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Among coffee aficionados in town, quality artisan coffee originates with Origin. Opening in 2006 in a more modest space, this place changed the face of coffee in Cape Town if not South Africa. Since its expansion to this former tobacco factory, it is now three transparent levels of coffee, café, roasting, regional Synesso distributor, and barista training labs. There's even a Nigiro Tea salon inside ("Origin" backwards) that will wow any tea lover. The service area downstairs is dark with wood slat walls, sporting an array of vac pots, moka pots, drippers, home espresso machines, and beans. Upstairs there's a brighter, glass-enclosed seating area that opens out to patio tables and chairs under parasols across from nearby modeling agencies. Staff wearing Origin "Some Like It Black" T-shirts use a three-group Synesso machine (recently replacing their two-group Linea) to pull default double shots of espresso in 30ml shotglasses (for R16), placed on a saucer with a short glass of mineral water on the side. It has a hefty, darker brown crema that persists, a robust body (one of the best in Cape Town), and a rounded, pungent, herbal-based flavor with spices and sweetness at the bottom of the cup. They also produce excellent microfoam: it's even and not overly generous. They also offer a "3/4 flat white" for less milk. Compak grinders allow them to rotate a variety of beans for methods varying from espresso to Turkish to pour-over to siphon with a CoE option. You can see how inspirational Origin is - any town would be lucky to have it.
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