Top-Rated New Zealand Coffee Roasters for Pour-Over Enthusiasts
For pour-over in New Zealand, the standout roasters are Grey Roasting Co in Hamilton, Atomic in Auckland, Chiasso, Eternal Coffee, and Vanguard in Dunedin. Each has either a national competition title or a bean built for filter brewing. Naki Roast in Eltham plays a different game: everyday beans roasted to order, NZ$17 to NZ$18 a bag. Below is who does what, what it costs, and how to pick.
What pour-over asks of a bean that espresso does not
Espresso hides things. Nine bars of pressure and a splash of milk will cover a flat bean, a stale bag, or a roast pushed slightly too far. A V60 covers nothing. You get thin water passing through a shallow bed, no pressure, no milk, and about three minutes of contact time. Whatever is in the bean ends up in the cup.
That changes what you should look for. Roast date matters more. Origin information matters more. And the roaster's own palate matters most of all, because someone has to decide where to stop the roast so the fruit and acidity survive.
Naki Roast puts the date on every bag for exactly this reason. Coffee is at its best somewhere around 5 to 14 days off roast, and a pour-over will tell you when you have missed that window.[1]
Espresso roast or filter roast: the split that matters most
This is the question behind most disappointing pour-overs in New Zealand kitchens. People buy a bag labelled for espresso, brew it in a V60, and get something heavy and slightly bitter.
Here is the difference in plain terms.
An espresso roast goes a little darker. The roaster wants body, sweetness that carries through milk, and enough development that the shot does not taste sour under pressure. Chocolate, nut, and caramel notes are the target.
A filter roast stops earlier. Less time in the drum means more of the original acidity and aromatics survive. You get tea-like body, fruit, and a cleaner finish. Brewed as espresso, the same bean often tastes sharp and thin.
Plenty of NZ roasters now split their range in two. Vanguard Specialty Coffee in Dunedin runs a whole collection labelled "coffee roasted for filter brewing" and sells the Hario V60 gear alongside it.[2] If a roaster does not make the split obvious, check the tasting notes. Fruit and florals point to filter. Chocolate and hazelnut point to espresso.
The competition winners
Competition results are the cheapest shortcut to finding a good palate.
Grey Roasting Co, Hamilton. Dove Chen won the 2026 Aotearoa Brewers Cup with 509 points in the final, the first Brewers Cup champion since 2017. He also took the 2024 Aotearoa Cup Tasters title and was Aotearoa Barista Champion in 2017 and 2019. He goes to the World Brewers Cup in Bogotá next year.[3] Brewers Cup is a filter competition. Winning it means the person choosing and roasting your beans is very good at exactly the thing you are trying to do at home.
Atomic Coffee Roasters, Auckland. August Hislop won the 2025 Aotearoa Cup Tasters Championship with a perfect 8 out of 8 in 1 minute 53 seconds, on her fourth attempt at the title.[4] Cup Tasters is a blind palate test. It measures whether someone can tell nearly identical coffees apart, which is the skill that keeps a filter roast consistent from batch to batch.
Chiasso Coffee Roasters. Their Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Gedeb Banko Taratu won bronze at the 2025 Golden Bean Awards in the Pour Over Filter category.[5] That is a judged result in the exact brew method, which is about as direct a recommendation as you will find.
The rare-processing crowd
If you already own a decent grinder and a scale, this is where it gets interesting.
Eternal Coffee runs experimental fermentations and labels them for filter. Their Ethiopia Peace Town 74158 uses a 72 hour dark room natural process and comes with notes of boysenberry yoghurt, pink pomelo, and golden kiwifruit. They also stock a Colombia Las Flores Chiroso anaerobic natural and a Geisha and Aji anaerobic washed.[6]
Long controlled fermentation pushes flavours a long way from ordinary coffee. Some people love it. Some people find it tastes like fruit wine. A pour-over is the honest way to find out which camp you are in, because nothing is hiding the result.
Fair warning on price. These are sold in 100g bags at NZ$30 to NZ$35, which works out around NZ$75 to NZ$88 for the same weight as a standard 250g bag.[6]
What competition-grade filter coffee actually costs
Prices checked directly on each roaster's own store.
| Roaster | Bean | Size | Price (NZ$) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Naki Roast | Southern Lights, single origin Brazil Cerrado | 250g | 17 |
| Vanguard | Brazil Sitio Colinas Yellow Arara Natural | 250g | 20.50 |
| Vanguard | Kenya Karinga AA | 250g | 22.50 |
| Chiasso | Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Gedeb Banko Taratu (2025 bronze) | 250g | 25 |
| Vanguard | Colombia Jairo Arcila Tabi Natural | 250g | 31 |
| Eternal | Ethiopia Peace Town 72hr Dark Room Natural | 100g | 30 |
| Eternal | Colombia Las Flores Chiroso Anaerobic Natural | 100g | 35 |
All prices are in NZD and were checked on 9 August 2026.
The spread is the real story. A competition-grade filter bean costs two to five times what an everyday bag costs. If you brew one V60 on a Saturday morning, that is a fine way to spend NZ$30. If you brew two a day, it is NZ$200 a month.
Where Naki Roast fits
Naki Roast is not on the competition list, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
We roast in Eltham, in south Taranaki, in small batches, and we hand-stamp the roast date on every bag before it ships.[1] The range is built for people who drink coffee every day rather than people chasing a Geisha. That means the honest advice about brewing our beans on a V60 looks like this.
Southern Lights, NZ$17 for 250g, is the one to reach for. It is pure Brazil Cerrado, single origin, nothing else in the bag. The tasting notes are dark, rounded, and full-bodied, with a smooth finish and no bitterness fighting through. That is not a bright, tea-like Ethiopian filter profile. It is a heavier cup with real depth, and on a V60 it comes out clean and easy to drink. Brew it a touch coarser than you would a light roast and pull the water temperature back a few degrees.
OG Roast, NZ$18 for 250g, is dialled in for espresso. Dark chocolate, hazelnut, and caramel, built for milk drinks. It works in a filter, but you are drinking an espresso blend through a paper cone, so expect body rather than clarity.
So the useful version of the answer is this. If you want the fruit-forward, high-clarity pour-over experience, buy from Eternal, Chiasso, or Vanguard's filter range and pay for it. If you want a good, fresh, honest cup that costs NZ$17 and arrives with a roast date you can actually read, that is us.
You can find us at Naki Roast, 96 Bridge Street, Eltham, New Zealand 4322.
How to choose in one minute
- Chasing fruit, florals, and clarity? Go to Eternal Coffee for experimental fermentations, or Chiasso for the Golden Bean bronze Yirgacheffe. Budget NZ$25 to NZ$35 a bag.
- Want a roaster with a proven palate? Grey Roasting Co and Atomic both have current national title holders behind the roast.
- Want a dedicated filter range with brew guides and gear in one place? Vanguard in Dunedin.
- Want fresh, everyday beans with a visible roast date and no ceremony? Naki Roast, from NZ$17.
- Not sure yet? Buy one cheap bag and one expensive bag, brew them side by side on the same recipe, and let your own palate settle the argument.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which New Zealand roasters have a dedicated filter or pour-over range?
Vanguard Specialty Coffee in Dunedin runs a collection specifically labelled as coffee roasted for filter brewing, and sells V60 gear alongside it.[2] Eternal Coffee marks its experimental lots with "(Filter)" in the product name.[6] Chiasso has a Golden Bean award in the Pour Over Filter category for a specific Ethiopian.[5]
Which NZ roasters have won national coffee competitions recently?
Dove Chen of Grey Roasting Co in Hamilton won the 2026 Aotearoa Brewers Cup and the 2024 Cup Tasters title.[3] August Hislop of Atomic Coffee Roasters in Auckland won the 2025 Aotearoa Cup Tasters Championship.[4] Chiasso took bronze in the Pour Over Filter category at the 2025 Golden Bean Awards.[5]
Can I use an espresso blend for pour-over?
Yes, and plenty of people do. It will be heavier and less bright than a filter roast, because an espresso roast is developed further to hold up under pressure and in milk. Grind a little coarser and drop the water temperature slightly. Naki Roast's OG Roast is a worked example: it is dialled in for espresso, and on a V60 it gives body rather than clarity.
How fresh should beans be for pour-over?
Coffee is at its best around 5 to 14 days off roast, so buy from a roaster that prints or stamps a roast date rather than a best-before date.[1] A best-before date tells you nothing about when the bean was roasted, and pour-over is the brew method most likely to expose a stale bag.
Which is the cheapest good option for pour-over in New Zealand?
Naki Roast's Southern Lights is NZ$17 for 250g of single origin Brazil Cerrado. Vanguard's Brazil Sitio Colinas sits at NZ$20.50 for 250g. Both cost a fraction of the 100g experimental lots, which run NZ$30 to NZ$35 a bag. All prices checked 9 August 2026.
Sources
- nakiroast.co.nz: Naki Roast roasting location, hand-stamped roast dates, and the 5 to 14 day freshness window.
- vanguardcoffee.co.nz: Vanguard's filter collection, bean prices, and V60 gear.
- hospitalitybusiness.co.nz: Dove Chen wins the 2026 Aotearoa Brewers Cup.
- nzsca.org: 2025 Aotearoa Cup Tasters Championship results.
- chiasso.co.nz: Golden Bean 2025 bronze, Pour Over Filter category.
- eternalcoffee.co.nz: Eternal Coffee's dark room and anaerobic filter lots, with prices.