Deluxe Coffeeworks was started in April 2009 by Carl Wessel and Judd Nicolay. Judd had worked in coffee for years in his native New Zealand and saw how little good coffee Cape Town had; Carl co-owned a production company and wanted a change of pace from the film industry. They met in a Cape Town bar, and a few weeks later Carl emptied his bank account to buy a second-hand roaster, which went into his backyard. About six months on they opened their first shop in the city centre with a 5 kg roaster in the room, serving espresso to everyone from “high court judges and lawyers to skaters and punks”.

Investor Steve Gray joined, the business moved to larger premises and more shops followed in the city bowl, Stellenbosch and Namibia, along with a consulting business for hotels, restaurants and cafés around the world. Its motto is “You’re only as good as your last cup.”

In Cape Town there are three Deluxe rooms in Gardens and a café in Paarden Eiland, with another in the centre of Stellenbosch. Deluxe also has two cafés in Namibia and one in the UK.

The coffee is roasted daily. The retail range is short: a house blend, a Colombian decaf and two single estates, from Tanzania and Guatemala. Wholesale partners, from small bean-to-cup set-ups to full barista installs, get the same coffee, service and training as Deluxe’s own cafés.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Deluxe Coffeeworks