Friday cuppings are a fixture at Acme HQ, but this time we ditched the cupping spoons and handed the bar over to our regulars. The result was coffee, cocktails, and a level of creativity that was… ambitious. Possibly ill-advised. Definitely fun.
Acme Coffee and Cocktails
'Coffee and Good Spirits' was our way of saying thank you to the good people of Te Whanganui-a-Tara for another year of support (and for enduring our slurps.) As always, Wellington showed up with big energy, generous pours, and some seriously talented barista teams doing what they do best: making great drinks and even better vibes.
And because many of our favourite people are scattered far beyond our little city, we’ve shared a handful of cocktail recipes from these absolute legends too. From left to right, top to bottom; Dara Santana, Benjamin Put, Honoka Kawashima, Klaus Thomsen, Celeste Wong, and Roseanna Jonhnstone.
We asked Dara Santana to dream up a cocktail for our 240ml Tajimi Tumbler, and she delivered Bubble Dream: a warm, fragrant float of jasmine, lemongrass, pineapple, coffee, and a whisper of rum (if you fancy). Think winter comfort that lifts, not sinks.
Dara’s a chemical-engineer-turned-coffee-whiz who blends science and sensory like it’s no big deal. She teaches, researches, judges, and helps connect coffee communities from Spain to Latin America to Asia. No wonder she’s part of the Oatly crew in Spain. Sharp mind, generous spirit and someone we’re very proud to work with.
We’re beyond proud to have Honoka Kawashima as an Acme ambassador; her passion, dedication, and drive are next level! From her first silky latte to becoming New Zealand’s Barista Champion and ranking 4th in the world, she’s proof that hard work (and a lot of coffee) pays off.
We sat down with her last year to chat about her pathway into coffee and then tapped her again for a few cocktail recipes when we launched our Tajimi Tumblers. Here's Honoka's Sweetie...
You'll all know Benjamin Put. He might be one of Canada’s most decorated baristas, but he’s also one of the co-founders of Monogram Coffee and a lifelong competitor who’s hit the World Barista Championship stage seven times (and made the finals five, just casually).
Ben kept his cocktail real: a riff on his go-to at home, the Boulevardier. Simple, classic, no fuss, very Ben.
We also not-so-gently nudged Klaus Thomsen for his favourite cocktail recipe, the Rum Shakerato, because if anyone knows how to pair great coffee with a great drink, it’s him.
Klaus pulled his first shots in London back in 2001 and basically never looked back. By 2006 he’d become World Barista Champion before teaming up with Peter Dupont and Casper Engel Rasmussen to start Coffee Collective the very next year.
What began as a micro-roastery has grown into a seriously admired coffee crew with eight shops (plus their own bakery, because why stop at great coffee?). They roast, they brew, and they even co-designed our Collective Range with us to make sure they had cups that truly fit the way they work.
In short: exceptional coffee, done properly, with a whole lot of heart.
Good friend and fellow Kiwi, Celeste Wong, might be Lisbon-based these days, but she’s spent well over a decade running the show in top cafés across the world. She’s been named one of London’s five best baristas by the Financial Times, written a bestselling book (Coffee Creations), and casually landed on the Time Out January 2025 cover like it’s no biggie. Oh, and she picked up Coffee Writer of the Year at this year’s London Coffee Festival Awards.
When she’s not on bar or on book tour, Celeste is consulting for cafés and lifestyle brands, or roasting and cupping her own beans, and generally making the rest of us exhausted as we watch on.
For Coffee and Good Spirits, Celeste shared one of her go-to sips from Coffee Creations, Coffee Margarita Sunset. Cheers to that!
No surprise that Roseanna Johnstone took out Outstanding Bartender at the Wellington Hospo Awards 2025. An OG of hospitality, she’s been behind a bar since 14 (first proper shift the Friday after her 18th birthday… because timing is everything) Her skills have taken her all over the world and introduced her to some incredible people.
She brought all that experience, energy, and just the right amount of quirk to our Coffee & Good Spirits night as one of our judges, and we’re still thinking about the BBPB (Bourbon Peanut Butter) cocktail she shared.
Cheers to our coffee community, our loyal customers and 2026!
