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Coffee Embassy started as a local cafe in Christchurch and has grown into a space where roasting, barista training, and community come together. What began with a simple goal to share great coffee has evolved into a full-fledged roastery and Cellar Door, crafting exceptional beans, supporting baristas, and exploring sustainable initiatives like HuskeeSwap.

In this Decent Conversation, we catch up with Gemma, Marketing and Dispatch Manager, to hear about their journey, what makes them a key part of Christchurch’s coffee scene, and how they use custom-branded cups to connect with customers.

 

 

Let’s start at the beginning, how Coffee Embassy came to life. 

What inspired you to open a space like this?

David had his first cafe, Lumes, in the city centre. Unfortunately it was lost in the quakes, so he reopened in our current space under the same name. David wanted a place for the local community to come together in a simple but considered space to share a great cup of coffee. It’s an old mechanics workshop, so it still has some industrial elements but we reckon it’s a nice cosy spot to relax and enjoy a good brew.

Where did the name Coffee Embassy come from?

The Lumes name and logo were inspired by Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes, both seekers of hidden treasure in their own ways. That spirit of discovery shaped our beginnings and continues today as a coffee roastery. From the start, our philosophy has remained the same: to share great coffee and its story. Our mission is to be ambassadors of better coffee, connecting farmers at origin to the final cup through storytelling, relationships and leadership, much like an embassy represents a nation.

How has the roastery and brew bar evolved over time?

Lumes became Coffee Embassy when David began roasting his own coffee, and our 15kg Joper roaster was installed. For four years, we roasted under the Coffee Embassy name while still operating as Lumes café. In 2018, we fully transitioned to Coffee Embassy, marking a shift in focus from a full café with a chef and menu to an espresso bar. As we grew, the space was reconfigured to support both roasting and service; it's now split between the roastery and the Cellar Door, a space to showcase our best offerings, including a freezer of past coffee releases available as pour over.

Tell us a bit about your approach to roasting.

What does great coffee mean to you?

Great coffee isn’t just about the taste. It’s definitely very important to source the best tasting coffees we can find, but better coffee also means traceability and transparency, and honoring the hard work the coffee growers at origin put into their craft.

How would you describe your roasting style or flavour goals?

Everyone has a different idea of what “light,” “medium,” or “dark” means, so we don’t rely on colour alone. Instead, we use a combination of temperature, colour, and development to guide our roasting. Our Head of Coffee, James, roasts each coffee to bring out its sweetness and complexity, while staying true to the character of the origin.

You’ve built more than just a cafe; you're also helping create a space for learning.

Why is barista education and training an important part of what you do?

Great coffee comes from care and intention at every step. Baristas are the final link, and we support them with the tools and knowledge to honour the work behind each cup, from dialling in a delicious espresso to pouring beautiful latte art. We're also passionate about sharing the stories behind the coffee, who grew it, where it's from, and what makes it unique.

You've been part of the local coffee scene for a while now.

What’s something you’ve learned from your customers or team in the past year?

Over the past year, we’ve learned how deeply our community cares about doing better for the planet. As we’ve been sharing more about our journey and mission this year, we’ve seen that our values truly resonate with our customers. That support has encouraged us to keep going and it’s also pushed our team to be more intentional in every decision we make.

Let’s talk sustainability, something close to both our hearts.

You offer both HuskeeCups and compostable branded decent Hot Cups. Why was it important to give your customers that choice?

There’s certainly a time and place for a single use cup, but we see a lot of our customers at Cellar Door every day, in some cases multiple times. It was a no-brainer for us to offer them an easy solution to do their bit in eliminating single-use cups with the Huskee Swap system. 

Tell us about launching the HuskeeSwap initiative at Cellar Door.

Our customers join HuskeeSwap by paying a small deposit to cover the cup cost. They simply bring the cup back for a refill, we handle the washing, and they get a discount on every coffee so the deposit eventually pays for itself while cutting single-use waste. More regulars are signing up, and everyone remembers to bring their cup back. A recent highlight is our local Fire and Emergency team all signed up, stopping by daily with their Huskee Cups, saving lives and the planet! (yes, it’s just available at Cellar Door!)

Branding with Purpose

Can you tell us about your custom Hot Cup design and what you wanted it to say about your brand?

We kept our design super simple with our name as big as we could get it! Our branding overall is pretty understated, the idea is that the coffee and experience speaks for itself, but having our name on a takeaway cup is great brand awareness, particularly when we’re serving coffee at events. Lots of our wholesale partners use our cups too. Personally, I always look for the roaster when I walk into a café, so branded cups are an easy way to share that partnership with customers.

Can you tell us a bit about how you found the process of custom branding with decent?

So easy! We've recently changed all three of our cups to an updated version of the text and colours used. I worked with our Account Manager Missy, who passed on the changes to decent's design team. They worked their magic, getting the updates onto the cup template for proofing by us, and off it went to print. Couldn't be easier. 

Quick Sips - A few quick-fire questions to round things out...

One song that always hits on a busy morning?

I’ve gotta go with one that’s been on repeat at Cellar Door recently, Punching In A Dream by The Naked and Famous - taking it back to 2010!

Most underrated item on your menu?

The team is currently loving Kello Raro on batch brew. It’s a classic washed coffee from Ethiopia and it slaps!

One piece of gear you can’t live without?

I reckon the PuqPress automatic tamper is the MVP behind the bar. It’s technology that’s been around for a while now but it’s a real wrist saver at busy events so we always save a space for it!

Best hidden gem in Christchurch?

Lillies, though they’ve made quite a name for themselves in the short time they’ve been around, they’re quietly tucked away in industrial Phillipstown making epic pizza and wines! Plus their team has excellent taste in filter coffee to keep them caffeinated on shift!

 

If you want to support Coffee Embassy, pop in for a brew, pick up some beans, or get yourself a reusable Huskee cup while you’re there.

📍 107 Fitzgerald Ave, Christchurch
 📸 @coffeeembassy_nz
 🌐 coffeeembassy.co.nz