Beloved Durban coffee brand, Now Coffee, has launched a new location in Umhlanga! And it is a beautifully designed cafe. But I have to say the most beautiful thing about it was the warm welcome and inviting smiles of this enthusiastic team.
Some familiar faces got us pumped even before we tasted the delicious coffees on offer.
We’d heard a sneaky rumour that NOW Coffee had opened a new store in Umhlanga Ridge, and it took us all of about 15 seconds to grab our stuff and hit the road to go and see for ourselves. The store has been open for 7 days and walking in was like coming home.
All the friendly, familiar faces, many of whom have become pretty famous in their own right in the SA Coffee scene. We’re not going to name-drop, but ….OK WE ARE!!! Lee Maps (April Brewer’s Cup finalist!) was having a business meeting right outside, Kgune Dlamini (Barista of the Year nominee and SA Top 6) was behind bar (guest appearance, temporary, permanent….?? you’ll have to ask him yourself!) and of course, the Big Guns in the brand-new training.meeting room… Now Owner and April Brewers Champ, Pascal Bauwens and SA Barista Champ Luke Letts in the house.
As for the space and the coffee…. Simply incredible. The cafe space could be in Melbourne, Paris or LA quite easily. It has a modern, clean decor, a bit of greenery, lots of space - a BIG bar… and we ordered a Flat White (the Now blend in the hopper and a pour-over of NOW’s El Divisio Ombilgon, Colombian Huila, natural which tasted like speckled eggs!
Pascal says they’re “not very busy” and “there’s still snags” but the cafe was mostly full at midday, and the team was running orders out like it was a well oiled machine! Baristas Innocent and Bongani were behind bar with Kgune churning out delicious flavours in every cup.
We are very proud to have such an exciting new cafe space in Umhlanga. Put it on your next Durban “must-do” list NOW!
