Coffee Culture in New Zealand | Study With New Zealand

Before coming to study in New Zealand, I worked at a coffee place back home in the United States. I would usually start my day off with a nice cup of coffee from our coffee machine in the kitchen. If you want to get a coffee at a restaurant it is either from a coffee pot or a push button machine which we all know is not the good stuff. The only places back home to get a latte are at coffee shops, nowhere else.

When I went to New Zealand, I couldn’t believe the amount of espresso machines scattered throughout the country. From gas stations to grocery stores, everywhere is loaded with a hand-tamped espresso machine and a friendly staff member to make you a delicious foamy latte or flat white. The lattes in New Zealand are also always a bit sweeter even with no sugar because the milk is so fresh and creamy there.

As a coffee lover, this is something I took full advantage of. I think I drank more lattes in my four months in New Zealand than my three years working at Java Dawg Coffee. My boyfriend (who I met while on exchange), and I were obsessed with the lattes.

Each coffee shop is also so unique. Some of my favorites would be, Patagonia Chocolates in Queenstown, go upstairs and try to snag a window seat. There were multiple street performers there that were awesome to watch. In Hamilton, where I went to school at University of Waikato, there is a sweet little place called Two Birds that is tucked back in a corner with a beautiful secret garden out back.

The other thing about the coffee culture is that the prices are very reasonable. For a large, double shot latte, the price ranged from about 4 NZD to about 5.50 NZD in more expensive places like Queenstown and Auckland.

I would highly suggest grabbing yourself a nice steaming latte or flat white when you get off the plane to fight that jet lag, but be careful, they are quite addictive.

On campus, there were two coffee shops by a beautiful lake, one in the library, and one on the far side. If there was a sunny day, we were almost always having a cup while sitting by the lake watching the springtime ducklings.

On semester break, it was incredible driving on the South Island in some on the most remote places in the world and stumbling upon a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere. You better believe that we stopped, especially after four hours of driving on narrow and windy but breathtaking roads.