After months of intense judging, the results are in, and the Coffee Colab – the Non-Profit Organisation that was created to recognise and reward KZN’s top coffee shops – has a trophy waiting for the province’s top three coffee shops as well as its best barista and best Coffee To-Go outlet!
In addition, the top regional finalists in seven regions across KZN will also be presented with awards for their contribution to the province’s coffee culture. These have been announced ahead of the competition’s awards ceremony on January 30 at the Grand White in Durban.
Now in its second year, the annual Battle of the Beans has borrowed from its predecessor, which was run by a major Sunday newspaper for decades, and then added its own special touches as it evolves into one of the most important barometers of the health of the province’s coffee industry. This year, the Battle of the Beans features a separate category for those “serving coffee on the move” to busy commuters and consumers and has significantly refined its contribution to building the all-important barista community in KZN.
For now, the overall winners remain top secret and, together with the winning baristas and the winning mobile coffee outlets, will only be revealed at the end of the month.
Coffee guru and well-known food critic and founder of Shrewd Food, Ingrid Shevlin, who kept watch over the judging process in each of the seven regions during 2025 – the Berea/Beach/Bluff, Durban North/Glenashley/La Lucia, Umhlanga/KwaMashu, the rest of the North Coast, Amanzimtoti/Upper South Coast and Pietermaritzburg/Midlands thanked Selati Sugar for sponsoring this event for the second year in a row.
In addition to the hand-picked panel of 26 judges that visited more than 330 independent coffee shops incognito during 2025, scoring them on their cappuccinos and espressos as well as the entire coffee drinking experience, she also thanked Famous Brands for training three trainee baristas put forward by the Coffee Colab, Coastal Coffee Roasters for contributing items for inclusion in hampers distributed during and at the awards ceremony and financial services company PPS for Professionals for supplying gifts for winners.
Shevlin added: “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 or catching up on some work. When thinking about our coffee shops, we realised the importance of affordable community spaces and the contribution that they make to the quality lifestyle in our province and to the tourism sector. We felt it was important to recognise the role that these shops play both now and into the future.”
She said that the competition’s greatest achievement during 2025 was facilitating the training of three rookie baristas by Famous Brands, as well as the recognition of the Coffee To-Go establishments that are often an important entry point for coffee entrepreneurs.
The Coffee Colab was set up to not only recognise the achievements of KZN’s coffee businesses but also to support skills development, especially when it comes to putting more qualified baristas behind coffee machines across the region.
Overall, the Battle of the Beans judges reported that the quality of coffee being poured across the province was extremely high, making it very difficult to identify the winners for 2025. Some will win for the second year in a row, whilst others are newcomers to the Battle of the Beans – but, all in all, the finalists identified below are the so-called coffee royalty of KZN. The Coffee Colab would like to commend them and the teams that support them for their passion and dedication to serving quality coffee one cup at a time.
The list of the Battle of the Beans top regional performers that will receive awards on January 30 is being released in its entirety today and is as follows:
Top Three Berea/Beach/Bluff (in no particular order)
BOSTON BREW MORNINGSIDE
SAVIOR CAFÉ GLENWOOD
SURF RIDERS CAFÉ SOUTH BEACH
Top Three Lower/Upper Highway (in no particular order)
VELVET. COFFEE CO KLOOF
LINEAGE COFFEE HILLCREST
CRANE FLOWER COFFEE KLOOF
Top Three Pietermaritzburg/Midlands (in no particular order)
LINEAGE COFFEE NOTTINGHAM ROAD
THE UPPER MILLSTONE HILTON
GROUND COFFEE HOUSE HILTON
Top Three Amanzimtoti/South Coast (in no particular order)
BERRY CRAFTY CAFÉ PORT EDWARD
MOJO’Z SHELLY BEACH
THE PACKSHED MARGATE
Top Three North Coast (in no particular order)
SKY – SALT ROCK
COFFEE LAB BALLITO
CAFFÈ GIORDANO UMHLALI
Top Three Durban North/Glenashley/La Lucia (in no particular order)
NOBLE COFFEE DURBAN NORTH
NOW COFFEE GLENASHLEY
SKYLINE COFFEE DURBAN NORTH
Top Three Umhlanga (in no particular order)
AFRICAN ROOTS CAFÉ UMHLANGA
NOW COFFEE UMHLANGA
HOME BRU GRAFT CAFÉ UMHLANGA
For further information, please visit www.battleofthebeans.co.za, or the Battle of the Beans pages on Facebook and Instagram, or contact Shirley on 083 301 2809