, we have our favorite way of enjoying this remarkable blend. For us, it's all about simplicity and flavor. We prefer a short black, savoring the pure essence of the coffee without dilution.

However, we've also discovered that Ben's Espresso Blend is exceptionally versatile. It works wonderfully in milk-based drinks, provided the coffee-to-milk ratio is just right. After all, it was originally crafted with a creamy, milk-based experience in mind.

In conclusion, our journey from accidental coffee roasters to passionate purveyors of exceptional coffee has been an exciting one. We're committed to perfecting our craft, exploring new horizons, and sharing our love for coffee with you. Join us in celebrating the exquisite flavors of Ben's Espresso Blend, and let's toast to the joy of coffee, one cup at a time.