Coffee Crawl Day #6: Lavender Blue, East London

Old Gonubie Road, East London, 5205

Although we arrived here very early yesterday morning, at about seven o’clock, the joint area between the Lavender Blue coffee shop and the adjoining farmer’s market of the same name was already filling up with people. It is a very popular East London hangout, and the coffee shop is where many people come to get their quick fix after they’ve done their organic grocery shopping.

The Lavender Blue is famous for their breakfasts, and also boasts a wide variety of freshly baked goods and preserves. The main focus of the restaurant is not on their coffee, and although the atmosphere was lovely and it was a good cup to start the day off with, it admittedly still shows.

They buy their coffee beans from a local Durban coffee merchant, and their house blend is a mix called “Love Me Do”, the origin of which is a well-kept secret. The cappuccino that arrived was a little too hot to drink right away, but I thoroughly enjoyed the shortbread biscuit that was served alongside the drink whilst I waited for it to cool.

The cappuccino was a dark roast, with a slight bitterness coming through and a good acidic balance, and the coffee was a very robust brew, so I would recommend taking a latte or another milk-based drink if strong coffee isn’t your thing. The other thing that I enjoyed about the coffee was the fact that Lavender Blue served it with Muscovado brown sugar (the sticky, unprocessed kind), which gave a unique flavour profile.

I took some time to chat to Zoleka Madondile, the hangout’s barista. She has been working in coffee for about 12 years now, yet she still retains a childlike passion for her trade, with eyes that lit up as soon as she started to talk about her profession. She was more than willing to show me the ropes behind the coffee bar as soon as I explained my Coffee Crawl conquest, taking extra time to make sure that I was satisfied and knew all that I wanted to. This sweetheart is often hidden behind the large coffee machine, but if you are ever in the area, make sure to take some time to have a conversation with her – she has a wealth of knowledge stemming from years of experience, and is more than willing to share her wisdom.

This popular hub is more than worth the visit for the overall experience of a quality farmer’s market accompanied by a good breakfast, and this is affirmed by the heaps of people that come for this exact purpose, but if you are travelling through the area specifically for coffee, perhaps another coffee haunt would be better suited to your needs.