A Guide To Speciality Coffee in Cape Town - Our Top Spots
Last updated on 22nd February 2026, after our second trip to Cape Town.
Cape Town, like many major cities today, has a thriving speciality coffee culture.
On our return to Cape Town in 2026, we spent more time speaking with café owners and baristas to better understand how speciality coffee has grown in the Mother City. Our favourite place to stay is in Sea Point, which makes Ollie’s the perfect daily stop. We spent ages chatting with Ollie himself about how the local coffee scene has evolved over the years.
We also spoke with the brilliant baristas (Hee Ye and her colleague, whose name we have forgotten) at Ceder Coffee in Woodstock.
In this guide, we explain the history and growth of speciality coffee in Cape Town, along with our own recommendations based on multiple trips and insights from these local coffee experts.
Coffees from Loading Bay
The Speciality Coffee OG's of Cape Town
Speak to anyone serious about coffee in Cape Town, and one name keeps coming up. Origin.
Launched in 2005 by Joel Singer, Origin was born out of frustration. Despite being on the African continent, widely considered the birthplace of coffee, the quality available locally was inconsistent and often poor. Joel set out to change that. Origin became one of the first dedicated speciality roasteries in the city, focusing on:
Direct sourcing and traceability
Lighter roast profiles that respected origin character
Proper barista training and brew education
The roasting setup at Cedar
Ollie, the owner of Ollie’s in Seapoint - A true coffee fanatic … He probably knew more about the London coffee scene than us even though he’s never been!
For many, Origin marks the true beginning of the new wave of coffee in Cape Town. Over the years, Origin has trained a generation of highly skilled baristas and roasters. Many have gone on to launch their own projects, shaping the city’s coffee landscape in the process. A few years later, more serious players entered the scene:
Truth Coffee Roasting opened in 2009, combining theatrical design with genuine roasting credibility.
Espressolab also launched in 2009, helping to push technical standards higher.
Rosetta Roastery followed in 2010, focusing heavily on single-origin clarity and clean flavour profiles.
All of these roasteries are still operating today. Together, they created a competitive but collaborative environment that accelerated growth. Baristas have moved between cafés, knowledge has spread quickly, and customers have become more discerning.
Fast forward to today, and Cape Town is one of the most desirable winter escape destinations for northern hemisphere travellers. Remote workers and digital nomads have settled in neighbourhoods like Woodstock, Gardens and Sea Point, bringing expectations shaped by coffee meccas like London, Melbourne and Copenhagen.
As demand has grown, so has supply.
Coffees from Cedar
Several newer roasteries are run by baristas trained at early institutions like Origin. One example is Cedar Coffee Roasters, launched in 2021 by Winston, formerly part of the Origin team. Others often mentioned in conversations around the city include Paulines and Yellow Jacket Coffee
What is striking is the lineage. You can trace much of the city’s speciality scene back to that original push in 2005. Training, standards, sourcing philosophy, and even taste preferences often link back to those early days.
Origin set the foundation. The next wave expanded it, and the current generation is refining it. What you see today is nearly two decades of speciality coffee iteration, education and competition.
The Best Coffee Shops In Cape Town
Based on the conversations we had, as well as our own experinces below is a list of the best coffee shops in Cape Town. Focusing mainly on coffee quality, with some recommendations on vibe/food too. Pretty much every coffee shop on this list is laptop-friendly as well, unless stated otherwise.
Origin
De Waterkant
Rosetta
Bree Street & Silo District
Mentioned by everyone we spoke to about coffee, Rosetta Roastery serves expertly brewed coffee in a bright and airy space on Bree Street. There's outdoor seating on the corner of this bustling street, making it a great spot for people-watching. They also have a second location in the Silo District.
Espresso Lab
De Waterkant
Ranked 40th in the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops list for 2026 and 11th in 2025
Part of a global group of Turkish origin with more than 400 stores, but the Cape Town locations feel far from corporate. Espresso Labs are serious coffee spaces with proper roasting credentials and beautifully designed interiors. They are a science-based cafe offering unique takes on coffee, much like the places we visited in South Korea.
Litchi soda + espresso foam
There is a roastery and café in Woodstock, ideal if you want to see the operation up close, and a bakery café in De Waterkant that feels a little more polished and neighbourhood-driven.
They also offer guided coffee tastings, something we only discovered after visiting. If you go, make sure you ask about it.
Cedar
Woodstock
Cedar was founded in 2021 by Leigh Wentzel and Winston Thomas.
Winston began his formal barista career at Origin Coffee Roasting in 2014. Within two and a half years he had won the 2017 South African Barista Championship, progressing from barista to head barista, then into wholesale relations and Head of the Barista Academy.
After leaving Origin at the end of 2017, Winston moved into consulting and training. He went on to win the South African Barista Championship again in 2018 and 2020, as well as the African Barista Championship in 2019. He is also a licensed trainer with the Speciality Coffee Association.
Truth
Buitenkant StreetRanked the best coffee shop in the world by The Telegraph in 2015
Truth is a funny one. In 2025, we thought it was absolutely excellent, offering single-origin beans tailored to your drink type in a steampunk-inspired interior. And we still love it. But it doesn’t seem to sit well with the locals we talked to, or online.
It’s often described as touristy, or people don’t want to really talk about, so we’re not sure what's going on, but based on our own experience, we love it here.
You can also explore the chocolate shop just across the road - Rapt - an ideal stop for excellent chocolate!
Pauline's
Seapoint | Greenpoint
Famous for their legendary cinnamon buns and smooth speciality coffee, Pauline’s offers a relaxed, light-filled space with a charming courtyard. It’s a laptop-friendly café, though the WiFi can be a bit slow.
We loved their breakfast menu at the Sea Point branch, especially the breakfast bun, which is a welcome comfort option to start the day, and the miso mushrooms were packed with umami goodness.
Loading Bay
De Waterkant
Loading Bay is primarily a contemporary clothing and concept store, with a beautifully designed eatery tucked inside. It is one of those rare places that does both exceptionally well.
The space is calm, stylish and thoughtfully curated, making it a brilliant spot to start the day. The menu is strong, with well executed breakfast dishes alongside excellent coffee, so you are not compromising on quality just because it is inside a retail space.
Highly recommended for breakfast, especially if you appreciate good design as much as good food.
Naked
Seapoint
A modern, spacious coffee bar in Sea Point that takes third-wave coffee seriously. It’s a great brunch spot with excellent coffee and a laptop-friendly atmosphere.
Ollie's
Seapoint
Ollie's is a small but characterful coffee spot based inside the OSCS Clubhouse in Sea Point. It has become something of a local institution, particularly within the cycling community.
Ollie himself is a genuine coffee obsessive, pulling consistently excellent espressos and brewing a range of well-crafted drinks. It is the perfect place to start a ride, and most mornings you will see groups of cyclists either gathering before heading out or debriefing afterwards.
Platō
100+ locations across South Africa
Platō Seapoint is a common runclub/ride location
Platō Coffee now has well over 100 locations across South Africa, making it a dependable go-to for a quality brew wherever you are in the country. It is no longer a small independent, but it remains one of the more reliable national coffee brands.
They clearly take coffee seriously. The menu often goes into impressive detail, from espresso shot quantities to the exact microfoam volume in milk drinks, which will appeal to those who like to know precisely what is in their cup.
Their main roastery is based in George along the Garden Route, anchoring the brand in a region known for road trips and coastal drives.
In many ways, it reminds us of WatchHouse in London. Humble beginnings, steady expansion, now operating at scale while still keeping quality at the centre.
South Yeaster Bakery
Hout Bay
A fantastic bakery serving good enough coffee alongside naturally leavened pastries. It’s a favourite among cyclists passing through Hout Bay, but it's worth the visit even if you're just there for a catch-up. We loved it so much, we went back multiple times! It’s laptop-friendly with comfortable indoor seating.
Olympia Cafe
Kalk Bay
A no-frills, much-loved local gem housed in an old fish-and-bait shop. We enjoyed the laid-back vibe and paired our coffee with buttery croissants and apricot jam. If you're cycling through Kalk Bay or just looking for a relaxed seaside meal, this is a great stop.
We came back here in 2026 for an amazing lunch of mussels!
Arthur's Mini
Seapoint
A great spot for coffee, a snack, or even a glass of wine. By day, it’s a relaxed café, but come evening (Tuesday–Saturday), a disco ball transforms the space into a fun, casual hangout.
Not our top pick for coffee, but the 250mb/s WiFi was reliable, worth noting if you're looking for a place to work while in Sea Point.
2026 update - They have now banned laptops from the main cafe/bar area but have built a workspace next door where you can work from all day for flat rate.
Giovanni's Deli
Greenpoint
A Cape Town institution since 1989. Part Italian café with window seating and high stools, it’s also a deli (it’s in the name) stocked with fresh meats, cheeses, and made-to-order sandwiches. Grab a chocolate croissant and a cappuccino, or pick up supplies for a braai or beach picnic.
Perfect for an on-the-go espresso.
Chardonnay Deli
Constantia | Kalk Bay
Chardonnay Deli is a brilliant stop in Constantia, pairing good coffee with an enormous bakery offering.
We pulled in here mid-bikeride after setting off from Sea Point and looping around the mountains, and it could not have been better timed. There are bike racks outside, plenty of space to pause, and a steady stream of cyclists doing exactly the same.
The coffee is solid and dependable, but the real draw is the bakery counter. There is a huge selection of pastries, breads and cakes, the sort of place where you walk in planning on one thing and leave with three. A perfect refuel spot if you are exploring the Constantia side of Cape Town on two wheels.
Coffee Shops On Our List For Next Time
Yellow Jacket - Highly recommended by several people we talked to
Simple Bru - A nice-looking space we came across on our way to dinner at Galjoen
If we missed your favourite coffee spot or if you have any other recommendations, let us know in the comments!
Best Coffee in Cape Town Map
How to use our maps
Click on the menu icon on the top left to show a list of all places on the map. You’ll find our notes by clicking on each place. Click on the fullscreen icon on the top right to open the map in Google Maps.
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