Boasters Coffee House and Roastery — known to many locals as Eleven Eighty, after its address at 1180 Haupapa Street — is part café, part working roastery, and entirely a Rotorua story. It's here in Glenholme that every bag of Boasters coffee begins, with small batches roasted on-site daily alongside quality control and, in the team's words, the pursuit of flavour perfection. The coffee in your cup travels metres, not months.
The business began in 2009 as Autobahn Coffee, a humble family-owned venture with a passion for great coffee, and became Boasters Coffee Roasters in 2019 — a name chosen to capture bold flavour and big-hearted community spirit. The values never changed: proudly local, proudly independent, and focused on quality, people and sustainability.
Community sits at the heart of everything. The team supports Crankworx Rotorua, donates to local clubs, fundraisers and charities, champions local artisan producers, and supplies a network of independent cafés, offices, coffee carts and tourist attractions across Aotearoa. Home brewers can take the same freshly roasted beans home from the café, or order online with free delivery within the Rotorua area or on orders over $100.
Sustainability is woven into the everyday: home-compostable cups from Decent Packaging, compostable Econic bags, on-site recycling, used coffee grounds free for customers' gardens, and electric vehicles on the road. Inside, quality shows in the details — from roast profiles to the welcome at the counter. Many team members have stayed for years, and whether it's your first flat white or your usual, the aim is simple: every visit should feel like coming home.
Step into Boasters Coffee House and Roastery on Haupapa Street and you're doing more than ordering a coffee — you're standing inside the home of a working roastery. Locals know it as Eleven Eighty, after its street number, and it's here that every bag of Boasters coffee gets its start: small batches roasted on-site each day, checked over for quality, and poured fresh across the counter. Few cafés can honestly claim their coffee travelled metres, not months, to reach your cup.
The story begins in 2009, when the business opened as Autobahn Coffee — a humble, family-owned venture built on a passion for great coffee. In 2019 it evolved into Boasters Coffee Roasters, a name chosen to capture the bold flavour, big-hearted community spirit and commitment to roasting premium beans right there in Rotorua. The name changed; the values didn't. Boasters remains proudly local, proudly independent, and firmly focused on quality, people and sustainability.
What makes Eleven Eighty special is the roastery at its heart. Small-batch roasting happens daily on-site, alongside quality control and what the team calls the pursuit of flavour perfection. That freshness isn't reserved for café customers: home brewing enthusiasts can pick up freshly roasted beans during a visit, or order through the online shop. Delivery is free within the Rotorua area, or on orders over $100, so a bag of just-roasted beans is never far away. Café owners, baristas and offices can tap into the same beans through wholesale supply.
Ask anyone at Boasters what the business is really about and the answer isn't roast profiles — it's people. The team proudly supports Crankworx Rotorua, bringing coffee to the crowd during one of New Zealand's most exciting mountain biking festivals, and regularly donates to local clubs, fundraisers and charities. They also champion local artisan producers, showcasing the range of great-tasting options made close to home.
That community reach stretches well beyond the café's own walls. Boasters supplies a network of independent cafés, small businesses, local offices, coffee carts and tourist attractions across Aotearoa — familiar local names among them include On The Grind, Zorb Café, Motion Entertainment, La More Sweets & Ice Cream, The Cow Cafe and Snug.
Sustainability at Boasters isn't a slogan; it's a set of small, practical choices. Waste is sorted and recycled responsibly across the cafés. Used coffee grounds are free for customers to take home for the compost or garden. Cups come from Decent Packaging and are home-compostable, as are the Econic bags used for beans. The team is also cutting plastic waste and running electric vehicles to shrink its carbon footprint — a journey, they say, that they're in for the long haul, for customers, community and future generations.
Order the classic: a flat white, the everyday ritual regulars build their mornings around. Every item on the menu is prepared with care, using thoughtfully sourced ingredients that celebrate flavour and freshness. But the thing visitors remember most is the feeling — a space designed so people feel good, whether it's your first flat white or your usual grabbed on the run. Many team members have stayed with Boasters for years, and that continuity shows in every interaction at the counter.
Boasters Coffee House and Roastery sits at 1180 Haupapa Street in Glenholme, Rotorua. If you're travelling instead, keep an eye out for the sister café, The Hangar, inside Rotorua Airport — the perfect stop for a pre-flight brew or a warm welcome home. Whether you're sipping in-store, brewing at home, or serving Boasters at your own business, the philosophy stays the same: coffee is what they do, but people are why they do it.