Home of the Bean — From a VW Kombi to Café of the Year

Some of the best conversations happen when you're not looking for them.

We were at the Fabiani Café pop-up in Sandton City — writing up Cedar Coffee's Signature Blend and chatting to the SOZO Foundation baristas — when we spotted two familiar brown jackets that didn't quite match the others. Same Fabiani Café workwear, but a slightly different energy. These guys weren't just pouring — they were consulting.

Meet Home of the Bean.

The Name, the Kombi, the Origin Story

Leroy Kgopa and Itumeleng Manamela — husband and wife, both diagnostic radiographers by training — launched Home of the Bean in 2017 out of a converted VW Kombi they call the Kofi Kombi. No storefront, no roastery, just a passion for specialty coffee and a willingness to park wherever the people were.

By 2019, they had a small courtyard café at The Cosmopolitan in Maboneng. In winter 2021, they moved into larger premises at Arts on Main, 264 Fox Street — the heart of Joburg's creative district. The roastery followed, set up at Victoria Yards, a few blocks away.

Today, Home of the Bean is a multi-site operation. Beyond the flagship in Maboneng, you'll find their coffee at:

• Berman Contemporary gallery (near Hyde Park) — recommended for art and coffee lovers
• Baker McKenzie offices in Rosebank and Jan Smuts
• Bride Insurance in Rosebank
• Pop-up collaborations like the Fabiani Café

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The Equipment: Hey Café Grinders

At the Fabiani pop-up, we noticed an unfamiliar grinder on the counter — a Hey Café unit with white accents and a stainless steel finish. The team explained they've used Hey Café grinders since they started, finding them excellent for commercial use: easy to maintain, sustainable, and consistent.

The grinder features a technical dosing display showing the exact amount of coffee dispensed, supporting both automated and manual operation.

The espresso machine at Fabiani was the same Wega unit used across the pop-up. At their own venues, the team operates their own equipment setup calibrated to their roast profiles.

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The Competition: A Shot in the Dark

Home of the Bean has competed in A Shot in the Dark — South Africa's premier blind-judging roasting competition — twice:

• First attempt: 6th or 7th place overall
• 2025: 2nd place overall — 2nd for milk-based coffee, 3rd for black coffee

To put that in perspective: 1st place went to Amy Gardiner of Humble Coffee (back-to-back champion), and 3rd went to Leigh Wentzel of Cedar Coffee Roasters — both roasters we've profiled extensively on Coffee Journal. That's elite company for a three-year-old roastery.

The stated goal now? First place.

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Café of the Year 2025

In December 2025, the Coffee Magazine Awards named Home of the Bean Café of the Year. For a business that started in a Kombi eight years ago, it's a milestone that validates the community-first approach Leroy and Itumeleng have built from the ground up.

Leroy also serves as a judge at The Barista League: Africa, and two of his baristas — Katlego and Mthandeni — have competed in the league as a team.

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The Coffee: Always Rotating

Home of the Bean's house blend is a Kenya × Costa Rica combination — though it wasn't available at the Fabiani pop-up (where Cedar's Fabiani Signature Blend was the feature).

Their strategy is deliberate: rotate the offering every 2–3 months to keep things fresh and introduce customers to new origins. At the time of our visit, the current single-origin options on the roaster were:

• Burundi
• Kenya
• Uganda
• Nicaragua
• Costa Rica

The roasting philosophy is medium roast only — no dark roasts. The logic is practical: medium roasts work beautifully as both black coffee and with milk, so every cup serves every customer.

Roasting happens every other week, fitted around the pop-up schedule and the various venue commitments.

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The Vibe: Maboneng Meets Victoria Yards

Asking where to go depends on what you're after:

• Maboneng (Arts on Main) — the flagship, lively, great for people-watching
• Victoria Yards — the roastery, zen-like, quieter, perfect for coffee cuppings
• Berman Contemporary — art gallery setting, recommended for those who want to combine culture with their cortado

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The Fabiani Connection

Home of the Bean was brought in as a collaboration partner for the Johannesburg edition of the Fabiani Café pop-up. While Cedar Coffee handled the main blend and the SOZO Foundation baristas ran the bar, Leroy's team contributed equipment expertise and operational support.

It's a reflection of the tight-knit relationships in SA specialty coffee — roasters supporting roasters, all under a charitable banner where 100% of proceeds go to the SOZO Foundation and FoodForward SA.

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Find Home of the Bean

• Flagship: Arts on Main, 264 Fox Street, Maboneng, Johannesburg
• Roastery: Victoria Yards, Johannesburg
• Instagram: @homeofthebean
• Online store: Coming soon (not yet operational)

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Met at the Fabiani Café pop-up, Sandton City, 8 July 2026. Words by Brett Burness for Coffee Journal.

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Read more: Check out our Fabiani Café pop-up article for the full story on Cedar's Signature Blend and the SOZO Foundation baristas. Browse the Johannesburg Coffee Roasters Guide or explore the SA Roasters Directory.