DUNDEE KZN: Kathleen is in a coffee wonderland

While lockdown left many frustrated, nervous or unsure of what to do with their lives, the enforced break actually led Kathleen De Bruyn to her new passion.

Originally from Gauteng, Kathleen always dreamed of going down the arty route.

“I was always interested in arts, drawing and designing. It always fascinated me how things work and why things are made the way they’re made. Since a very early age, I knew I wanted to go in that direction.”

Her fascination with ‘how things work’ eventually led her to fall down the rabbit hole into the wonderland of coffee roasting. Kathleen moved to Dundee in 2018 and during the lockdown of 2020, she found a book on coffee roasting.

“I wanted to know more about roasting and the coffee industry. So I kept digging and digging, and that’s when I tripped into that rabbit hole. I decided that there was a need for freshly-roasted coffee in this region and I took the chance.

“I did an online course in roasting last year, and this year I also went for training in Johannesburg. I started with a 250g machine and am now up to a 1kg machine.”

Having originally fallen in love with coffee during a stage in her life when she was studying and working full-time, Kathleen’s horizons expanded exponentially once she entered the world of roasting.

“I can write a three-page explanation on the process of roasting beans.
“This is the most exciting part of coffee. First you need to know that coffees from different regions in the world react differently to roasting due to their density and their optimal roasting point.”
Kathleen explained that from there, the green beans are put in the roaster when the roaster has reached a certain temperature.

“You then monitor your beans’ temperature. At certain temperatures, certain reactions start happening while they keep on expanding. When they come close to 200 degrees, they start cracking and popping like popcorn.

“This is the most crucial part of roasting. That is when certain chemical reactions happen that develop the coffee flavour. From there, you roast it to that specific bean’s optimal taste point and drop it to cool down.”
Kathleen also explained that the science and technicality behind coffee is astonishing, which means that even chemical scientists are still constantly discovering new things about coffee. “A lot of people in the coffee industry will tell you that you will never learn everything there is to learn about coffee.”

Currently, Kathleen has numerous coffees to tantalize taste buds, from different origins: Columbia (strong body, little bitterness); Ethiopian (strong body – you either love Ethiopian coffee or you hate it); Nicaragua (medium body with a nutty taste note); and Brazil (strong body – your everyday coffee taste).

She also has Columbia Decaf CO2. CO2 Decaf coffee doesn’t have that horrible taste that most decaf coffees have; it tastes just like normal coffee… And a Honduras coffee (the best aroma of toffee; medium to light body), plus two blends that are great for espresso machines.

To mark her new home in Endumeni, Kathleen also created a special Dundee blend which she describes as a blend between three of the coffees mentioned above.

She also designed a special label for the Dundee blend, which features two old famous buildings in the town.

Kathleen also sells coffee machines to stores and individuals, as well as paints from time to time and has sold a few paintings along the way.

“My advice to people wanting to start their own business is to keep on learning new things and keep up to date with the industry you work in.”

With the world of coffee constantly growing and Kathleen’s thirst for knowledge unquenchable, Dundee’s very own roaster plans to continue creating a coffee craze for many years to come.

 
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