Brüder Coffee: The Klerksdorp Roastery That Ran the Best Booth at Jo'burg 2026
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.
Key Takeaways
- Pieter and Maryke Schoonwinkel are a married couple from Klerksdorp.
- This is now the most-traced thread in the Coffee Journal archive — three roasters, same Ethiopian washing station:
- Klerksdorp, North West — Roastery + 3 on-the-go coffee stations Kroonstad, Free State — at Penny's Guesthouse Online at brudercoffee.
I spent ten minutes at the Brüder booth at Jo'burg Coffee Festival 2026 and walked away with four bags of coffee, a fundamentally changed view of what an SA roastery outside the metros can be, and a strongly-held opinion that the Brüder Ethiopia Lalisa Black Honey is the best festival winner of the weekend.
Who is Brüder Coffee?
Pieter and Maryke Schoonwinkel are a married couple from Klerksdorp. They got into coffee through Pieter's brothers-in-law in 2018 — hence the name Brüder (German for "brothers"). They bought their own roaster the same year and started roasting at the back of their garage.
Six years later, they've grown the operation into a proper roastery with three coffee stations in Klerksdorp and a partner location at Penny's Guesthouse in Kroonstad. The Schoonwinkels' story is the kind of SA specialty origin tale that doesn't get enough airtime — not Cape Town, not Joburg, not a corporate hospitality background. A garage. A passion. Family. Klerksdorp.
More Than Just Beans
Most SA roasters supply beans. Brüder does that and then some:
- ☕ Roasting — for shops, businesses, and individuals
- 🔧 Equipment supply — espresso machines, grinders, the lot
- 🎓 Barista training — to deepen the SA coffee skill base
- 📋 Menu design — turning a café's offerings into a coherent journey
- 🎪 Events — from festival booths to private functions
- 🛠️ Machine repair — keeping the gear running
It's a "we'll be your brother in coffee" model. Vertical integration before that became a buzzword.
The Festival Experience
This is where Brüder blew everyone away. They didn't just hand you a flat white and a bag. They ran tasting flights with food pairings. They explained processing methods while you drank. They put a Colombian Geisha in front of you as a cortado — with a coconut + almond milk blend — paired with a Biscoff cookie.
When most stands were transactional, Brüder was hospitable. That's the difference between selling coffee and building a brand.
The Coffees I Bought
| Coffee | Why |
|---|---|
| Colombia Geisha | The festival cortado sold me |
| Ethiopia Lalisa Black Honey | The absolute winner of the tasting — pineapple, honey, dark chocolate |
| Colombia Washed | Orange notes you could spot from the first sip |
| Strawberry Cheesecake Decaf | A genuine first |
The Little Bro Blend (Colombian + Tanzanian, medium roast) is their gateway coffee — think of it as Brüder's Milky Way. The crowd-pleaser designed for daily espresso.
Cross-Roaster Thread: The Lalisa Connection
This is now the most-traced thread in the Coffee Journal archive — three roasters, same Ethiopian washing station:
- Humble Coffee: Lalisa Natural
- Brüder Coffee: Lalisa Black Honey (the winner)
- Origin Coffee: Lalesa Black Honey (different spelling, same station)
The comparative side-by-side review is writing itself.
Where to Find Them
Klerksdorp, North West — Roastery + 3 on-the-go coffee stations Kroonstad, Free State — at Penny's Guesthouse Online at brudercoffee.co.za with nationwide shipping. Instagram: @bruder_coffee_roastery
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About the author
Bibi Burness, founder of Coffee Journal, has profiled 50+ SA specialty roasters and tested 10+ bottled water brands against the SCA standard. He completed the Bean There and Bluebird one-day home-barista courses in 2026 and maintains the site's transparency trust-score system.
Read more on the About page →