The London Coffee Festival saw a variety of coffee connoisseurs, enthusiasts, roasteries and caffeine junkies gather at the Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London. It was a four-day event of coffee tastings, brewings, latte art, music and brewing; essentially everything to do with the coffee industry. This year we had our own proudly South African Truth Coffee steal the show.
“This is the best coffee I’ve had so far! It’s smooth and not too bitter,” said one happy customer.
“I taste colours, not flavours. Green at first and then brown. But I like it!” said another coffee lover at the Truth stall.
Truth Coffee presented alongside The New Black, which has a rather digital and futuristic approach to coffee. Truth Coffee showcased their house Resurrection Blend and the Deep, Dark and Twisted blend. The New Black served the Columbian Geisha and the Zimbabwean filter coffee
Together these two made a mean team.
The feedback from the London Coffee Festival was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone was huddled around the bright yellow La Marzocco coffee machine, eager to find out about the only African roasted coffee at the festival.
“They just keep on coming,” said Patrick, the barista who was serving Truth Coffee. “They love it. Almost every person says this is the best coffee they have tasted!”
This year was Truth’s first year in London. After launching their DDT blend at The New Black lab in Bank towards the end of last year, they are slowly getting their foot into the international door.
Obviously, it helps that Truth holds the title of the ‘Best Coffee Shop in the World’, as voted by The Telegraph. Truth has also surfaced in numerous shows, including South Africa’s Expresso Show, being featured in CNN’s reel on ‘24 hours in Cape Town‘.
David Donde is the founder of Truth Coffee and the speciality coffee guru in Cape Town. Donde made the trip from the Mother City to the London Coffee Festival to act as a judge at the various competitions, including tasting, cupping and brewing.
David Donde, the founder of Truth Coffee, judging at the London Coffee Festival 2017.
Truth is very honest about the coffee they serve. “What you see is what you get,” says David. It doesn’t try to be fancy. Instead, it reverts back to the basics of coffee.
“At Truth, we don’t roast to get a specific flavour. We roast to draw out the sweetness in the coffee bean when the natural sugars caramelise,” says Groove, a barista at Truth in Cape Town. Hence their slogan: No Sugar Required.
I was curious to see what Truth’s coffee would taste like. I have only ever enjoyed the coffee in the familiar steampunk setting of Truth Coffee Works in Cape Town. For me, coffee only contributes to half my Truth experience. The ambience and catchy conversations with the baristas account for the rest.
I had Patrick, a Swedish barista from The New Black fix me with a cup of the Resurrection Blend. I watched as he fiddled with the canary yellow machine, turning the cogs and steaming the milk. Truth looks different when it is out of its edgy steampunk setting.
