I Sat Down With the Manager of Terbodore Coffee Roasters in Howick. Here's What 22 Years of Roasting Looks Like.

I pulled into a gravel parking area on Main Road in Howick, looked up, and saw the word TERBODORE in large silver letters on a dark grey building. Two folded teal umbrellas flanked the blue double doors. A road sign out front confirmed what I needed to know: Monday to Friday 07:30–16:30, Saturday 07:00–15:00.

This is stop number two on my Fifty Coffee Shops list for the KZN Midlands, right after my visit to Bluebird just up the road. And while Bluebird blew my mind with frozen geishas and award-winning packaging, Terbodore hit differently. This place felt like sitting down with an old friend who's been roasting coffee since before most of us knew what a flat white was.

The Name

First things first: it's Terbodore, not Turbador. I've been mispronouncing it for months.

The name comes from three family members of the founder, Marian Macaskill: Tercy (her father), Boy (her grandfather's nickname), and Dorita (her aunt). Three generations compressed into one word, rooted in a farm near Worcester in the Western Cape where Marian grew up.

The business started in 2004 on a property near Midmar Dam in the KZN Midlands, then moved to Curry's Post, where it operated for 18 years. The roastery and café you see today opened at 70 Main Road, Howick, in October 2025. The café space had its grand opening on 16 December.

Twenty-two years in October. That makes Terbodore one of the longest-running specialty coffee roasters in the country.

---

The Space

The interior hits you with warmth. Peach-toned walls. Teal-blue mosaic tiles covering the counter front. Exposed timber trusses overhead. Globe pendant lights casting that golden late-afternoon glow. Checkerboard floors in muted green and cream. Terrazzo-topped tables with dark wood chairs.

Behind the counter, I met Olile and Thabo — the two baristas running the floor. Both in matching grey Terbodore hoodies with the Great Dane printed on the chest. Olile's headscarf was a pop of burgundy. Thabo's beanie sat high. They were friendly, unhurried, and clearly comfortable in their roles.

The counter display was a who's who of Terbodore products: The Great Dane blend in its signature blue bag, Lazy Bones Single Origin, Salted Caramel Dark Hot Chocolate, and — catching my eye immediately — a Green & Gold Springboks blend in a yellow-green bag with the Springbok logo. I didn't know they did that. Apparently they do.

---

The Manager

I'd been recommended to visit by Bluebird Coffee Roastery, just up the road. The manager — who gave me his card and sat down for a proper chat — walked me through the history, the process, and the philosophy.

He's not the founder. He's not involved in sourcing beans. But he knows this business inside out, and he was generous with his time.

Some of what he told me:

On the espresso recipe: 19 grams in, 30-second extraction, 60ml yield. Though he personally prefers pulling to 50.5ml — a tighter ratio that speaks to someone who's tasted enough shots to know exactly where the sweet spot sits.

On the equipment: The café runs an Eversys — a high-end bean-to-cup machine with a built-in conical burr grinder. This isn't your office-kitchen push-button unit. It's a commercial beast chosen specifically for consistency. Every cup tastes the same, he said. On a busy day, it pushes 200 to 250 cups. Peak capacity: about 100 cups an hour.

The choice is deliberate. Instead of relying on traditional manual espresso machines (which require constant barista calibration), the Eversys frees up Olile and Thabo to actually talk to customers. The coffee quality doesn't suffer — it just doesn't depend on who's standing behind the machine at any given moment.

---

The Coffee

I ordered a flat white. It arrived in a white Terbodore-branded cup on a matching saucer, with a small biscuit tucked beside the spoon. The latte art was a clean heart — nothing fancy, just well-executed.

The coffee itself was solid. Full-bodied, smooth, with that dark chocolate depth that Terbodore is known for. This isn't a light, fruity, third-wave-forward cup. It's a medium-dark roast that knows exactly what it is. If you like your flat white to taste like coffee — not blueberries, not citrus, not fermented fruit — this is your spot.

The manager was upfront about this: Terbodore has "stayed true to what we do." They focus on medium-dark and dark roasts with depth and full body. They haven't chased the lighter-roast trend. And based on 22 years of consistent business, it seems to be working.

---

Sultan: The Dog Behind the Brand

You can't talk about Terbodore without talking about Sultan.

When the Macaskill family moved their roastery to Curry's Post, a Great Dane puppy came with the property. His name was Sultan. He became the unofficial greeter, the resident celebrity, and eventually the reason customers started referring to Terbodore as "the coffee with the dog."

Sultan passed away about eight or nine years ago at the age of 14 — a remarkable lifespan for a Great Dane. But his legacy is everywhere: on every bag, every cup, every hoodie, and — in the Howick café — across an entire hallway gallery of Great Dane portraits, sketches, and photographs.

The hallway connecting the café to the roastery is lined with framed art. Pencil drawings of dogs. Photographs of the Midlands. A striking portrait of a woman — possibly Marian herself — pulling espresso. Historical sepia prints of the landscape. It's not just décor; it's a family archive mounted on peach plaster walls between teal-painted doorframes.

---

The Retail Experience

This might be the most impressive retail coffee setup I've seen outside of a dedicated store.

Floor-to-ceiling pine shelving units line two full walls of the café, stocked with what looks like the entire Terbodore catalogue. I counted at least six shelf bays, each organised by product type:

The blues — The Great Dane (their flagship dark roast, lingering dark chocolate, full body), This is Africa, and the single origins. Burundi and Uganda were available on my visit.

The darks — The Eversys-friendly roasts in black packaging with orange accents. Below them, rows of Lazy Bones cookies (Coffee Bean, Peanut Butter, Salted Caramel, Double Choc) and what appeared to be Milk Tart flavoured varieties.

The rainbow — And then there are the flavoured coffees. Salted Caramel. Roasted Hazelnut. The packaging runs from yellow to pink to red to green to orange. Whatever your feelings about flavoured coffee, these are clearly among Terbodore's best sellers — the manager confirmed as much.

The flavouring process, as explained to me: beans are roasted to a medium or medium-dark level, then while still warm, a high-end imported essence base (not a sweet syrup) is added. The beans are tossed and left to sit for a couple of days to absorb the flavour and aroma before packaging.

The capsules — Bags of Nespresso-compatible pods in clear plastic packaging, sorted by blend.

The merch — Terbodore hoodies in grey and navy. T-shirts in every size. Denim aprons. Yellow beanies with the dog logo. This isn't an afterthought — it's a proper lifestyle range.

Behind the counter, the retail wall continues: a Terbodore-branded display fridge, an AeroPress, a Bialetti moka pot, BaristaTech grinders, tamping mats, and a curated shelf of brewing equipment. The menu boards — clean white panels with the Great Dane watermark — list everything from espresso (short and tall) to cookie shakes, kombuchas, and superfood lattes.

---

The Roastery

Through a glass-paned partition door (dark frames, industrial aesthetic), you can peer into the actual roastery. This is the primary reason for the Howick move — the production side of the business outgrew Curry's Post. The space is functional, not decorative: concrete floors, high ceilings, roasting equipment, stacked bags of green beans.

All packaging includes a barcode with the roasting date. Beans are left to rest and degas for 10 to 14 days after roasting before they're packaged. This is standard practice for quality roasters, but worth noting that Terbodore sticks to it.

---

The Bigger Picture

Terbodore isn't just a Midlands café. The business operates under two main branches:

1. Howick (Midlands) — focuses on the KZN market. Roastery, café, retail, and hospitality trade supply.
2. Franschhoek (Western Cape) — established about 16 years ago by Michael Macaskill (Marian's son) and his wife Alrishka. This branch serves as the head office and main distribution centre, managing the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and all exports.

The export business is growing rapidly, supplying neighbouring countries and various locations in Europe. Re-entering the American market has apparently been challenging.

They don't run a subscription service. When I asked about this, the manager's response was essentially: we don't need one. The brand loyalty is strong enough that customers come back on their own. The online store at terbodore.com handles the rest.

---

The Exterior

From the outside, it's a converted industrial building. Dark charcoal-grey walls. Corrugated iron roof. Red brick base. Teal umbrellas and blue doors providing the colour contrast. A few tables outside for when Howick's weather cooperates (which, in July, it mostly doesn't).

It doesn't scream "hipster coffee bar." It looks like what it is: a working roastery with a café attached. And honestly, that's part of the appeal.

---

The Verdict

Terbodore isn't trying to be the trendiest spot in town. They're not doing oat-milk flights or frozen geisha tastings. They're doing what they've done for 22 years: roasting good coffee, serving it consistently, and building a brand that people recognise from the dog on the bag.

The flat white was excellent. The space was warm and inviting. The retail selection was genuinely impressive. And the fact that the manager sat down for 45 minutes to walk me through the company's history — without any PR polish, just honest conversation — says something about the culture.

This is my second Howick roastery visit after Bluebird, and together they make a compelling case for the Midlands as a serious coffee destination. Different philosophies, different roast profiles, both excellent at what they do.

Would I go back? Already planning to. Next time I'm ordering the Great Dane as a pour-over — if they do one. And I'm buying that yellow beanie.

---

Terbodore Coffee Roasters — Howick 📍 70 Main Road, Howick, 3290, KwaZulu-Natal 🕐 Mon–Fri 07:30–16:30 | Sat 07:00–15:00 | Closed Sundays 🌐 terbodore.com 📸 @terbodorecoffee ☕ My order: Flat white on The Great Dane blend 🐕 The dog: Sultan. Great Dane. Lived to 14. Legend.