A COFFEE shop in Kloof was named KZN’s top barista in the province’s first ever Battle of the Beans competition. Keagon Chavoos of Crane Flower Coffee won the year-long competition organised by The Coffee Colab and backed by Selati Sugar.

The Battle of the Beans competition is aimed at identifying the province’s best cappuccinos and single-shot espressos while setting a benchmark for the local coffee industry. A panel of 30 judges visited more than 250 coffee shops incognito, assessing them on service, presentation, taste, and consistency.

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Chavoos claimed the top prize in the competition. Lineage Coffee in Hillcrest and its owner Craig Charity took second place. Charity, a veteran in the local coffee scene, has long championed coffee as a means to connect communities. “Coffee is a vehicle to uplift people in the industry and to change customers’ lives by closing the void between different communities in South Africa,” he said.

Millflour Café in Fig Tree Farm was voted by the public for the most popular coffee.
The competition, led by food critic Ingrid Shevlin, also known as The Quean Bean, saw 27 coffee shops awarded for their excellence.
Senior Midlands judge Dave Ballance noted that while there remains a gap between top-tier and mid-range cafés, the overall standard continues to rise. “The difference between the winners and the near-winners was surprisingly narrow,” he said.

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Final judging panelist Melanie Winter, co-founder of The Coffee Magazine, commended the competition for shining a light on KZN’s growing coffee scene. “Specialty coffee may still be niche, but that’s okay. The overall standard was very high when it came to service, community, consistency, beautifully poured coffees, and flavours,” she said.

With The Battle of the Beans now established, KZN coffee lovers can look forward to an even more competitive and refined café culture in the years to come.