Centre of Gravity, Auckland Central

You know Gravity - they make that coffee in the purple bags on the supermarket shelves, wholly decent stuff and for those of you like me who like great coffee but really can't be bothered hunting it down in arcane apothecaries in hidden side streets and so on, it's a good choice. Of their many and varied blends, Jump Start is a favourite of mine.

The Centre of Gravity, nestled below the TBWA building on Mayoral Drive, is just that - a training centre, coffee bar and sometime boardroom for whoever wants to hire it (at a very reasonable $30ph). No matter how many times I come here, I'm always slightly concerned that I'm walking into someone's basement, as you wander through the white and purple corridors to finally get to the bar itself. It's an oddly gratifying experience just making it inside.

And once you're in there, you're never that keen to leave. Hidden away from the rush and shove of Auckland's CBD, it's a little oasis of shiny coffee machines, quietly friendly baristas and the best cinnamon brioches I've had, bar none. The coffee is tremendous, punchy, rich and just the legal side of amphetamine-strength. The consistency is amazing - each cup given the care it deserves and none coming away lacking. You can tell this is where budding baristas come to learn.

So it's a bit off the beaten track. It's hidden in a basement, and it's occasionally full of TBWA types talking with fabulous indiscretion about their clients. But it serves excellent coffee, it's in my top three CBD coffee places, and if you need to be unambiguously caffeinated for a good hour or two, nothing will do the trick quite like one of theirs.

Centre of Gravity
15 Mayoral Drive
Auckland

+64 (0) 9 377 9952