Words by Nicole Terra
In Stellenbosch, you are never more than an alleyway and two right turns from the best coffee you’ll ever taste. But at this particular spot, it’s about the whole package: a quiet, leafy courtyard tucked away behind the bustle of Dorp Street, affiliated with the excellent Gone.Outdoor store.
The space is smoothly operated by the enigmatic Roelof Mostert. Behind the bar, he works with precision, utilising Bean There’s "untouchable" 111 Blend, a sleek La Marzocco, and a Mahlkönig grinder. I first met Roelof years ago in Cape Town through a serendipitous collaboration between Bean There and Gone.Outdoor—two brands united by Fair Trade ethics and a shared cool factor.
Roelof remains as wild and mysterious to me now as he was then. An athlete, cyclist, and all-around maverick, rumour has it he once won the Tsitsikamma Ultra while carrying a literal bullet wound. He’s the kind of guy who takes no prisoners—a man so precise and classy that you won’t know what’s hit you until you’re halfway through the best flat white of your life, crafted in gorgeous Corinne De Haas ceramics.
Having trained Roelof as a barista from scratch myself, we sat down to deconstruct the secret behind the shop's success.
The Athlete’s Extraction
When I asked Roelof when he actually fell in love with coffee, his answer was a characteristic curveball.
“Just for the record, I’m not a coffee person,” he says, lean and focused. “I’m an athlete. Coffee is something I’ve started falling in love with, but not the customer service side—it's the theory. I’m a bit of a nerd. I love a rabbit hole.”
It’s an admission that might sound blasphemous in the "cultish" world of specialty coffee—he even admits to drinking instant at home—but it’s exactly why the shop works. Roelof isn't performing the "grungy, tattooed barista" trope. He’s an athlete applying a high-performance framework to a portafilter.
“It comes down to the way I conduct myself in my sporting life,” he explains. “That trickles into my professional life. Consistency, discipline, and high standards are crucial for trail running. It’s a perfect marriage, because high-quality coffee comes down to those exact same traits.”
The New Golf
Walking into the courtyard, you’ll likely notice a fleet of high-end bicycles leaning against the walls. It wasn't necessarily by design, but in the four months since he opened the doors, Roelof has inadvertently built a hub for the modern Cape athlete.
“I’m a bit of a closet cyclist, and the coffee shop has become the new golf,” he says with a smirk. “It’s the space for business meetings and networking. About 70% of my customer base is now cyclists. It was inevitable that the athlete was going to gravitate towards this space.”
But there’s more than just caffeine fueling this community. There is a deep-seated alignment of values. Attached to Gone.Outdoor, the cafe lives by the same pillars: sustainability, regenerative agriculture, and Fair Trade.
“Every institution we align with has to have that trait,” Roelof says. “Whether it’s Bean There’s Ethiopian Sidamo or 1% for the Planet. We want to extract the best quality product humanly possible while honouring the farmer.”
Optimization and New Beginnings
For Roelof, this Stellenbosch venture isn't just a job; it’s an "optimization." After a stint in professional gravel bike racing and years in the Cape Town scene, the quiet courtyard behind Dorp Street offered a fresh start.
“I’ve been a bit of a drifter my whole life,” he reflects. “Coming into the coffee industry with fresh eyes, I’m not tainted by the ‘alternative’ or ‘grungy’ stereotypes of the trade. I only have a few tattoos, so I probably couldn't work at those places anyway.”
Instead, he’s built something different: a place of precision, class, and immense profitability. In just four months, he’s already "superseding" his targets, proving that you don’t need to be a coffee purist to run one of the best spots in town—you just need the discipline of a marathoner and the mind of a nerd.
As he pulls another shot of the 111 Blend, it’s clear that while he might not call himself a "coffee person," he has mastered the one thing that matters most: the pursuit of the perfect result.
So, if you find yourself wandering Dorp Street, look for the alley. Follow the two right turns until the noise of the town fades into the rustle of the leaves. You’ll find the man with tattoos, the heart of a maverick, and a Mahlkönig grinder dialed to perfection. Just don’t ask him for his favorite home-brew recipe—unless you’re prepared to talk trail running, Fair Trade ethics, and the absolute beauty of the technical rabbit hole.
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