Ultimately it was my two boys, when they were young, that led me to do this. I was working in a job where I got told when I went on holiday, ‘when you come back you might not have weekends any more and have weekdays off’ and I thought that doesn’t give me time with my kids, I might just not come back, and I opened this three and a half months later.
It was the love of coffee but the thing that gave me the motivation to do it, 18 years after I first thought about it, was to spend more time with my kids. I’ve fallen very deep down a wormhole of coffee since then.
What is your go-to coffee order?
A long black. I’m known for my saying “if it’s not black send it back”. Although I should say, if batch or filter isn’t available.
If you could have dinner with any four people, dead or alive, who would they be?
I’ve always said one person I’d love to meet is Jimi Hendrix, no question about that. I would actually say two of my grandparents that have passed; there’s some people that leave quite a lasting impression on you.
And an uncle that I’ve never met who, again, massive impression despite having never met him.
Would you rather drink only decaf or only instant coffee for the rest of your life?
I’ve consistently proven in coffee tastings that you cannot taste the difference with decaf. I actually drink a lot of decaf already.
The biggest issue in the industry is people seem to think of decaf as a second-class product, but the people who are drinking decaf are drinking coffee only for the taste, so it’s actually more important than caffeinated coffee.
What is your favourite food to pair with coffee?
French toast with banana and bacon - but it has to be cooked on a fire next to a river. It’s all about the experience.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
Ohura. Ultimately that is the inspiration behind the Derelict brand. There is a spiritual connection to that place that I cannot explain. It’s one of the segments that the Forgotten World Highway forgot, so it’s in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
What is your go-to music right now?
It will usually be whatever has caught my eye first, but I generally go back to a favourite album, The Butthole Surfers’ Electriclarryland. The people who know, know, and the people who don’t will be like “the who? the what?” The album was taking the piss out of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland.
The whole album makes so much sense, but it’s also so wide-ranging in terms of styles which is what makes it so great.
How has your experience been owning a small business?
In one word I would say “emotional” because it’s so all-encompassing. There are wicked highs and wicked lows, you feel every little ripple.
You definitely get into a small business because you love what you do, not because you think you’ll make money doing it. The creative freedom that it gives me makes it worthwhile.
You sit here in the morning and you see the sun coming up over Bastia Hill and you think “best day ever” every morning. Someone asked me if you could be doing any job what would you do, and I said I’ve got nothing to complain about, I love everything I do, and if I don’t I’ll go do something else. I have that choice.
As The Village Snob, what is your most snobbish opinion?
I’m going to have to say the first thing that comes to mind is that black coffee is the only dairy alternative, although people are free to drink what they want. I’m the first to say that 20 years ago I used to get a vanilla latte from Starbucks. I’m not proud of it but we all have dark moments.
Olivia Reid is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
