Wellington New Zealand has great coffee. A moment inside the Mojo Wellington coffee roasting facility is all it takes to know why.
Actually, we knew before we arrived. The earthy, nutty aroma that can only mean we are near a coffee roasting plant drew us in. It permeated the air as we walked along the waterfront with a mix of two of my favourites: coffee and chocolate, the aroma is distinctive.
It called to us, and we couldn’t resist. After all, Jeff is really into coffee and even roasts his own beans.
Lead by our noses, we arrived at Mojo’s huge coffee roasting facility in historic Shed 13 on Wellington’s waterfront.
Inside Mojo Wellington headquarters
It’s a working factory, not an open-to-the-public building. However, Jeff had to see how the big boys do it.
We didn’t just wander in through an open door, we asked for permission to wander, photograph, and share here.
Mojo’s coffee roasting in Wellington process
- Recently delivered sacks of green coffee beans recently. (In fact, they were delivered at about the same time as we arrived. As we entered through the same door, it’s possible it was only open for the coffee delivery.
- Coffee is moved from the bags to these huge silos, each storing single-origin green (raw, not yet roasted) coffee beans.
- After the beans are roasted, stirred to cool them quickly.
- Once cooled, beans are poured into these bins to be blended later.
Mojo coffee
Mojo has six significant origins of its beans (Guatemalan, Ethiopian, Brazilian, Colombian, Papua New Guinean and Tanzanian) plus several smaller sources.
They roast 500 -600 kg of coffee beans daily at this facility in single-origin batches of 50kg. This allows optimisation of flavour for each origin.
Mojo blends individual batchesto create its signature brands.
Here are a few more shots of the facility:
More on Mojo Wellington:
- Mojo does not offer public tours of this coffee-roasting facility.
- Roasted in Wellington, Mojo coffee is a New Zealand brand.
- Mojo has 22 cafe locations in the capital city and an additional 11 in Auckland. At the time of writing this article, they are in Japan and China and hoping to enter the US market.
- In addition to their own cafes, many independent Wellington restaurants serve Mojo coffee.
- If you are in New Zealand, you can subscribe to Mojo for home delivery.
- While I am generally not a fan of chains, Mojo is one brand that I will select. It is consistently rich, smooth and exactly the way I think coffee should taste.
- Visiting Mojo is one of many Wellington activities that keeps us busy when we visit New Zealand’s capital city.
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Do find the aroma of the coffee roasting in Welling to be irresistible?
More from Wellington …
Anja
Hmmm, that looks so nice! Definitely something I would love to experience while on a trip. I buy roast beans but would love to learn how to roast. A lot of cafes in Japan I visited roast their own beans and the small of roasting was so divine !
Where in Wellington
This sounds like heaven for a coffee lover. We’ve walked past the warehouse tons of times but didn’t know they did tours.
Travelsito
The smell of fresh coffee is awesome! Wish I could visit this place!
Rhonda Albom
Maybe one day.
Victoria@celebratetheweekend
I am always looking for that perfect cup! – and have not found it in Boston yet:( I especially struggle when i am stuck at work in the burbs without access to a decent cup of espresso (and in a cube, all i can use is a a little french press which doesnt quite do it). thanks for this unique perspective:)
Rhonda Albom
I am lucky. Hubby makes me a perfect latte everyday, or we go out and get one. Mojo is one on of many offering perfect coffee in New Zealand.
Cindy Hoffman
Nice share Rhonda, I also love the Aroma of coffee when it is being roasted. I haven’t beeen to a Mojo, but I once visited a remote place called Chang Mai in Thailand where they roast coffee through traditional methods. It was such a great feeling and the aroma that filled the air was just perfect. I love the aroma when roasting and you are so lucky that you have someone who is experienced and loves doing it.
Cindy
Rhonda Albom
We may be headed to Chang Mai later in the year. Glad to know about the coffee bean roasting.
Shobha
I haven’t heard of Mojo before but I can just smell the coffee roasting from these photos. That is one big factory.
Rhonda Albom
Yes, and I didn’t capture all of this in the photos.
Michele {Malaysian Meanders}
That was so nice of Mojo to let you come in and snap some photos. I bet it smelled heavenly in there. Malaysian coffee roasting is a bit different in that they roast it with butter. Supposedly, the beans are not high quality, so the unique taste of the roasted butter masks the inferiority somewhat.
Rhonda Albom
How interesting. I wish I could remember the coffee from when I wan in Malaysia. Or maybe I will get a chance to go back, as now I am super curious as to what it is like.
Ruth - Tanama Tales
I am not crazy about coffee but I enjoy a good cup of it. Plus, I have friends who own coffee farms and have businesses revolving around the product. It is a dream of mine to visit them in Central America. I always bring about 20 pounds when I go to El Salvador.
Rhonda Albom
How cool would that be to visit the coffee plantation.
eileen g
when I was at NYU good coffee was not really a think yet. the only places that made European style coffee drinks were the Italian and French Cafes in Greenwich Village. There was also a store there that sold nothing but coffee beans that they ground while you waited. i loved walking by that store and inhaling. Freshly ground coffee really smells wonderful. I think smelling it is almost better than drinking it.
Rhonda Albom
I used to think that, but now I think drinking coffee is the best way to enjoy it.
Grey World Nomads
Hi Rhonda, I love these pictures – I can smell the coffee watching them. My daughter and I did a tour in the Domenican Republic. But it wasn’t so clean and neat.
Rhonda Albom
LOL – New Zealand is generally neat and tidy.
Anda
Very interesting visit, Rhonda. I don’t drink coffee, but I love the smell of roasted coffee and I would have enjoyed this tour too. I visited a coffee plantation in Kona, Hawaii, and I have also seen how they were roasting it.
Rhonda Albom
It wasn’t a tour, we were on our own, but it smelled great!
Lexa Cain
Coffee beans start out green? I had no idea. I guess I’m like those kids who think all food comes from the grocery store and farms are just where the animals live and play. LOL!
Rhonda Albom
LOL – yes coffee starts out green, and I like to think of farms as happy animal places too.
Paul F. Pietrangelo
I love coffee. I will try any type pf coffee drink at least once. Being an Italian, I enjoy strong coffee but not crazy strong coffee. I hate it when it gets so strong, it taste burnt. Yuk. I’ve never heard of Mojo. Is it only in New Zealand? I enjoyed this story Rhonda. Thanks.
Cruisin Paul
Rhonda Albom
Yes, it is a New Zealand brand. They are looking to get into the US market.
Hilary
Hi Rhonda – you were lucky to be able to look round … what a treat. I don’t like coffee much and hardly drink it – or tea for that matter … but can quite understand the family’s passion … great shots too – fascinating place – cheers Hilary
Rhonda Albom
Needless to say, we drink coffee.
Lydia C. Lee
We get our beans from the shop up the road – I’m the only person that buys their beans (they aren’t actually for sale) so I turn up and they just get them for me, so I don’t have to wait in line…it’s like a kooky drug deal, done at the side of the shop…ha!
Rhonda Albom
It makes me wonder what the other patrons think when you are doing this.
Hung Thai
Wow, the power of asking. That’s awesome that they allowed you to go in and take some pictures. There’s nothing better in the morning than the smell of coffee to wake you up 🙂
jim@reflectionsenroute
What? Coffee training? Sign me up! I love the smell of roasting coffee and a fresh pressed ristretto. Great article Rhonda!
Rhonda Albom
LOL – that’s exactly what we thought when we heard about it. If you come back to New Zealand, it’s an evening event.
Rhonda Albom
So true. It was a good lesson for us as well.
Linda Bibb
The aroma of roasting coffee is one of my favourites as well. Actually, one of the things I enjoyed most about living in Cuenca, Ecuador was walking around El Centro because the old town area had a lot of cafes that roasted their own beans so the streets were full of the wonderful smell. Did not know your hubby roasts his own coffee. That sounds so amazing. Which beans does he most prefer to use?
Rhonda Albom
The current favorite beans come from either Papua New Guinea or East Timor.
Comedy Plus
May favorite coffee is at home. I don’t care for all the flavored coffee at Starbucks so we don’t go there. Just give us a cup of dark French roast and we’re happy.
Have a fabulous day. ☺
Rhonda Albom
I don’t do the flavours either.
Alex J. Cavanaugh
Be cool to see. Shame I don’t like coffee.
Rhonda Albom
I didn’t always like it, although I can’t remember what it was like not too.
Tara
In New England, we are lucky to have lots of small coffee roasters that do a consistently fabulous job sourcing beans and roasting them to perfection. I have never thought of roasting the beans myself, but I do think I make a perfect cup of coffee.
Rhonda Albom
If you have found a blend of beans you enjoy, and you already make the perfect cup, there is no reason to roast your own.
L. Diane Wolfe
I’d love to tour a coffee factory. I bet the smell in there was wonderful.
Rhonda Albom
It wasn’t a tour, we just wandered in (with permission, of course)
Juergen | dare2go
Although I love the smell of freshly brewed, as I am a coffee addict, I don’t enjoy so much the aromas of roasting coffee. Somehow the process seems bring out the bitter smell of the beans.
Rhonda Albom
I will agree the aroma of brewed and roasted are quite different, I do love them both.
Paula McInerney
I am an unashamed coffee snob, and I am from Australia so that makes sense. I would love to have an unofficial look around also. We roast beans also, and have done barista courses. I could imagine just how good it smelt.
Rhonda Albom
I am a coffee snob too. At least if you ever do make it here for a visit, you know you will get a good cuppa.
Trekking with Becky
I’ve never heard of anyone roasting their own beans, but I’d be interested in seeing how it’s done. What an interesting visit! 😀 It must have smelled so good in there. 😀
Rhonda Albom
Hubby used to do it manually with a heat gun, then he built a small roaster that uses the same heat gun but does the spinning for him.
Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor
There was a Mojo where I worked in Auckland. Good flat whites. That’s pretty cool that your hubby roasts his own beans. True dedication!
Rhonda Albom
Yes, Hubby is quite dedicated.