The African School of Coffee

02/10/2026

Think you know your coffee? Let’s put your palate to the test.

We’re teaming up with for “Can You Taste It?” — a mini tasting challenge at Barista League 2026.

Our Senior Trainer, Jody, will give you a quick introduction to tasting coffee before you put your skills to work across three of Origin Coffee Roasting's coffees. Taste the coffee, record your answers, and see where you land on the leaderboard.

And yes, there’s something in it for the winner: bragging rights and a goodie bag from Origin Coffee Roasting.

📅 3 October 2026
⏰ From 3PM
📍 Katy’s Palace Bar, Kramerville, Johannesburg
🎟 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/thebaristaleague/1924202

We can’t wait to be back in Joburg.
See you at Barista League!

The Barista League: Africa 2026 – Katy’s Palace Bar, Sat Oct 3, 2026 - JOIN THE MOST EXCITING COFFEE EVENT OF THE YEAR!Be in the room with the world’s most ambitious baristas, roasters, and coffee professionals."I've been in that room as a competitor and as a jud...

30/09/2026

How good is your palate?

The African School of Coffee are bringing “Can You Taste It?” to TBL: Africa, a tasting challenge built around one simple question.

Jody will take you through the basics of tasting coffee, then it’s your turn. Taste the coffees, make your call and put your score on the live leaderboard.

Come back later and see where you landed.

The Barista League: Africa
Johannesburg, 3 October

🎟️ Baristas get in free. Tickets via the link in bio.

29/09/2026

Coffee deserves a little more appreciation. So do you. ☕

1 October is International Coffee Day. To celebrate, we're giving you 25% off when you purchase an APPRECIATION COURSE on our website, on 1 October only.

Now you can learn a new skill, try something different, or finally get around to that coffee thing you’ve been meaning to do ☕️

This discount includes the following courses:
☕ Latte Art
☕ Hobby Roasting
☕ Manual Brewing
☕ Coffee Experience
☕ 1 Day Intensive
🎁 Appreciation course gift vouchers

Visit https://africanschoolofcoffee.org/pages/our-courses and use code INTERNATIONALCOFFEEDAY25 at checkout, valid from 1am to 23:59pm on 1 October.

If you miss the one-day deal, you can still get 15% off our appreciation course throughout October with code INTERNATIONALCOFFEEDAY15.

We appreciate you, and we're looking forward to giving you even more reasons to appreciate coffee this October!

29/09/2026

Johannesburg, look who’s coming!
On October 3, we’re bringing a lot of good coffee people into one room.

Six teams are coming together for the competition, with needc_offee Tshidiso MaticSoul Lehloka Halston Van Lis james odendaal⚡️ Stevo Kühn Ofentse Malematsa Sjovi Neelo Moremi Kaylynne Aaliyah Tshegofatso Ndhlovu and Luyone_wandisa taking the stage.

The competition will be judged and hosted by people who know the South African coffee scene inside out: Raïssa Dabaji Smayah ✨That Girl From Origin✨ Xander Venter HUMBLE COFFEE Iain Evans and The Coffee Magazine.

And the stage is only part of it.
Home of the Bean (HOB) and Topdose Roasters are bringing the competition coffees, — and will be brewing them themselves at the TBL Café, so you can actually taste what the teams are working with.

Culture Coffee | Specialty Coffee Shop & Roastery, the winners of TBL: Africa 2025, will also be back in the room with their own stand.

At The African School of Coffee, you can take part in “Can You Taste It?”, a relaxed tasting challenge where you’ll learn the basics of tasting coffee, test your palate and see how your score stacks up on the live leaderboard.

And Toddy LLC and Rancilio Specialty will be bringing their own activations into the mix.

A competition, a lot of coffee, and a room full of people worth knowing.

Johannesburg
3 October
Doors open 5PM

Free entry for working baristas.

A huge thanks to our partners for making TBL Africa possible: Toddy LLC Oatly Rancilio Specialty noissue Acaia ACME Porcelain Specialty Cups 1883 Maison Routin Standart Chemex Coffeemaker ARTEMIS Barista Magazine MAZZER BeanThereCoffee Home of the Bean (HOB) Topdose Roasters Ultimate Water | Water solutions supplier Cape Coffee Beans Culture Coffee | Specialty Coffee Shop & Roastery The Coffee Magazine The African School of Coffee

18/09/2026

At the African School of Coffee, we believe that coffee should be a space for connection, community and opportunity, and that everyone should feel safe within it.

With the ongoing crisis of gender-based violence in South Africa, we’re standing in solidarity with women and with everyone working towards a safer world. Violence and hate have no place in our industry. They have no place in our communities. And they have no place in our world.

Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones to gender-based violence, and with the families, friends and communities carrying that loss.

We’re changing our profile picture to purple as a small but visible act of solidarity, and we invite our coffee partners, friends and community to stand with us.

10/09/2026

The Barista League is heading back to Africa.

On 3 October, we’ll be back in Johannesburg for another night of competition, coffee and the people who make the industry what it is.

Ahead of the event, Phaedon from sat down with Steve to talk about what makes The Barista League different, from making competitions easier to enter and follow, to why we think competition should be about more than what ends up in the cup.

They also talk about why Johannesburg, the new judging format, and what you can expect from this year’s competition.

If you want to know what The Barista League is actually about, it’s a pretty good place to start.

Listen to the full episode via the link in ’ bio.

3 October
Johannesburg


A huge thanks to our partners for making TBL Africa possible:

07/09/2026

We’re Cupping with Rosetta Roastery!

Rosetta Roastery sources exceptional coffees from some of the world’s finest producers, carefully tasting and evaluating each coffee to ensure it meets their high standards, and now you’ll get to put these coffees to the (taste) test too.

Join us as we welcome Rosetta Roastery to our cupping table for a morning of tasting, discovery and conversation. Come explore what makes these origins and coffees stand out. 🌍☕️

📅 Friday, 11 September
⏰ 9:30am for 10am
📍 African School of Coffee
🎟️ Entry is FREE!

Whether you’re a coffee nerd or just curious to learn more, you’re welcome to join us.

Book your spot via the link in our bio. 👆

26/08/2026

🎵Where did the time go 🎤☕️

We’re still not over July, so we can hardly believe that there are only 5 days left in August. How did that happen? 😅

To help us get over it, here is a recap of what we were up to last month. It was such a rush, but we’re always grateful for the work we get to do, and look forward to doing it again, and again, and again!

25/08/2026

“I believe it's going to be a good day”

We think Khutso had a good time 😉

Before their heats, we asked the competitors how they were feeling about taking part in the first ever Origami Cup in South Africa. We think it's safe to say that it definitely exceeded their expectations!✨

Thank you to Cape Coffee Beans for allowing us to play a part in making history in the South African Speciality Coffee scene. It's always a fun time when coffee and friends come together, and we cannot wait to do it all again 🤩

25/08/2026

What happens when Cape Town and Pretoria cup the same coffees at the same time? 👀

We’re teaming up with ZUKA green coffee and Tribeca Coffee for a little decaf experiment, with ASC and TriBeCa’s Central Supply cupping simultaneously, then dialing in virtually to compare notes and chat all things decaf processing.

Join us for this week's cupping, where we’ll be tasting Zuka’s new decaf coffees blind, putting them through their paces on espresso, and digging into what makes each process, and each coffee, different.

📅 Friday, 28 August 2026
⏰ 08:00 for 08:30 start
📍 African School of Coffee