From Granny To Freshly Ground

In the 80’s and 90’s granny’s homebrew, and her coffee bag and enamel kettle made way for the modern percolator- an electrical status symbol that did exactly the same job.

But back then our collective coffee palate was not yet sophisticated enough, so at most homes and offices the chic pot full of old coffee stood around until no-one could face the prospect of their bitter contents.

Even so, that poor cousin of grandma’s real deal was probably the spark for our local coffee revolution. Remember, although we’re calling” revolution”, more than 90% of South Africans still don’t drink proper coffee at home, instead of going for the instant varieties that contain chicory, barley, malt sugar, dextrose or dextrin and other additives. The good stuff is for a niche market, but one that is expanding rapidly.

According to David Donde, coffee evangelist and the man behind Capetown’s Truth Coffee Cult and its steampunk-themed premises ( truthcoffee.com), the coffee-shop culture as we know it today started around the turn of the millennium in cities like Seattle and Copenhagen.

Author: Veronica Ndluli