Anyone who knows the generous nature of barista Robert Holt would not be at all surprised of the karmic aspect to the story of how a coffee roaster ended up in his backyard.

It goes back about 12 years or so to a 15-year-old Wanaka lad who started washing dishes at the café where Rob was working. Bink (Bowler) was dropping out of school but Rob saw something in him. “He always asked a lot of questions when I was making his coffee and I could see he had a passion for it,” says Rob. When Bink asked Rob to recommend a barista course, he talked him out of it, offering instead to teach him what he knew. “Or what I could impart,” Rob says humbly. “When you are hiring someone to be a barista it doesn’t matter what certificates they have, if they make a terrible cup of coffee you don’t want them. We need to be more serious about the training of baristas. It’s often seen as a handy skill to see you through your travels or student years, but your heart needs to be in it – you need to be striving to make every cup better than the last. It’s also about being hospitable and making people feel welcome and important for that moment you have with them. That’s how I approach it even after doing it for twenty-odd years.”

Bink was an excellent student who eventually went on to set up his own café/roastery (The Black and White Coffee Cartel franchise) in Christchurch. It did well and within a year, when they needed a bigger roaster, Bink phoned Rob to see if he was interested in taking the smaller one. “I didn’t really know what I’d do with a coffee roaster, but he was offering it to me at a good price, so I took it and just stuck it in the shed”.

Eventually the roaster came out of the shed and into a small, old, refurbished wagon in Rob and his partner Rachel’s Hawea garden. “There’s only room for one person when roasting, but it has become my space, I put music on and turn off the world for a little bit. In the future we would love to have a space where people could visit. I would enjoy that.” Rob smiles.

But before we settle into that future space which is actually a cosy café/roastery that he describes to me in detail and believe me it’s the place we coffee-lovers yearn for, let’s get back to Rob’s evolution from barista to roaster.

Born in Ireland, Rob only came to coffee when he moved to New Zealand in 1995. “I went to Christchurch and once I started making money (I was very broke for a long time), I used to hang out at the Boulevard Bakehouse in the Arts Centre drinking short blacks. I got on really well with the staff who were so busy that I started helping them wash dishes which led to making coffees, but the only instruction I got was ‘put the coffee in here, shove it in there and press that button’. Thinking there had to be more to it I threw myself in, through trial and error (there were no instructional YouTube videos back then), to making better coffee. Very quickly people would come in and say, ‘can I get Rob to make my coffee’ and that felt good … well it was mixed feelings and it still happens and it’s still mixed feelings - one side of me thinks ‘yay, they like my coffee, that’s great’, but the other side feels bad for the others who are basically being told to their face that they don’t make good enough coffee.” Rob, again very humbly, says that it’s not always true “I think I could do a blindfold test with a lot of people and they wouldn’t know if it was me or one of the other good baristas that had made the coffee. But it is what it is, people get a lot of enjoyment out of it and a simple cup of coffee can really change someone’s day.”

As he went along Rob was thinking a lot about the big part that coffee beans play. “A good barista can make not-great coffee taste okay, but great coffee is great coffee and it shines through. Boulevard Bakehouse were supplied by Coffee Supreme and from day one I knew it was good coffee. It tasted good and their level of service was amazing. They would try and steer you in the right direction but would never impose their will on you and were always encouraging. For years, working in cafes supplied by Coffee Supreme I felt that I was an unpaid ambassador for them.”

Then there’s the coffee machine. On one stint back in Ireland (Rob’s work visa required him to leave New Zealand from time to time), he realised that the machine at the coffee shop he started working at had never been cleaned or backflushed. “It was a good machine, only a year old and it was fit for the junk heap. It’s an important tool that needs looking after, it makes a difference. There are a lot of very subtle things that you can do that might make one per cent difference in the cup, but if you do ten different things that’s a 10 per cent improved cup of coffee. Even the cups make a difference, they change physically as fashion evolves, but they also effect the flavour. When you put the right cup up to your mouth the shape of the cup will direct aromas to your nose and taste buds. These are differences that I had some control over as a barista, but I was aware that up until I put the coffee beans in the hopper to grind them, I had no control over the origin or roasting of the beans.” Coffee roasting has also been at the forefront of Rob’s mind because he thinks barista-ing is a young person’s game. “Your joints wear out after a while – wrists, elbows, shoulders – there are a lot of RSI-type injuries. There have recently been big strides in the industry to battle that but it’s probably too late for me.”

So, it was with his future in mind that Rob set about applying his coffee-making philosophies to coffee roasting. “Just as I taught myself to make coffee, I taught myself to roast. Bink had shown me the rudimentaries of the roaster, but I knew nothing about green coffee beans or blending. I sourced my first beans from the lovely folks at Coffee Supreme. I knew if they had brought them in to the country they must be good.” Rob explains the process of sourcing/buying/importing beans, it’s not easy and he was thankful that Supreme were initially doing all the heavy lifting. When it came to roasting there was once again a lot of trial and era “luckily this was the era of YouTube videos,” says Rob. “I knew the basic concept of first and second crack – at a certain temperature the beans do the first crack and a few degrees later, the second crack (depending on the bean) and in those couple of minutes you can go from a blonde, light roast to a burnt French roast to an incinerated roast. There’s a thing called a tryer in the roaster that allows you to pull a sample, have a look and pop it back in. Rob likens it to toast. “When you toast bread made from beautiful ingredients you still want to taste the delicious flavour, you don’t want to taste just the burntness. Some breads suit a light toast, others a heavier toast. People often equate what they call a ‘strong’ dark coffee to a good cup of coffee but all you are tasting is the level of burn of the bean – the levels of caffeine are not necessarily higher. On the other side, if you don’t roast the beans enough the coffee can be grassy, woody, astringent and acidic. As much as I might like the flavour, I find my stomach doesn’t like acidic coffees. Some of the African beans can be quite acidic, whereas the Central and South American beans can be more chocolatey and a little sweet. I started out just trying to roast a coffee that I liked then at least I could speak passionately about it and say, ‘look it’s not for everyone but I like it for these reasons’.”

Rob delivers freshly roasted See Crow Fly coffee to mailboxes in the Hawea/Wanaka area in packaging that suits the customer. One customer has two biscuit tins on rotation.

Coffee beans usually come in 60-70kg sacks and, depending on the origin, can cost anything from $600-$700 to between $1000-$2000, so Rob couldn’t afford to buy a couple of sacks on the off chance they might be nice. He worked in small kilogram lots from different origins and tried them out until he ended up with something he liked. “I was roasting coffee in small batches for friends and family and then I had people saying, ‘oh you’re my favourite barista so if you think it’s okay then I want to try some.” Those people now order See Crow Fly coffee regularly. Roasted and delivered by Rob to their mailboxes in packaging that suits the customer. “I like to keep waste to a minimum so I’m happy for people to use their own containers. One customer has two biscuit tins on rotation – I collect the empty tin from the mailbox as I drop the full one. I’ll put coffee into anything – an old sock with a knot tied in it if that’s what they want.” Rob has valved, ziplock bags that are reusable which is great for mail order to those who live outside of the Hawea/Wanaka delivery area. A customer on the West Coast picks up his order from Mo’s on his way to or from town, “If people want coffee, we will find a way to get it to them” says Rob. It’s also on the shelf at Fedeli and Rove in Wanaka.

Rob has, “for want of a better term”, a house blend that he describes as full-bodied and tasty. “I like to think of it as chocolaty with caramelised notes. You can get quite poncey about this stuff, but it is helpful to dial in to what it is about coffee that you like.” Explains Rob. “I now get a selection of beans I like from various origins. They all have different qualities and through tasting (coffee cupping) I put them together, like a recipe, to make a blend - the robustness of that, the flavour of that, it needs some acidity so a little bit of that.” When you order your coffee (preferably by text or phone – Rob views email as admin that takes him away from roasting), you can let him know how you enjoy your coffee and he will supply what he thinks you will like. Some people just leave it to him to surprise them with whatever is interesting that week. He has also been known to be out roasting coffee late into the night responding to a call or text from a customer who has realised they have no coffee for the morning. “There’s no pressure,” says Rob. “But, for coffee quality, I don’t like to roast a lot and have it sit there. If I can I will roast specially for them and drop it in to their mailbox early, ready for their morning coffee.” I don’t want to be taken advantage of, but it takes me back to how Supreme ran their business and to the meaning of the word hospitality.”

Rob is telling me his story over a cup of See Crow Fly coffee at Mo’s in Hawea where owner Misa has also been the beneficiary of Rob’s generosity. Misa asked if he would teach her how to make good coffee when she set up her delightful coffee caravan earlier this year. “Misa is one of the best students I’ve ever had. She was stubborn, (like me), determined, listened to everything I said and asked all the right questions. She would practice, practice, practice and get annoyed when she didn’t get it right. She nailed it.” Rob says proudly. Rob worked with Misa to create a special blend for Mo’s which you can also buy in bags from the caravan. I note that people thank Rob as they walk past with the coffee Misa has made and Rob shrugs it off. “We both get great feedback and we feed each other that feedback. Misa says, ‘It’s because of you’ and I say, ‘no it’s because of you’. It’s a combined effort.”

Rob at Mo’s next to the garage in Hawea where owner, Misa, serves See Crow Fly coffee.

See Crow Fly is well established now but it’s Rob’s barista job at Wanaka’s Federal Diner that he calls work. “It’s my safety net – there is a mortgage to pay. I barista four days a week and roast on my days off and evenings after work.” Work starts at seven and a lot of deliveries are made on the way in. There are dinners to cook and quality family time with Rachel and their seven-year old son, Farley to fit in. “Yes, it does lead to overwork and I am aware that you can’t burn the candle like that without something giving. I need more days in the week.” Rob says wistfully.

Rachel also works as a barista in Wanaka. “When Farley was born Rachel and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. We also both wanted to be working. I’d work four days a week, Rachel three, or vice versa, so there was always someone at home with Farley. When he started school, we gained a little more time and we are lucky to have Rachel’s parents living around the corner to do school drop-off and pick-up a couple of days a week. Family is important and Rachel and I are often very tired ships that pass in the night. By the time Farley’s gone to bed, if I’m not roasting or doing the books, conversation is really hard” he drawls, “but we make it work. It’s all about making a happy child. He’s his own cool, unique, little individual. He loves coffee, obviously not drinking it, but he can make a very good long black, can very ably take a full cup of coffee down to a table at the café and he’ll steam his own almond milk to make a fluffy. He’s grown up around it and it’s all second nature to him.

I’m keen to know how Rob takes his coffee and he laughs in response. “I have way too many ways of making coffee, it’s embarrassing.” He explains that it’s all about what he’s needing at the time. “If I need a hit, I’ll use the espresso machine. If I want a relaxing carafe of coffee from such-and-such an origin, I’ll use the Chemex. If I’m on the move, I’ll use the Aeropress. I have plungers and stovetops and then there’s cold brews and nitro coffee - they all have their own thing going on and I play with them all.” We’ve already established that he has no time to sit around relaxing over coffee, which he lists as one of his passions along with animals and movies (Rob studied TV and radio production at Dublin Institute of Technology), when I hesitantly ask how he spends his free time. “I love hanging with my boy and I do pretty much all of the cooking at home”. The family enjoy a vegan diet that incorporates vegetables and fruit from the garden. “Rachel and Farley do the gardening” says Rob “Being Irish, you don’t grow up sitting out in the garden and I don’t have a high tolerance for hot sun. I also suffer terribly from hay fever, so the garden is best avoided.”

Rob talks fondly of their modest Hawea life. “It’s not cheap to live here, but it’s worth it and I get to see the same landscapes as the people who have multimillion-dollar homes here.” I’m doing something I enjoy and when my barista body does break down, See Crow Fly means I can still be in the coffee game supplying people with something that they like and if I can make a living off of it too then that’s great – put food on the table, clothes on the backs, fuel in the car, that’s all.”

Rob used the word Crow (he loves crows and they are something he misses about Ireland) in the Janet and John/Dick and Jane reading book style to get the name See Crow Fly.

For orders phone or text Rob on 021 0225 4861
Email info@seecrowfly.coffee

See crow fly

Words by Jo Elwin