Located just this side of the Eastern Cape border, lies the world’s southernmost coffee plantation, Beaver Creek Coffee.
This family-run coffee farm has been in operation for over 35 years and is one of the few coffee farms in South Africa.
As you walk towards the coffee farm, you are greeted by a huge outdoor pulping machine with a whirring engine and canals of water cascading in all directions, carrying what seem to be little cherries.
Once the ‘cherries’ are picked and harvested, they go through the pulping machine in order to separate the ripe ones from the raw ones, before they go through the fermentation and milling process.
Inside the coffee house, there is a farm stall selling a selection of delectables that complement any coffee, and a really great restaurant with an extensive menu. But one really cool aspect of Beaver Creek in particular, is that they offer a bottomless coffee tasting of all their coffee products.
Beaver Creek produces a variety of blends, each with their own unique aroma and taste. Transkei Gold and Ed’s Special Blend were real crowd pleasers. However, after the third cup of coffee, I was bouncing off the walls!
Beaver Creek Coffee is one of the very few coffee farms in South Africa. The farm forms part of South Africa’s own ‘Bean Belt’ which has optimum temperatures for growing coffee crops.
The scarcity of coffee farms all grinds down to labour costs. Coffee farming is a very labour-intensive industry; requiring many workers to work long hours. South Africa has one of the best labour protection acts in the world that ensures workers are paid a fair wage. This drives up production costs, making it cheaper to import coffee from parts of the world that have more lax labour laws.
To avoid supporting the exploitation of workers, buy local! Choose your next sip of freshly-brewed coffee wisely.
Catch you latte!
Beaver Creek Coffee has an online shop and delivers their coffee blends and equipment all over South Africa. Visit their online store at www.beavercreek.co.za
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