We met the wonderful women behind Green Bean Coffee Roastery what seems like eons ago at the Coffee&Chocolate Expo 2013. Iris McCallum and Lee Anderson started the business in 2007 and it has been going strong ever since! But this past weekend was the first opportunity I had to actually visit their space!
I found myself in this particular neck of the woods, because I was being a tourist in Joburg with my friend who has just moved up there. We went to the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens, a beautiful piece of biodiversity in Muldersdrift. It plays host to a famous family of Verreaux's Eagles who have called the Witpoortjie Falls home for the last 60-70 years! After an enlightening stroll around the gardens we were hungry and decaffeinated.
We had heard of Casalinga Organic Farm and my ears perked up, because my only reference to that place was Green Bean Coffee! So we decided to give it a try. A short drive later and we arrived at the truly lovely Casalinga plot.
It's an idyllic location below beautiful big trees, with tables set up in the garden for you to eat and drink and be merry. There were kids and dogs frolicking all over.
The Green Bean team have recently expanded beyond their roasting space and into a new retail and cafe space as well. They have a wide range of blends and single origins on offer and the team will whip you up a satisfying coffee, we had a single origin Uganda Sipi Falls that was in the hopper that day. You can get your bag of beans freshly ground on your way should you need to.
So happy that we finally got the opportunity to visit this spot! It may be a bit out of the way, but it is well worth a day trip to this peaceful farm outside the bustle of Joburg.
