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Stories, tips, and tales from South Africa's coffee scene
An interactive tasting of Cedar Coffee Roasters' rare Wush Wush — taste it three ways.
From a Swiss engineer's 1970s idea to the Nespresso machine in your hotel room: the full history of coffee pods, how capsule machines work, what pods really cost in SA, and how to pull the best cup.
I wasn't planning on discovering a new roaster. But an espresso at Surf Riders Café led me to Coffee Merchant — a Durban North roastery supplying beans to KZN's hospitality industry. Their Nonmara blend, served beachside, is proof that great coffee doesn't need a fancy origin story.
A visit to Terbodore Coffee Roasters' new Howick home — 22 years of roasting, a Great Dane legacy, flavoured coffees that actually sell, and a flat white that reminded me why medium-dark roasts still matter.
I've been writing about coffee for months and had never made a French press. A hotel room in the KZN Midlands, a plunger, and whatever coffee the room came stocked with fixed that.
I drove to Howick to visit South Africa's current Roaster of the Year. I left four hours later with a frozen geisha, a headache from information overload, and the realisation that I know significantly less about coffee than I thought.
From the laboratory-style Espresso Lab in Woodstock to the aviation-themed 777 Roastery in the CBD, Cape Town's specialty coffee culture is thriving. A guide to 7 roasteries worth your time.
Café-quality flat white at home — the exact ratio, milk texturing technique, and three setups from R1,500 to R10,000 that actually work. Written and tested in SA.
Cold brew is the laziest great coffee there is — 5 minutes of work, the fridge does the rest. The exact ratio, steep time, and how to make the espresso tonic everyone's ordering.
The moka pot makes rich, espresso-style coffee on a gas stove — no electricity, no R10k machine. The technique that stops it tasting burnt, tested through Stage 6.
Every SA household owns a plunger. Almost nobody uses it right. The correct coffee-to-water ratio, grind size, and the one step that eliminates sludge forever.
The AeroPress recipe I use every single day — exact ratios, grind size, timing, and which SA beans shine in it. Load shedding-proof coffee in under 3 minutes.
A visit to Sorcery Coffee Roasters' The Ruins in Wapadrand — Genio roasters, handmade cupping bowls, the Wolisho range, and Pretoria's best terrace view.
We bumped into the Home of the Bean team at the Fabiani Café pop-up in Sandton City. Three years of roasting, 2nd place at A Shot in the Dark, and a café in Maboneng that won Café of the Year 2025. Here's the full story.
Fashion house Fabiani has opened a café inside Sandton City — and 100% of the proceeds go to charity. We visited the pop-up to taste Cedar's exclusive Fabiani Signature Blend, meet the SOZO Foundation baristas, and find out if this thing could become permanent.
We caught Yoh Coffee slinging espresso at Ellis Park on Springbok game day. What started as a side-gig in 2016 is now a 15-truck fleet serving stadiums, air shows and corporate events across Gauteng.
A sober-curious generation is trading 2am dance floors for 10am flat whites — and specialty cafés from Cape Town to Johannesburg are rewriting what social nightlife looks like in daylight.
The sober daytime party is quietly rewiring house music. As a 20-year DJ veteran and events producer, Bibi Burness breaks down why coffee raves are the most exciting thing to happen to dance music — and why he'd play one for free.
From the 16th-century Turkish cezve to the 2005 AeroPress — origin stories behind 8 iconic brewers, their inventors and where they began.
Washed, natural, honey and anaerobic processing — what each does to your coffee and how it shapes fruit, sweetness, acidity and body.
Follow coffee through all 10 stages — from a red cherry on the plant to the fresh ground in your cup. A beginner's guide to how coffee is made.
Our trust scoring methodology explained — the four factual criteria, how we verify them, three worked examples from the directory, and why no roaster can pay their way onto this list.
My honest, lesson-by-lesson walkthrough of the day I spent at Bean There Fair Trade Coffee in Johannesburg in 2026 — processing methods, the flavour wheel, the brew ratio formula, and the one habit that saves every home barista.
Eleven roasters, three days, one notebook. My honest write-up of Jo'burg Coffee Festival 2026 at Fourways Mall Rooftop — Cedar, Humble, Brüder, Heavenly, Bluebird, Yellow Jacket, Culture, Origin, YAAWK, Robin Chat, and Tribe.
Why the same beans taste different in Cape Town and Joburg, which bottled water actually works for coffee, and the R30-per-gallon hack that changes everything. All sourced, all honest.
Lost power but still need your fix? The complete South African guide to brewing exceptional coffee during load shedding — methods, gear, and city-by-city tips from Coffee Journal.
Founded 2005 by Joel Singer. Five SA Barista Champions. 3,500 baristas trained. The 2023 merger with Truth and Tribe. Origin isn't just a roastery — it's the origin story of SA specialty coffee.
Founded 2020 in Moreleta Park, Culture Coffee brought Pretoria to Jo'burg Coffee Festival 2026 — with a hand-drawn skyline wrapped around the counter and a double CMA 2025 shortlist.
Centurion's angel-branded roastery has been crafting coffee for over a decade. Their El Mirador Colombian single origin was a standout at Jo'burg 2026.
A personal story of loss, adaptation, and discovering that the best coffee of my life came from a R600 plastic tube and a gas stove.
Shewaan Khan's Kenilworth roastery is the most decorated young operation in SA specialty. CMA Best Packaging 2023, Roastery of the Year 2024, Excellence in Coffee 2025. And there's a Kakashi Hatake figurine on the La Marzocco.
Started in a garage by Pieter & Maryke Schoonwinkel, Brüder Coffee has grown into one of the most interesting specialty operations outside the metros. Their festival tasting flight changed my view of what SA roasters can do.
Founded by Dario Scilipoti in Howick, Bluebird has become one of SA's most awarded young roasters — and their lifestyle collaborations with Salomon, K-Way, and Minimalist Wines are building a customer base beyond pure coffee enthusiasts.
Jake Easton started Tribe Coffee with R40 and a 25kg bag of espresso blend. 15 years later, the Woodstock Foundry roastery is part of the Origin-Truth-Tribe merger — and their Lovers Blend is a love letter folded into a coffee.
Xander Venter is the reigning SCASA Gauteng Regional Barista Champion. His Pretoria micro-roastery sources from Faysel Abdosh and sells the competition experience for R250. The slogan is the brief. It's true.
Sandro Torrente and Henry Torr learned to roast off YouTube and Giesen forums. Three rowing-named blends later, YAAWK is one of Joburg's most honest young specialty brands.
Founded by 3× SA Barista Champion Winston Thomas and Leigh Wentzel, Cedar Coffee Roasters has two Cape Town locations, a signature Milky Way blend designed as a gateway into specialty, and a 360° partner support model.
Two of the most popular manual brewers go head-to-head for load shedding duty. We compare taste, ease, cleanup, and everything else to help you choose.
Amy Gardiner started Humble Coffee at 23. Eight years on, the all-women Durban roastery has moved from Churchill Road to a 100-seater venue — still serving some of KZN's best coffee alongside a vegetarian-first kitchen.
We're building the ultimate resource for South African coffee enthusiasts. From tracking your espresso dial-in journey to discovering new roasters, here's what's coming.
Track your espresso shots, ratios, and dial-in progress.
Diagnose sour, bitter, or channelling shots step by step.
7 grind sizes, 20+ grinders, micron values for every brew method.
SA tap & bottled water scored against the SCA standard.
