Stereo Café is coffee culture epitomised. All are welcome: the coffee newbies, connoisseurs and latte lovers. It’s a trendy, somewhat hipster, good music gem that makes for a great hangout and serves the best freshly roasted single origin coffees in Bloem.
At Stereo Café coffee is passion. The friendly baristas take their art very seriously and pride themselves not only in the quality of coffee they offer, but also in using world class equipment to grind and serve their coffee to highlight the flavours.
The Stereo Café story
It all started with a Soutie growing up in Potch. While studying at the PUK, Guns & Roses, Dave Matthews Band and coffee dates at the Akker would be at the order of the day. James spent his spare time working at Campus radio and quickly fell in love with good tunes and coffee. After a stint in Johannesburg, James left for a two year adventure in London where he was introduced to the infamous Starbucks.
“I loved that I could go to a Starbucks, read my favourite Terry Pratchett novel and just be. There was a culture to it – whether you where a punk rocker or the geeky guy – everyone had their spot at Starbucks and everyone came together”
Back in South Africa, James returned to his love of music and worked at local Bloem radio station OFM as a presenter and music programmer. Then in 2011, a coffee revolution. James got married and started his coffee journey with pure distribution of freshly roasted coffee and a small coffee stall at a weekly food market. After doing a specialist roasting course in London, James started roasting his own selection of single origin coffees.
“My dream was to own a Music shop – a proper old school one like the shop John Cusack had in High Fidelity – a place where it was all about the good tunes and the vibe, but Napster and Itunes had come onto the scene and everybody knew everything was going digital.
Music shops were going out of business, so I knew I would probably have to let go of that idea, but I guess in a way, my dream old school music shop was the basis for Stereo Café. A space where I could combine my love of music and my love of coffee culture… Exceptional coffee in a space that’s all about the good tunes and the vibe”
The Coffee
Stereo café opened it’s doors in January 2014 with a small line of coffee. They now roast seven single origin coffees and three coffees which make up their house espresso blend and continue to look for new exciting coffee to offer their clients in Bloemfontein and the rest of South Africa – yes they can ship your orders to you!
“We have a selection of single origin coffees roasted weekly and available in 250g and 1kg options. We do not keep pre-ground coffee in stock to ensure it is as fresh as possible. All coffee is kept as beans and ground on demand to suit your needs and All coffee is 100% Arabica.
Our popular Espresso Blend is ideal for espresso-based drinks both at home and for restaurants and coffee shops looking to serve our locally roasted coffee”
Stay updated with Stereo Café’s whereabouts by:
Visit the shop at 60 2nd Avenue, Bloemfontein.
A cup of gourmet coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent – Anonymous
*Pics by Eye Poetry Photography
