The Shore has really upped its game on the coffee front as of late. The latest addition being the new Coffee General inside The Department Store. If you haven’t been to their Birkenhead store, then you are in for a treat! What’s choice about this place(other than the fact it’s inside a shopping mecca) is you get to choose your own beans. That’s right, erryday there are three blends from three different roasters. Granted one is always their house blend(fair enough) but as far as the other two go your guess is as good as mine(think along the lines of Espresso Workshop, Three Beans and other boutique NZ roasters) Not sure what to pick? Never fear, the baristas are really helpful and will happily provide explanations(minus the wanky coffee chat) of each blend so you can at least make a somewhat educated decision. To the left(to the left… sorry couldn’t help myself — just went to Beyonce), there is also a cabinet full of sandwiches, slices and the like. The cabinet’s doors are customer facing so you can help yourself, old school cafeteria style. I must admit, I haven’t tried the food but it looks pretty delish.