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Also known as TRUTH.coffeecult, this café and roastery opened in March 2010 - founded by "charismatic leader and coffee evangelist" (or megalomaniac, depending on how you see it) David Donde. But Mr. Donde is no small fish in the South African coffee pond - having co-founded Origin Coffee Roasters and the Specialty Coffee Association of Southern Africa in 2006. As if that weren't enough, the guy is even a local TV talk show host and automobile columnist for GQ. Fortunately, his coffee efforts live up to the hype. This café sports some outdoor plaza seating with TRUTH.-branded parasols, and indoors the space looks is as much a museum to slavery as it is a Probat-powered roastery. The wall of merchandising includes the necessary Clever drippers, Expobar machines, etc. Curiously, the place reads like a checklist of "Third Wave" clichés. But they deliver on quality. Using a three-group Aurelia and grinders from Mazzer and Anfim, they serve double shots for R14 by default (a rare thing in South Africa). The barista also rejects sink shots (also a good thing). While they offer shots in Continental fine bone china, they served us in a 30ml shotglass with a shotglass of mineral water on the side. It has a frothy, darker brown crema with a lighter center at the pour. Its body is still on the lighter side, as is typical of South Africa, but it has a robust toasted flavor, mostly an herbal pungency, with a sharp brightness and some earthy body. There's even some sweetness towards the bottom. One of the most North American-style shots in town.
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