TOB Coffee — also known as TOB Reserve — is a modern specialty coffee shop and roastery at 8/56 Apollo Drive in Rosedale, on Auckland's North Shore. Its motto, "Made by hand. Brewed by heart.", captures the approach: beans are roasted fresh daily in Rosedale, brewed for the café's regulars, and bagged for home brewers across the country. Born from the daily buzz of the Rosedale café scene, TOB has built its reputation one cup at a time with locals who know good coffee when they taste it, and now holds a 4.7-star rating on Google from more than 900 reviews.
The roastery is led by founder Young-Jin Cha, known affectionately as Mr. TOB — New Zealand's first SCA Q Instructor. A Q-Grader since 2013, he became the first and currently the only Q Instructor in New Zealand under the new Q Grader program in 2025, scoring a perfect 100 in his examination — a title held by only two professionals across New Zealand and Australia. He has served as an International Jury Member for the Cup of Excellence since 2016 and is a certified trainer for the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe.
On the shelf, the range runs from the Mr. TOB house blend — caramel and dark chocolate with complexity — to the bold TOB Star, the full-bodied TOB Reserve, a smooth TOB Organic, and a rotating Seasonal Blossom series that shifts from bright spring florals to tropical summer fruit. Coffee is available whole bean or ground to suit your brew, delivered NZ-wide.
More than a café, TOB is a North Shore hub for specialty coffee lovers — welcoming casual drinkers, home-brewing enthusiasts and professional baristas alike, with education, sustainability and uncompromising quality at the heart of everything it does.
Tucked into 8/56 Apollo Drive in Rosedale, Auckland, TOB Coffee — also known as TOB Reserve — is what happens when world-class coffee expertise settles into a neighbourhood café. The shop's motto, "Made by hand. Brewed by heart.", sums up the approach: beans are roasted fresh daily in Rosedale, brewed for the morning rush, and bagged for home brewers right across New Zealand.
The café grew out of the daily buzz of Rosedale, building its reputation one cup at a time with locals who know good coffee when they taste it. Today it holds a 4.7-star rating on Google from more than 900 reviews, and its beans ship nationwide — ground to suit whatever brewer you keep on the bench.
TOB Coffee is led by founder Young-Jin Cha, known to just about everyone as Mr. TOB. His credentials are genuinely rare: a Specialty Coffee Association Q-Grader since 2013, and in 2025 he became the first — and currently the only — Q Instructor in New Zealand under the new Q Grader program, scoring a perfect 100 in his examination. Only two professionals across New Zealand and Australia hold that title.
His work stretches well beyond Auckland. Since 2016 he has served as an International Jury Member for the Cup of Excellence, and as a certified trainer for the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe he has helped evaluate some of the world's finest coffees while training Q Graders, roasters and judges across Asia and the Pacific. All of that experience funnels into one guiding belief: great coffee starts with respect — for the farmer, the bean, and the brew.
The retail shelf is where TOB's roasting philosophy shows. **Mr. TOB**, the house blend, leans into caramel and dark chocolate with real complexity. **TOB Star** is the easy-drinking option — bold, balanced and approachable. **TOB Reserve** is full bodied and balanced, while **TOB Organic** goes chocolaty, toffee-like, rich and smooth.
Four times a year the Seasonal Blossom series rotates: Spring is bright, refreshing and aromatic; Summer brings tropical fruit and exotic sweetness; Autumn is floral, elegant and balanced; and Winter offers blackberry with a black tea-like character. Alongside these sit the Decaf & Organic, Premium Reserve and Single Origin collections.
At the counter, the café pours the classics done properly — espresso, long black, flat white, latte, cappuccino and slower filter and plunger brews. Milk-drink drinkers get roasts rich and chocolatey enough to hold their own through milk; filter fans get clean, aromatic cups where the bean's character really comes through.
TOB takes home brewing as seriously as café service. Its online shop groups every coffee by how you drink it — espresso and long black, filter and plunger, or flat whites and lattes — so choosing a bag starts with your own routine rather than a label. Beans can be ordered whole or ground to suit your method, and orders are delivered NZ-wide.
The "Talk Coffee" blog extends the teaching, with practical guides on grind sizes for espresso, plunger, filter and stovetop, choosing beans for your machine, and why freshly roasted coffee often tastes even better after a short rest. Staff at the Rosedale café will happily walk visitors through the latest roasts side by side to find flavours that suit their palate and brewing style.
TOB Coffee sees itself as a North Shore hub for specialty coffee lovers — a place to slow down, share stories and experience coffee at its best, whether you're a casual drinker, a home-brewing enthusiast or a professional barista. Education is central to what comes next: future Q Grader courses and coffee programs are planned for New Zealand and Australia.
Weekday early birds are well looked after, with doors opening at 6:30 am Monday to Friday through the mid-afternoon; Saturdays run later, and on Sundays the roastery rests. For anyone chasing coffee with genuine craft behind it — roasted fresh in Rosedale and chosen with a Q Instructor's palate — TOB Coffee is, as they say, worth crossing town for.