BATTLE OF THE BEANS…ALL FOR THE LOVE OF COFFEE
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INTRODUCING THE BATTLE OF THE BEANS
Coffee is one of world’s most widely consumed beverages. In 2020/2021, around 167 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee were consumed worldwide – and KwaZulu-Natal is no different when it comes to stirring up a love for the best of brews.
WHAT IS A COFFEE SHOP?
That’s not a simple question! For this competition, a coffee shop is a venue where you are free drink coffee but not eat. This excludes mainstream restaurants (but not cafes with eat-in menus). Each coffee shop must have an espresso machine and an active barista and shouldn’t be part of a franchise.
THE RISE OF THE ROASTERS
Coffee beans are at the very heart of the industry and range from bulk roasted and blended coffee beans to single estate coffee beans roasted in-house. More and more coffee shops are going the artisanal route and choosing and roasting their own beans. The Battle of the Beans will celebrate those going the extra coffee mile.
THE MAGIC OF THE BARRISTA
These are the folk that conjure the magic. We have reserved a special category to celebrate the skill and efficiency of the barista, the unsung hero of every coffee shop. We’d like to motivate our coffee shops to train their staffers to become qualified baristas, making this a profession in its own right and one that births more coffee entrepreneurs.
KZN Coffee News
Stay up to date with the exciting happenings in KZN’s coffee culture – from new coffee shops to special promotions to the stories behind our judges. We’ll keep you posted about everything that will tantalise your taste buds.
COFFEE SHOP ETIQUETTE: THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF WORKING FROM YOUR FAVOURITE COFFEE SHOP!
WORDS: SHIRLEY WILLIAMS As we gear up for this year’s Battle of the Beans, it’s the perfect time to celebrate the independent coffee shops, baristas and coffee lovers who make…
KZN’S BARISTAS: THE GRAFFITI ARTISTS OF THE COFFEE WORLD
There is a special kind of artist at work in coffee shops across KwaZulu-Natal.Like graffiti artists who transform blank walls into moments of beauty, baristas create intricate works of art…
WHY WE ALWAYS GO BACK TO THAT COFFEE SHOP
If you’re a coffee lover, you’ll know the feeling. You walk past dozens of cafés, yet your feet take you to the same one again and again. It’s not always…
TIME FOR KZN TO SMELL THE COFFEE SAYS DIPLOMAT
KwaZulu-Natal’s coffee industry should “get up and smell the coffee” if it hopes to secure a meaningful share of one of the world’s most lucrative consumer markets. That was the…
BATTLE OF THE BEANS REWARDS TOP COFFEE SHOPS AT AWARDS CEREMONY
Lineage Hillcrest was crowned the Battle of the Beans 2025 Top Coffee Shop in KZN at an awards ceremony on Friday night (30 January) at the Grand White in Durban.…
BATTLE OF THE BEANS CELEBRATES COFFEE AND COMMUNITY
Coffee entrepreneur, Sbu Nkolothi, the owner and inspiration behind Coffee LAB in Ballito, will be proudly displaying his trophy as KwaZulu-Natal’s top coffee shop from this morning (Friday, January 31,…
MEET THE JUDGES: DAVE BALLANCE
My first recollection of coffee was during a stay with my aunt and her family on their farm in Zimbabwe. They had this huge kitchen, well it seemed huge to…
MEET OUR JUDGES: JUDD CAMPBELL, HEIKE SIM AND DENNIS NGXONGO
Coffee is a universal language – and a brew shared by an incredibly wide array of people. Nowhere is this more evident than in the judging line up of The…
In KZN, coffee shops are the cornerstone of the hospitality industry, offering spaces where you can linger over a freshly brewed espresso or a creamy cappuccino while chatting with friends. But they offer even more: A place for that caffeine wake-up kick on the way to the office where you can order your thoughts for the day ahead – and where better to do this than your local coffee shop where they know your name and your choice of bean?
-Ingrid Shevlin (Food critic)
KZN’S GUIDE TO GOOD COFFEE DRINKING
We are compiling your ultimate guide to drinking good coffee in KZN.
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