As Battle of the Beans hots up, here's your chance to celebrate coffee - IOL
Founder of the Battle of the Beans Ingrid Shevlin, centre, celebrates with Craig Charity owner of KZN’s Top Coffee Shop for 2025 Lineage Hillcrest, left, and Graeme Myhill from Selati.
It is coffee competition season in KwaZulu-Natal again.
The Battle of the Beans is an innovative annual coffee competition that sets out to recognise and reward KZN coffee entrepreneurs who run the very best independent coffee shops across the province.
Affectionately known as BOB, the competition is now in its third year. It is sponsored by Selati Sugar and hosted by a non-profit organisation known as the Coffee Colab, a team of six coffee lovers and media/marketing professionals who are passionate about putting KZN on the national coffee map.
“As one of only two provinces that process coffee from bean to brew, we believe that KZN has an important role to play in developing South Africa’s coffee culture. From the farmers that tend the rich red beans on the green hills of our coasts, to our skilled roasters and baristas, we can play an important role in growing this industry,” says marketing guru and experienced coffee judge Bongani Mthiyane.
The engine room of the competition is the hand-picked panel of over 30 judges that cross the province from North to South Coast, throughout Durban, up the highway and to the Midlands. Independent coffee shops can expect incognito visits from these coffee gurus who will be scoring them on the quality of their cappuccinos and espressos as well as the full coffee drinking experience.
After two rounds of judging, regional judging panels will select the top three coffee shops for each region, plus one To-Go coffee outlet and one regional barista winner. These regional winners will then be judged by a specialist team who will select the top three coffee shops in KZN (first, second and third), the best To-Go outlet in KZN and the province’s top barista.
The competition will include an updating of the 2025/26 Guide to Good Coffee Drinking in KZN by coffee lover, food critic and Battle of the Beans founder, Ingrid Shevlin.
“Although most coffee devotees have their favourite coffee shops, the aim of the guide is to encourage lovers of the bean to travel beyond their comfort zones and explore the many exceptional coffee shops that call KZN home. Making a day trip to the Midlands? Let the guide advise you where best to go. Taking the kids to explore some North Coast beaches, checkout the guide for some suggestions of where to drink coffee with a view of the beach. Our North Coast boasts some excellent venues that deserve to be supported. So, those who feature in the online guide can effectively be viewed as the province’s coffee royalty,” Shevlin said.
The competition is also ramping up its social media campaign to not only keep coffee lovers informed about the goings on in the province’s coffee world, but also to enable them to add their voice to it. In September, coffee drinkers will be invited to vote for their favourite coffee spots. The most popular shop will win a trophy while those that nominate the best of the best stand to win exciting coffee hampers for participating.
For further information, log onto www.battleofthebeans.co.za or visit the Battle of the Beans pages on Facebook and Instagram.
