On Saturday 4th October 2025, The Barista League, a global coffee competition, held its first ever event on the African Continent at Katy’s Palace Bar in Sandton, Johannesburg. It was an incredible experience for all involved!
10 Teams, with 2 baristas per team, went head to head in a service challenge that lasted 15 minutes each. They had to present 5 beverages to the 5 judges and a special order for the Mystery Customer Judge per round. They also had to compete in a taste test which formed the second challenge.
In the end, it was the duo of James and Chris, aka 'The Spro Bros' from Culture Coffee in Pretoria, that took out the win over 'The J Brews' - Jonathan and Justin from Cupocafe and 'Magic & Bird' - Luhle and Fanie from Bluebird Coffee Roasters. The winning team walks away with wonderful prizes from the sponsors which includes a Mystery Vacation sometime next year!
Besides the competition, there was a host of entertaining coffee action on the floor including the Barista League Cafe, serving up the competition coffees by Top Dose Coffee Roasters, the Rancilio Temperature profiling experience, a Guess the Origin cold brew challenge by Toddy, the Roasters Village featuring Seam Coffee, Bluebird Coffee Roasters, Home of the Bean, Culture Coffee and African School of Coffee. The Coffee Magazine stand was there too, giving away coveted back issues!
The Barista League or TBL is holding 6 Regional competitions in 2025 - Europe (Prague), Latin America (Guadalajara), Asia (Tokyo), North America (Montreal), Africa (Johannesburg) and Pacific (Sydney).
Check out the photos below from the inaugural African event and make sure you follow TBL on social media, as the next event moves to Sydney.
Judges! Head Judge, Dario Sciiipoti of Bluebird Coffee Roasters, Retha van Rhijn of Plato Coffee, Tiny Tshabalala of TriBeCa Coffee, Leroy Kgopa of Home of the Bean and Stevo Kühn, current SA Barista Champion.
