New Docuseries “Specialty” Spotlights New Zealand Coffee Scene

The four-part series, directed by James Ladanyi, leads viewers through the coffee world of Wellington, New Zealand.

BY BHAVI PATEL
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

Photos by Ana Caicedo Macia

Specialty coffee has always had a story to tell—whispered in the steam of an espresso, buried in the ethics of a sourcing contract, or worn on the calloused hands of a barista who entered their first competition with everything on the line. Specialty, a new four-part documentary series created and directed by James Ladanyi, tells a particularly interesting story, straight from the heart of Wellington, New Zealand’s thriving coffee hotspot. 

The path from barista to director

James’ path to filmmaking ran directly through the espresso bar. After working as a barista while completing his undergraduate degree in Wellington and later while completing a Master’s in acting in Bristol, U.K., he returned home during the COVID-19 pandemic and took on the management of a coffee stand located inside of a local barbershop. 

“Helping to build a specialty coffee business from scratch—designing the menu, crunching the raw costings, deciding price points, building a customer base from nothing—really showed me how immensely difficult it is to run a successful coffee operation,” he told Barista Magazine. 

The spark for Specialty came from a painfully familiar industry moment: the collective reluctance to raise flat white prices from NZ $5.50 to $6.00. “Seeing the negative public reaction, even from loyal customers, to such a small price rise was really disheartening,” James says. That disconnect between coffee lovers and coffee makers became the creative catalyst for Specialty.

Four episodes, one industry tale

Specialty is structured as four thematic episodes, each pulling back a different curtain on the craft. 

Episode 1 — Drip Theory (now streaming on YouTube) centers on what it takes to own and operate a specialty café in a post-COVID world, exploring the irreplaceable social role of the coffeehouse as a “third space” in urban life. 

Episode 2 — Champion follows Honoka Kawashima, New Zealand’s 2023 Barista Champion, who placed fourth at the World Barista Championship in 2024, and Frank Hsu, founder of Frank’s Coffee in Wellington, as well as Honoka’s trainer. The episode digs into the science of palette development and what it takes to judge at the highest level. 

Episode 3 (currently in production) rewinds the clock to trace New Zealand’s coffee history with historian Redmer Yska, from immigrant-driven café culture in the 19th and 20th centuries to the espresso boom of the 1990s. 

Episode 4 — Origin follows Rene Macaulay, head roaster at People’s Coffee in Wellington for 17 years, and a pioneer of lighter roast profiles in a dark roast-dominant culture. Rene’s two decades of visiting coffee-growing regions across Africa and South America inform a nuanced conversation about fair trade, organic certification, and the ethical imperatives at the heart of modern sourcing. 

Telling the story that coffee deserves

What unites each episode is a conviction that the specialty coffee industry has been chronically underrepresented in film and television. “Compared with food, cooking and restaurant dining, and even to some extent wine and beer, coffee is a consumable industry that has been very undertold,” says James. “I wanted to add one small contribution to that.” 

The series doesn’t just speak to Wellington. These are universal stories: of competition nerves, ethical sourcing dilemmas, the economics of craft, and the cultures that coffee builds. They will resonate with anyone who has ever stood behind a grinder, pulled a shot, or simply fallen in love with a cup. 

Crowdfunding a craft

James shares that Specialty has been a community effort, shaped by support from a variety of sources. The team secured NZ $5,000 from Wellington City Council (WCC) in late 2023 and raised an additional $12,000 through crowdfunding to complete Episode 1. They’ve reapplied to WCC for further support to finish Episodes 2 and 3, and James is candid about the path forward: “At a certain point, we believe the onus should be on organizations and businesses, both private and public, to recognize the economic, social, and tourism benefits of backing a project like this.” 

Where to watch

For coffee professionals and enthusiasts alike, Specialty offers something rare: a documentary series that treats the craft with the intellectual rigor and emotional depth it has always deserved. Episode 1 is free to watch now on YouTube, and if you believe great coffee deserves great storytelling, this is exactly the series you have been waiting for. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bhavi Patel is a food writer focusing on coffee and tea, and a brand-building specialist with a background in dairy technology and an interest in culinary history and sensory perception of food.

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