Some of us start looking for gingerbread lattes on the first of November. If that is you, this guide is for you. Christmas menus in Whangārei cafes change every year and are often decided a week before they appear, so this is a guide to where to look and what to ask for, with recipes for the days your favourite cafe says "not yet".
Summer changes the Christmas menu
The spiced drinks of a northern Christmas were made for snow. Here it is 26 degrees, so the Kiwi version is usually iced: iced gingerbread lattes, cold brew with cinnamon syrup, peppermint mocha frappes and eggnog-flavoured milkshakes. Pumpkin spice is an autumn flavour that comes and goes in New Zealand, so if you find it, tell your friends.
Where to look in Whangārei
- The Town Basin: a cluster of cafes around the marina, where you can drink your coffee near the Christmas tree and the boats. Saturday mornings add the Artisans Market next door.
- The city centre laneways and Cameron Street: independent cafes here are the most likely to run a short festive drinks list and Christmas baking in the cabinet.
- Kamo and Kensington: village cafes worth a look on the way to the Christmas Tree Festival at St John's Church.
- Garden cafes: the cafe at the Quarry Gardens and the cafes at garden centres are a pleasant stop with a grandparent, and garden centres put up big Christmas displays.
- The national coffee chains and drive-throughs usually bring out a festive range in November, which makes them the reliable place for a gingerbread or peppermint drink.
- The Whangārei Growers Market on Saturday morning: coffee carts, Christmas baking and cherries, all before nine o'clock.
The best way to find this year's menus is to watch your favourite cafes' social pages from the middle of November. If a cafe near you does something special, tell us through the contact page and we will add it here.
What to order
- Iced gingerbread latte.
- Peppermint mocha, hot or iced.
- Chai with a cinnamon stick.
- A fluffy with a candy cane for the children.
- Christmas mince pies. Every baker's is different, and comparing them is a fine December hobby.
- Stollen, gingerbread people, rum balls, and anything described as "brandy snap".
Christmas high teas and breakfasts
Hotels and larger cafes take bookings for Christmas high teas and work breakfasts from November. If you want a table on the last Friday before Christmas, book in November. Ask about children's options and dietary needs when you book.
Make it at home
Gingerbread syrup: simmer one cup of water with one cup of brown sugar, two teaspoons of ground ginger, one teaspoon of cinnamon, a pinch of ground cloves and a teaspoon of vanilla for five minutes. Cool and bottle. It keeps for two weeks in the fridge. Two teaspoons in a coffee makes a gingerbread latte.
Iced gingerbread latte: fill a glass with ice, add a shot of strong coffee and two teaspoons of the syrup, top with cold milk and stir.
Pumpkin spice mix: three teaspoons of cinnamon, one of ginger, half of nutmeg and a quarter each of allspice and cloves. Shake over a milky coffee or stir into the syrup above.
Peppermint hot chocolate: add a drop of peppermint essence to hot chocolate and hang a candy cane on the mug.
Grown-ups can add a splash of something to any of these after bedtime.
A cafe crawl for Christmas lovers
Pick a Saturday in December. Start at the Growers Market for coffee and cherries, walk to the Town Basin for the Artisans Market and a mince pie, look at the trees on Kamo Road in the afternoon, and finish with fish and chips before the Christmas lights come on.
For more to do between coffees, see our Whangārei Christmas events guide. And while you are sitting down with your phone anyway, it takes two minutes to book Santa's call.