Jozi Blue-The coffee experience
My youngest daughter and I went to my favourite coffee place. Jozi Blue, a small unassuming coffee shop, in the heart of Glenhazel, Johannesburg.
I must admit, I am not a great coffee drinker at all, and I couldn’t even begin to tell you about the different beans and their flavours that are on offer for you to drink there, but the aficionado’s rave about the choices. It is not the décor that draws me to this shop either, because that is mostly plastic tables and chairs. It is the vibe, to use a much abused cliché.
When you walk in, you are greeted like an old friend, whether you were there yesterday, 6 months ago or it is your first time!
I have to admit that it feels like Jozi Blue has always been around, but that’s possibly because of the accolades they have already accumulated in the fairly short time they have been open. They celebrated their 3rd birthday this year.
They have certainly made their impact on the coffee world here in Johannesburg!
Pippa Rowney of Coffey and Cake blog, visited Jozi Blue on trip to Jo’burg and raved about it in her blog http://www.coffeyandcake.com/2014/08/jozi–blue! Listed as one of the top 10 coffee shops in Jo’burg by Travelstart http://www.travelstart.co.za/blog/10-best-johannesburg-coffee-shops/. Listed at #2 on the Tripadvisor website for coffee and tea places in Johannesburg, how can anyone not want to try their coffee?
Shmuel and his staff really seem to enjoy what they do.
One thing you can’t do is leave without eating. They are not a restaurant and do not claim to be, they are a coffee shop that offers food, and what yummy food it is too.
I absolutely love their muffins, the caramel muffin is my best, actually maybe it is the Bar One muffin, or maybe the Top Deck muffin, I can’t really tell you as I like them all, however, it usually takes me a while to finish one if I am eating it on my own as they are enormous.
Today I had a pizza, not a regular pizza, but a banting pizza. If you don’t know what banting is, you obviously don’t live in South Africa, it is a new phenomenon of low carb, high fat eating for weight loss developed by controversial Dr. Tim Noaks.
My daughter had an ice tea.
The owner, Shmuel Montrose introduced a brilliant idea, or rather 2 brilliant ideas. The first a pre-loaded card, this is basically a card that you put money into and you can then get your coffee using that, the more money you pre-load the bigger your coffee discount, so when you don’t have cash, you can still get coffee. Snapscan is also available to pay with your smartphone.
The second thing he introduced is the Whatsapp order, you order your coffee via the Whatsapp line and then he will reply to say your order was received, all you have to do is drive passed and fetch it! I’ve driven passed in the mornings and seen them bring the coffee out to the people in their cars.
Go in early and it is filled with people having meetings, mid-morning its more meetings and ladies having coffee, in fact it seems to be full most of the day. There are plenty of plugs for your computers and WiFi available too. I have actually gone to work there when my ADSL line went down for a few days.
They have spent their time investing in their main ingredient, coffee, so if you want a chic, fancy coffee shop, don’t go there, however, if you want good coffee and tasty eats, it’s the place to go.
They also offer a fish braai (barbecue) every Sunday, which smelled absolutely amazing when I was there today. I may have to dump the kids (they don’t like fish) and take myself out to lunch one day. I might take my husband, we’ll see.
For those who want it, they also offer a non-dairy option and Chalov Yisroel.
Take yourself for a true coffee experience.
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