For more than two decades, the rich aroma of coffees from all over the world have spurred Ria’s learning. Originally from the Philippines, she first entered the coffee industry there. She worked for a major coffee roaster, the kind that produces blends for many of the high street names. Initially in food and quality control, her interest in the brown bean grew exponentially. So did her expertise. Soon, she would be one of the people instrumental in approving every bean shipment and every blend.
“I got to the point where I could tell you where a bean came from just by looking at it,” she says. “Or, of course, by the taste of the coffee it makes.”
Ria moved to New Zealand in 2010. By 2016, she was national champion in the coveted Brewers Cup, organised by the New Zealand Specialty Coffee Association. In 2018, she set up home in Pukekohe, as an affordable and attractive place to live.
Ria was intending to simply open a cafe. But a conversation with local real estate agent Jason Woodyard inspired her to stretch out into her own roastery.
Creating Pukekohe’s Signature Roast
“From the outset, I wanted us to have our own special blend,” she explains. Most of the major coffee blends in New Zealand are variations on dark roast. Ria’s experience inspired her to create a medium roast blend, using beans from Brazil and Colombia, which has more sweetness balanced by acidity, no roasty or smoky notes that you get from dark roast, and a much cleaner finish. It was a lighter roast than everyone else’s. “Pukekohe loved it!” she says. “And that was what we were going for.”
Since then Ria has been exploring all the ways to take the coffee experience a notch higher, all the way from origin to the cup.
A Growing Coffee Hub in Pukekohe
The business has grown around Ria’s expertise. It now includes three interconnected premises across the town. The original small West Street cafe, which first hosted the roastery, is still going strong. The newer and larger roastery and brew bar on Manukau Road now produces the signature coffee. And a bakery on Glasgow Road provides the baked goods and its own grab-and-go experience.
“Today, there are so many great methods to enjoy specialty coffee,” she says. “It’s becoming a fully culinary experience. There are coffee beans fermented with fruits, you name it. There’s so much scope for innovation, I love that we can be edgy, creative and adventurous in what we’re doing.”
The Your Local roastery remains relatively small, processing about a tonne of beans a month. Beans are degassed for a couple of weeks after roasting, to ensure consistency in brewing and taste. The roasts are done on a single machine. This is carefully tuned and controlled by expert hands to ensure consistency and quality in every batch. Most of the roasts go straight over the counter in one of the company’s own locations.
“Coffee for me is all about hospitality,” says Ria. “There are so few places these days where people can have a genuinely hospitable experience. That’s what we’re doing - bringing the community together. It’s about connecting people. We don’t have customers. We have guests.”
As I left the roastery was setting up to host a drip coffee brewing competition. Ria’s passion continues to put Pukekohe on the map for coffee lovers.
