Cedar Coffee Roasters was founded by Leigh Wentzel and Winston Thomas, two Capetonians who came up through two of the city’s roasteries before starting their own. Leigh joined Rosetta Roastery as a part-time driver and worked up through barista, head barista and café manager to roastery manager, part of the team that won Coffee Magazine’s Roastery of the Year in 2018 and 2019. Winston started as a barista at Origin Coffee Roasting in 2014, won the South African Barista Championship in 2017 and went on to run Origin’s wholesale relations and its Barista Academy. He has since won the national title again in 2018 and 2020 and the African Barista Championship in 2019, and he is a licensed SCA trainer.

Cedar’s aim is to bridge the gap between commodity and specialty coffee through sustainable sourcing and education, with an African and Cape Townian heritage it is proud of. Coffees are released with lot codes and a cup profile: rotating single origins from Kenya, Ethiopia, Colombia and Costa Rica, two blends, a CO2 decaf and Special Releases such as a Gesha Village lot from Ethiopia, a farm Cedar has worked with since its first days. Untitled Roasts go out unlabelled so that customers taste first and read the details later.

There are two places to drink it. Cedar Albert Store is the café at Side Street Studios in Woodstock, with the full coffee offering, pastries and bags to take home. Cedar Hatch is a counter inside the Jack Lemkus store in the city centre for a quick coffee and a pastry. Cedar also runs SCA barista and brewing courses, Cedar Chats and a monthly five-a-side football social.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Cedar Coffee Roasters