“…New Zealand’s biggest city boasts one of the strongest claims to have devised the flat white as we know it …
… thanks to an explosion of espresso-drinking in the mid-80s.
No one is quite sure where it all began … but the boho DKD was generally considered the first Auckland venue …
… though Sydneysiders reckon they beat the Kiwis to it.
In one hangout, I speak to Jackson, who roasts beans in his own garage, and speaks fondly of those times.
“I was a student and I remember drinking flat whites back then,” he says.
“We used to watch subtitled films at the Civic Theatre and have coffee and cake after.”
DKD is long gone … but its legacy and that of other pioneers remains in a thriving cafe society.
Aucklanders use coffee shops as social venues … as we might pubs … for business meetings … to catch up with mates … or simply read the paper.
And they take coffee seriously, with 140 roasters in New Zealand, many based in this city.
Even if most Kiwis do not roast beans themselves … many buy them freshly ground to supply their own gleaming Italian machines.
Back in the 80s, cafe owners aped continental mores, a practice continued by Auckland’s finest city centre institution, Reslau (39 Elliott Street).
Its narrow space barely provides room for a handful of tiny tables and just one banquette.
The coffee is perfect (I am an expert now) …
… Reslau offers a rare slice of chic in Auckland’s drab central business district … an area that many locals avoid.
The city’s industrial waterfront lacks charisma – there’s a motorway running through it –
- and many of the suburbs are livelier, with quirky, original cafes…” (cont..)
go to source/story>>>Caffeine hit: Auckland coffee culture | Travel | The Guardian
