Quaffee was established in 2006 at the end of a twenty-year personal search for a tasty cup of coffee, and it turned 20 in 2026. The name stands for quaff plus coffee, quality coffee or quaffable coffee, and the frog on the logo stands for the quest. Quaffee selects coffees with quality and sustainability as the baseline and roasts them fresh and to order.

The roastery is at Buitenverwachting, a wine farm in Constantia. Quaffee runs informal tastings there: visitors choose any two of the current roasts and the team brews them as pour-overs. The roastery is small, so tasters usually stand, and two people at a time works best.

Alongside roasted coffee, Quaffee sells almost all of its coffees as green beans for home roasters, brewing gear from manual pour-over to automatic machines, subscriptions, long-term rentals, repairs and servicing, and wholesale supply for offices and coffee shops. It has been a certified Jura agent since 2007. Over the years it has offered three coffees grown in South Africa.

In the Shot in the Dark roasting competition Quaffee came second in the 2020 final and third in the African coffee division in 2018, and Coffee Magazine’s awards nominated it for Roastery of the Year in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Quaffee