Bean banter

So you’re looking for a truly local coffee supplier? If you’re here you’re hopefully considering Switch Espresso as the trusted partner who will bring you coffee beans, train your baristas, maintain your machines and generally help you help your caffeine-fiend...

Order your Switch Espresso roasted coffee beans, ground coffee, tea and gift cards online. We’re a high-tech outfit, and while we love the simple pleasures of a barista-brewed cup of coffee as much as anyone, we’re also 100% aware we exist in the 2020s. As such,...

This roaster is our baby. The centre of the whole Switch operation, and we love it. You ask the boss Hamish what he thinks about it, and he’ll tell you “What a beast! It’s fucking awesome.” Truer words have never been said. This Joper CRS-30 roaster is a premium,...

I dropped some mates off in town on Friday night and I was reminded of just how awesome Christchurch has become in such a short time since being munted by the earthquakes. I clearly remember how barren it was even five years ago, but this week it was just pumping –...

Zap is one of Switch Espresso’s most popular blends. It’s a high-intensity roast that tastes good brewed as either a black or white coffee. It’s named after the Zapatista movement in Mexico. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is a Mayan culture-influenced...

It’s Valentine’s Day this Sunday and we here at Switch want to hook you lovebirds up with a date at Black Betty Café and the most romantic thing we could think of: a big bag of Switch Espresso coffee beans.

Happy birthday to Black Betty Café, one of Switch Espresso’s favourite babies. It all started on February 1, 2011. We hit the market with a new concept: a quality café in a spacious former warehouse, complete with coffee plants, a grow room, and a lot of different...

Yep, there’s a lot more to get your head around than just ‘bitter’ and ‘sweet’. With over 110 attributes, there are billions of potential flavour, aroma and texture combinations, which is why no two coffees taste exactly the same. Differences come from the type of...

You may not know about this, but as well as the Switch roastery, we run three cafés in Christchurch. Industrie, Black Betty and Bunsen are all pretty cool spaces to hang out, grab a bite and of course they serve excellent Switch Espresso. But the main asset behind...

No prizes for guessing where our Mexican Chiapas coffee comes from – that’s right it’s a state in Mexico called Chiapas, which sits on the border of Guatemala. Chiapas is a diverse region with beaches, lakes, jungle and mountains, and produces some of the world’s...