Meet the Makers: Andrew Smart of Espresso Workshop

Getting to know Andrew Smart

Espresso Workshop’s celebrating a big birthday this month, congratulations team! Tell us about how it all began 15 years ago?

Thank you! We first started in St Georges Bay Rd, Parnell, located in a super small premises next door to Cibo Restaurant. I left Allpress as a coffee roaster and started Espresso Workshop with one of the barista trainers there, David. 

Things started off slowly as our location was pretty well hidden but after a short Christmas break we decided to reopen earlier than our competitors in the new year. It turned out to be a good move as once surrounding businesses discovered us, it went gangbusters and we were rushed off our feet.

In 2008, after a year of solid growth, our small space no longer served us so we sold up and moved to a more prominent site, at the bottom of Owens Rd and Manukau Rd. The intention was to roast in the cafe after hours, but the cafe became very busy and lacked room for the roaster so we had to relocate to a little warehouse in Mt Albert. David ran the day-to-day at the cafe, and I was mostly roasting offsite while helping out in the cafe where I could.

Things continued like that until 2010 when the roastery was relocated to Parnell (fronted by an espresso bar). Then, in 2011, we opened our Britomart espresso bar, but not too long afterwards David exited the business and I took full ownership of Espresso Workshop. It certainly heightened the stakes, being sole owner of a coffee roastery and two espresso bars, but there’s nothing like a bit of pressure to focus your efforts!

We’ve been in Ōrākei Bay Village since it opened in 2017. It’s been a really successful move and we love it here. It’s a great spot for deliveries, roasting and dispatching orders and we bought a shiny new Probat coffee roaster which has been an amazing acquisition, allowing us to roast larger batches with more consistent results. 

A highlight for the year was introducing a new coffee that embodies beautiful deep caramelised flavours - which we call the Morena Blend. People seem to love it due to the high level of caramelisation in the coffee, and we’ve started selling the blend in pods which has been very successful. 

Looking back to my early days in coffee, most coffee roasters were producing blends, but I wanted to roast single origin coffee, featuring the origin characteristics rather than hiding them by producing blends with 4 or 5 other origins.  The same way that wine consumers will recognise that they enjoy specific grape varieties or regions, eg, a Central Otago Pinot Noir, I wanted coffee consumers to connect with the terrior, growing regions and varietals of coffee by offering single origin options while using higher quality coffees to elevate that experience. We were one of the first in Auckland to advocate for single origin and interesting flavour profiles, with a focus on roasting to extract the flavour potential of those coffees.

We’ve found that offering a spectrum of coffees has been useful as people’s taste preferences can be wide ranging. Over time we have found a good balance in order to be able to cater to customers needs, offering coffees for those at the premium end of the market, who often will use soft brew methods such as Chemex and Aeropress, but also catering for those in the wider market offering nourishing espresso blends for those looking for a delicious morning flat white.

There’s elements in coffee beverages that we believe should always exist in a good brew, these are: great mouthfeel, good body and sweetness. But at its best it’s being able to take it to the next level by pairing those qualities with some fruit and acidity, that’s where the magic is. Right now we have a beautiful filter coffee called Colombia Bella Vista that has been totally hitting the spot for me. Things change quickly though, so by late September will have a new selection of banging single origin coffees to sit alongside our signature blends.

Tell us about your collaboration with Ampersand?

We have a fantastic relationship and synergy with Ampersand. Through mutual business partners, I met Mikey and Amanda and we felt like it was a great fit to collaborate in the same space. I always had hopes for the roastery to work in tandem with a great eatery and it has resulted in a vibrant space contributing to a great energy at work.

What’s the best thing about your roastery being located at Ōrākei Bay Village?

OBV has become entrenched within the community and we really enjoy being a part of a community hub. In fact, for us the OBV community started early with Bowl & Arrow becoming a valued customer of ours before the OBV precinct officially opened!

Since 2017, people have become familiar with the venue and our consistent service. It’s become a trusted part of the community, and the supporting local aspect has been cool to see. We really value the businesses here, and we always want to serve our community, particularly those closest to us.

What’s your purpose when it comes to roasting great coffee? How did you become so passionate about it?

I’m totally motivated by flavour, I enjoy innovative flavours and coffee happened to be the product I got passionate about at the right time. I previously had a soup and juice bar called Suju before I worked in coffee, which was a fun and vibrant business but I quickly realised my passion was coffee. I was drinking coffee at a nearby cafe and I couldn't help but notice people were going in there 2-3 times a day. I had a keen interest in coffee and wanted to learn more about the development of flavour that occurs during the roasting process. I ended up selling Suju and got a job at Allpress through mutual connections. 

I had no experience with coffee but was hungry for knowledge and particularly how to get the best out of coffee. Through roasting I wanted to develop coffee flavours to see what it could offer and to produce a coffee product that was better to what was on the market at the time. So many elements of coffee are aligned with the wine experience and I wanted to bring that wine experience through to coffee by producing a range of single origin options, interesting flavour profiles and blended coffee with a purpose.

I started with a very niche perspective but over time have adapted to consider what the wider market wants from their coffee, being something more familiar with how they perceive coffee to be. We think we’re able to cater for the interesting and the familiar in equal parts.

Can you tell us a bit about how you source your green coffee beans and what it means to be traceable and transparent?

We’ve always insisted on transparency and traceability with the coffee we source to fully understand where the coffee has come from, how it was grown, how it was produced and how the farm/cooperative operates. Transparency breeds responsibility and in turn results in better quality.  Quality is important to us and we source our coffee through many different ways.

We buy from a family-run farm in Brazil, Fazenda Jaguara, and we have been able to establish a strong relationship, visiting the farm (pre-Covid), and have a sense of satisfaction knowing we’re supporting a family business. We use their coffee in Mr White and Mr Black, we sell a single origin espresso under their farm name and a filter coffee called Brazil Marmelada. 

There are other traders in New Zealand that we buy coffee from like Trade Aid and other NZ based green bean importers that focus on supplying transparent, quality, specialty coffee. Over my 15 years with Espresso Workshop the specialty coffee industry as a whole has become increasingly ethical and clean, with growers benefiting more from the industry… but there is still room for improvement, particularly with growers achieving appropriate returns for their hard graft. 

For newbies who want to learn how to make excellent coffee at home… do you have any tips?

I recommend starting simple with a filter brewer to get familiar with the fundamentals of making coffee. Automatic or manual, you can easily produce amazing filter coffee at home. Try a range of different coffees to experience a range of flavours so you’re able to better understand what you enjoy.

It’s not necessary to jump to an espresso machine straight away, amazing to have one if you want to dedicate some serious time towards it but I think it’s nice to go through the journey of filter/stovetop brewing before taking the leap to an espresso machine.  When you do decide to get an espresso machine on your bench, make sure you get advice on the best machine for your situation and don’t forget to leave a healthy amount in the budget for a great grinder!  The grinder is absolutely critical in espresso preparation.

If you have questions, then fire them through to your local roastery! Get their input - we’re certainly more than happy to give it. We have some great resources on our website as well to help you on your coffee journey. I personally have a Bialetti stovetop coffee maker which delivers a pretty tasty brew, alongside a Wilfa Coffee brewer.

In your opinion, what’s the best coffee you’ve roasted to date?

I really have a thing for ethiopian yirgacheffe natural coffees. They have sweetness, acidity and body.  Each one is different but typically they are in the spectrum of caramel, strawberry and dried fruit flavours paired with floral aromatics and hopefully a little candied citrus zing.  As it sounds, there’s so much going on and it can be incredibly interesting. 

You produced a special roast to commemorate Matariki. Is there anything in the works we should know about?

Every year we do a festive blend for Christmas which is the next special edition blend we’re looking to develop. Around that time we also always do some super tasty single origin filter coffees - for special occasions. This is usually available around mid-November.

Tell us a bit about your most frequented spots at OBV?

We obviously love being a part of Ampersand. I particularly enjoy the evenings, the space takes on a completely different feel than the day, and when the sun is going down on a balmy evening it’s a stunning view from the deck, hard to believe you’re in Auckland sometimes.

In terms of other eateries, I have a great relationship with the team at Bowl & Arrow, and I love the wine offering at Great Little Vineyards if I'm looking for something unique. Always great to hang at Brothers for beers and tots and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at Farro every second day.

Silky Otter is Auckland’s best cinema experience but the only problem is you might fall asleep because the chairs are just too comfortable. I also really enjoy Father Rabbit for great gifting options, which I frequent for gifts for others and occasionally for myself too.