Coffee Quest #30 - Red Rabbit (New Zealand's Best)
This is it. My holy grail. I think this is the best coffee in New Zealand and I've never had anything come close to Red Rabbit.
The first time I sipped my coffee, I stopped and looked at my partner.
"Holy shit. I'm back in Melbourne."
She laughed. She understood what I meant.
A lot of people say, "Ahhh, Maddie, your standards are too high!" And my response to that remains the same: I don't think that's true. I think I have standards. I experienced fantastic coffees and worksmanship in Asia all around. I saw this echoed in Melbourne with baristas dialling shots in, once in the morning, and a second check at lunchtime.
Red Rabbit does this. The baristas here (at the Parnell store, I don't recommend the Newmarket branch) always ask how we find our coffees. I've gotten the filter twice and they pour out a little bit everytime to check before it's served. They measure the dose down to the decimal point when grinding, and I'm watching them prepare my filter with extreme precision.
They do this all the time in Japan, in Taiwan, in Melbourne, so why does nobody expect the same from New Zealand? Why are most of our coffees here a dark, burnt mess? This isn't an attack on dark roasted coffee. I've had some fantastic shots, some real good wake up Mason WHAT DO THE NUMBERS MEAN in my blackened espresso. But my local cafes serve gunk. They pour incomprehensible (sometimes watery) fluids into my keep cup.
They don't taste--they can't taste because they don't know what they're looking for. They don't care about the coffee.
Which, fair enough, cause some of them are being paid minimum wage and exploited for a visa. The wage doesn't match the effort, so don't bother. Those burrs hurt when you're being ground to a dust. No point roasting when they're already burned out.
This is their espresso tonic. And interesting twist and zing on coffee. It's Yuzu tonic topped with blood orange, and there's a nice twang of bitterness to round it out. I love the addition of blood orange here. The oils from the zest and the aromas from the fruit really compliment the notes.
The Kenya washed filter. I tasted a very nice apricot with hints of grape. It's light, delightful, and most of all, it's calming. It soothed a lot of my anxiety while I sat there watching my parter chomping on food. Smell-wise, it's very mildly nutty and tea leaf (I smelled a light oolong) while my partner says she thinks it's earthly with a bit of woody and smokey notes.
I loved this one.
But, like, I would never pass on their espresso.
This is the best cup in New Zealand. When I drink it, I fucking sigh. I feel my muscles loosening. This is about as good/better than Code Black in Melbourne. I want this every day. I want to wake up and drink this and just look out into the sky or pine for the mountains and feel content.
I taste happiness.
So I know Red Rabbit doesn't make their own pastries. I believe they used to get it from Leeds Bakery from Wellington, but that place closed down (which is why you no longer get their super famous salted caramel cookies) so I just don't know! But their food is impeccable. Their croissants are perfection. The egg and prosciutto in particular is amazing; not too much mayo, the egg balance is good and has an excellent smooth texture. Their cheese and prosciutto croissant is fantastic too; there's cheese blended between the laminated layers. Ask them to toast it for you. You won't regret it.
Update for the new popup: They now have their own kitchen and a baker who works there. Whether they make everything from scratch or if half of it is contracted out, I don't know.
The jalapeno cheese pretzel is one of my partner's favourites. It's a hit! A nice spice with a one two cheesy punch, but could be a little spicier. Get it toasted too--heck, just get everything toasted at Red Rabbit. The pretzel finishes everything nicely; crunchy, soft, almost steamy when toasted, with enough flavour to be a fantastic meal by itself even before the cheese and jalapenos. A slight nuttiness to every bite.
(Quick note: if you're going to the Parnell store--and you absolutely should--the regular warehouse they operate out of is undergoing renovations so they've moved to a pop up in the Xero building. The address is on their website and I think it's also updated on Google Maps temporarily.)
Red Rabbit is not the best coffee I've had in my whole life. It can't be--that would mean my tastes don't change and I've stagnated. But this is the best coffee I've had in New Zealand by miles. There is no competition.
My recommendation is simple: given the chance, I would come here everyday.
UPDATE: while this post was marinating in my drafts, I went to the new popup
Note the child throwing himself against the window in the first picture.
Anyway, their new popup is great! It's air conditioned and fully enclosed so no more birds shitting everywhere you sit and eat. They also have an actual kitchen with nice big ovens so I think the food is in-house now.
And my verdict still stands: they have the best cabinet food, hands down.
I will say that my friends and I had their large sized coffee and we all felt that the ratio was slightly off which resulted in a bit of a weird texture. I recommend sticking with their single shot coffees because that's dialed down to a T and perfect. Besides, it's a cup to be enjoyed, and not to be honked down in a few gulps, though if you want to do that I'm not going to stop you.
The second photo is their most famous cabinet food: an orange marmalade almond cake. It's consistently sold out during the weekends and to try it, you have to go there on a weekday. Almost everyone we saw lining up for Red Rabbit grabbed one to go.
It's really good. Incredibly moist with a bottom layer of orange zest and the nice baked edges give a great distinction in tone and flavour. By god, I will take any excuse to come back to Red Rabbit and this is an easy one.
The last photo is their Poaka Finnochino Salami, Mozarella, Basil Pesto, Roasted Red Capsicum in a Four Onion Focaccia. Okay, ignoring all that, the salami's great (though I feel like they could've filled it more to the edges of the sandwich), they're generous with the pesto, and you absolutely should get this toasted and heated up.
I took a bite and paused and told my partner to try it too. "Just a small bite," I said. "But really smell it."
That four onion focaccia is heavenly in terms of its aroma. It really, really matches well with the entire dish and it's just an excellent sandwich to share.
I wish Red Rabbit was more popular. I wish more cafes would copy them but there's a big demographic issue in New Zealand. It's not Melbourne or Seattle, so maybe I'm expecting too much.