Good shout: Salty Brew Coffee & Goods, Karikari
Getting the goodness out - one cup at a time
Welcome to Good Shout! A shout out series calling out great cafes and coffee experiences.
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Salty Brew Coffee & Goods, Karikari Peninsula
2 Whale Cres, Karikari Peninsula, Northland
In the middle of the big city, coffee is fuel, powering you through a busy day; offering little glimpses of hope and respite.
But when you’re hours away from the bright lights, the noise and the carnage, coffee takes on a different role. Coffee provides a moment. Coffee makes you look up from your device and helps you remember there is a world out there worth seeing.
The price you normally pay for that moment is quality. You can forgive an average coffee when the view is amazing.
But what happens when you get that moment AND killer coffee? Well, you get Salty Brew.
Salty Brew Coffee & Goods, in the Karikari Peninsula, sits proudly in a residential driveway, down a quiet cul de sac, in unassuming glory while being effortlessly cool.
It blends DIY punk attitude with specialty coffee, awesome baristas and hella awesome people.
This renovated caravan oozes summer and surf vibes, with the menu written on a surfbord, Kelly Slater Pro Surfing on the PS2 that you can play while the coffees are brewed, and the sounds of breaking waves only 100 meters away.
Looking rad is one thing, but the test of any real cafe is, of course, it’s coffee.
The coffee is killer. It was certainly the best coffee north of Auckland. Holiday or not, was also the best coffee of the summer. I still dream of the flat white I had as we searched the coast for surf. I can taste the hints of caramel, the creamy mouthfeel, the sweet milk. Magic.
Whether you fire up a long black, flat white, mocca, iced-choc or an oat milk special, you’ll be treated to a great time thanks to the experts pulling the shots and getting the absolute best out of the Allpress specialty coffee beans.
This place has a fun and homely vibe, thanks to the garage-side bar, the kids helping out and the muffins that are pulled fresh out of the oven inside the house. So fresh that the ones we had were still hot. So good.
And if you need to cool down on a hot summer day, they even have real fruit ice cream. They have everything you need.
Salty Brew Coffee & Goods has to be checked out for that pre-roadie, post-surf or beach-hang coffee fix.
Don’t sleep on this place. It’s an asset for the Karikari community, and absolutely worth going out of your way to visit.
Five stars.