Frank's at 10: Introducing delicious coffee to the world.
A decade of coffee, community and championship ambition.
The Terrace is a fascinating part of Wellington. At one end, you have rows and rows of houses built on top of each other, with a mix of modern and Victorian styles home to struggling university students and rich corporate types.
At the other end, you’re in the heart of the beltway, home to government and political types, and all the well-paid consultants who create, dismantle, and re-imagine public policy.
It’s in the middle of this weird juxtaposition that Frank Hsu chose for the home of Frank’s Coffee - a pioneer and leading light of the New Zealand specialty coffee scene.
Frank’s Coffee – A Specialty Coffee Pioneer in Wellington
Over a decade ago, Frank had a dream of building a cafe that was “a little sanctuary from the Monday to Friday daily grind.”
It all started with a bit of an epiphany.
While studying information systems at Victoria University, Frank went to a conference where it hit him. Frank told me “Information systems sort of came natural to me, but it’s not something that’ll get me out of bed at 6:00am. What I really wanted to do is open a coffee shop - it has been in my head for a while.”
And with that, he chucked in his degree and started slinging shots at Mojo HQ in Wellington. After seven years of grinding away in the beating soul of Wellington’s coffee scene, he had the opportunity to launch Frank’s.
“I was 29 years old - with a lot of motivation and probably a touch of naivety as well.”
On 6 October 2015, Frank’s Coffee opened its doors on The Terrace. Today, Frank’s Coffee stands as one of New Zealand’s most respected specialty coffee brands, with two locations, a boutique roastery, and global competition pedigree. With some of the best coffee in Wellington, it’s a must-visit.
The Terrace: An Unlikely Home for Specialty Coffee
No Wellingtonian would call The Terrace ‘cool’, and starting a specialty coffee spot in this part of town may have seemed like a weird choice to the locals.
“The Terrace wasn’t my first option - probably our third,” Frank said.
“At the time, The Terrace was pretty bare and there weren’t many options at all. The only thing around on The Terrace was Mojo.”
While The Terrace wasn’t the obvious choice for specialty coffee back then, Frank saw potential in the suits and spreadsheets. “I felt smarter talking to people in suits,” he laughed. “They had disposable income, and they spread the word quickly.”
“They’re here before 9am, back at morning tea and in the afternoon and they want to have meetings here. [A cafe] is the perfect business.”
Frank’s Coffee - Newtown
Frank is an astute thinker and takes business seriously. He wanted to diversify to make sure he didn’t have all his eggs in the one basket. When he went searching for a second location, looking out of the CBD was the logical choice. Frank ended up in Newtown.
Newtown is a thriving and diverse community, and importantly it’s home to the Wellington Regional Hospital and the Otago University medical school - thousands of people work or study within a stone’s throw of Frank’s Newtown.
The location also gave Frank another reason to serve coffee.
“I feel that we exist not just to provide a good coffee but also to serve the people that we care about day-to-day. [At the hospital] they’re treating people daily, but they’re drinking bad coffee - so we’re there to provide a good coffee to them.
“We’re actually doing them a favour.”
The Newtown cafe has become a community hub, offering the same obsessive attention to detail but with a different vibe — more local, more grounded, more heart and more coffee-focused.
Roasting Philosophy: Sweetness and Balance
When The Terrace opened in 2015, roasting was already on Frank’s mind. He had a little dream that one day he could get into it, but he didn’t know how.
Roll in a little pandemic called COVID-19 - the virus that made the world stop for a short time. Just the right amount of time for some…
“During COVID we were literally sitting around every day. [I thought] why don’t we use this time to learn how to roast?
“I thought we could either stay small or do something risky. I felt I had reached a ceiling of how much I knew about coffee, so doing our own roasting was a natural progression.”
The calculated risk of getting into roasting helped to sure up the business in a time of extreme uncertainty, adding another income stream to make sure they didn’t limp out of the pandemic.
He invested in infrared roasting technology - which uses around 50% less energy than traditional roasters - set up the roastery in Upper Hutt and got into roasting some of the most unique coffees you’ll find in New Zealand.
Frank’s roasting philosophy is to highlight sweetness and balance in coffee profiles.
“If there is ever one thing I want to highlight in coffee it’s sweetness, because a lot of people associate coffee with acidity. And I thought if I can just focus on sweetness, there’ll be a win for me, and there will be a win for our customers.”
“We’re focused on the taste balance of sweetness in support of the acidity - not fighting against each other, but in good synergy.”
Frank Hsu - the competitor
One of Frank’s crowning roasting achievements has been the Maragesha, aka ‘Maria’. It’s a rare cross between Maragogype and Gesha from Colombia. There are only three farms who export this varietal commercially, and Frank managed to get his hands on it and roasted it to perfection.
So good, that 2024 New Zealand Barista Champion, Honoka Kawashima (a former Frank’s cafe barista) used Maria in her World Barista Championship routine - and placed 4th in the world.
This same coffee was used for the 2025 Aotearoa AeroPress Championship, offering competitors a rare and expressive coffee to work with.
“We wanted to give them something special,” Frank said. “Not an afterthought.”
Sponsorship of the 2025 Aotearoa AeroPress Champs was a full circle moment for Frank, having won the Wellington champs back in 2018.
Frank has also found success at the New Zealand Barista Championships, taking third in 2017 and 2018.
True to the guy’s character, Frank has volunteered as a judge at the champs a whopping five times - something that informs his roasting education.
“From my judging I developed my style from tasting other people’s coffee. It’s coffee from all around the country.”
Coffee as conversation
Frank’s isn’t just about coffee; it’s about connection. Frank still personally replies to customer emails, answering questions about beans, brewing, and flavour.
“That’s where we have our competitive edge - we invest a lot of time of the education side of things, and building communities,” Frank told me.
“Coffee is personal. I think that coffee experiences should be personal. It’s not cold. It’s a relationship - a special coffee experience.”
That philosophy extends to the upcoming 10-year celebration. Frank is inviting regulars to reflect on what the cafe means to them. “I know what Frank’s means to me,” Frank said. “But I want to know what it means to them.”
What’s Next for Frank’s Coffee?
Despite economic headwinds, Frank is still optimistic.
“We’re not immune to it, we’re in the same economy just like everyone else,” Frank reflected. “But we’re seeing green shoots. People still want good coffee. It makes them feel better.”
As Frank’s enters its second decade, the vision is clear: introduce delicious coffee to the world.
“It’s about evolution. [Our experience] really shows that what we have here is something very special. It’s a harbouring ground for world class baristas, we were very innovative in terms of roasting and there’s a good community here.
“Looking at the next 10 years we could grow organically, look at wholesale, or looking to see whether there’ll be any investors interested in what we’re doing here.”
How exciting.
Celebrate in style with Frank’s Coffee
Frank’s is celebrating a decade in style, with a bunch of fun stuff going down next week:
Monday 27th October: Free slices of cake for all customers who come in
Thursday 30th October - Sunday 2nd November: Frank’s Coffee themed doughnuts in partnership with Dirty Doughnut
Throughout the week: Various giveaways
Saturday 1st November: Frank will be behind the bar slinging shots from 8am till close, personally making coffee for our regulars who’ve been with them over the years. If anyone’s been a regular at Frank’s, come in and Frank make you a coffee on him!
Keep a close eye on Frank’s instagram for more:
Congratulations on a decade
Over ten years, Frank, Frank’s Coffee and all the crew who serve exceptional coffee on the daily, have built an incredible relationship with not only their customers, but with Wellington.
They have introduced thousands of people to the world of speciality coffee - no small feat - and they’ve nailed it.
A massive thanks to Frank for spending an hour with me on a video call to chat about a decade of Frank’s Coffee. It was an honour.
Have you visited Frank’s Coffee? Share your experience in the comments and follow us for more New Zealand coffee yarns and deep-dives.
Hbd Frank's! It is a much-needed oasis in the Terrace :)
The Frank's on The Terrace is in the ideal location if you're staying in one of the hotels there (e.g. New Zealand's worst Novotel).