Light roast
Usually shows more of the bean’s origin character: floral, fruity, citrusy or tea-like notes, often with brighter perceived acidity.
Coffee, decodedSerious coffee.
Serious coffee.
Plain English.
Why our coffee tastes different, what our baristas do before your first sip, and why a V60 is worth slowing down for.
2025
ROASTERY
OF THE YEAR
ROASTERY
OF THE YEAR
From Howick to Knysna
Why Bluebird?
Bluebird Coffee Roastery in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal, was named Roastery of the Year at the 2025 Coffee Magazine Awards.
That award belongs to the roastery—not to one individual coffee. We chose Bluebird because its approach matches ours: carefully sourced coffee, thoughtful roasting and no shortcuts between the bean and the cup.
Roastery of the YearCoffee Magazine Awards · 2025
Our house coffee
Meet Friendly Blend.
Friendly is Bluebird’s medium-roast espresso blend, built especially to taste good in milk drinks—and designed for sweetness rather than bitterness.
The bag currently served at Coffee Craft lists coffees from Burundi, Brazil and Rwanda. Bluebird changes the components as harvests and availability change, while aiming to keep the blend’s familiar balance. That is why the country list may change over time.
A medium roast lets us keep more of the coffee’s own character while developing enough caramelised sweetness and body for a satisfying espresso, cappuccino or flat white.
Understand the roastLight, medium or dark?
Roast changes what you taste.
Roast level describes how far the beans are roasted. It does not rank coffee from weak to strong, and it does not tell you how much caffeine is in your cup.
Medium roast
Balances origin flavours with roast-developed sweetness. Expect a rounded cup where fruit may sit alongside caramel, nuts or chocolate.
Dark roast
Places more emphasis on the roast itself, often creating smoky, spicy, bittersweet or dark-chocolate notes and less obvious fruit or floral character.
Why ours tastes different: Friendly Blend is not roasted to make every origin taste the same. Its medium roast leaves room for sweetness and character instead of allowing heavy roast flavours to dominate.
Inside the blendSouth America East Africa East Africa
Three origins. One balanced cup.
The exact taste depends on farm, variety, altitude, processing and harvest—not only the country. These are broad tendencies, not promises.
Brazil
Brazilian coffees often bring body, sweetness and familiar nut, cocoa or caramel-like qualities—useful anchors in an espresso blend.
Burundi
Burundian coffees can add lively red-fruit, citrus, floral or tea-like qualities, with a clean sweetness when carefully processed.
Rwanda
Rwandan coffees are often valued for clarity and sweetness, with possible red-fruit, citrus, floral, tea or caramel-like notes.
Coffee flavour is seasonal. Bluebird may change the coffees in Friendly Blend to protect the overall taste as fresh harvests move through the year. Check the bag—or ask our barista—if you want to know what is in today’s blend.
Not “press button, hope for best”
Espresso follows a recipe.
Good espresso is repeatable because it is measured. A barista controls several variables and tastes the result—not just the clock.
DoseHow much ground coffee goes into the basket.
YieldHow much liquid espresso comes out.
TimeHow long the water takes to pass through the coffee.
GrindHow fine or coarse the coffee is ground, which strongly affects flow and extraction.
TemperatureThe heat of the brewing water, chosen to suit the coffee and recipe.
A slower way to taste
What is a V60?
A V60 is a cone-shaped pour-over brewer made by Hario. Hot water is poured by hand over freshly ground coffee in a paper filter, giving the barista close control over the brew.
Compared with espresso, a V60 produces a longer, lighter-bodied cup that can make delicate aromas, acidity and origin flavours easier to notice. We serve a rotating choice of Bluebird coffees this way.
Hand-pouredWater is added in controlled stages.
Made to orderEach cup is brewed fresh for you.
To the best of our knowledge, Coffee Craft is the only coffee shop in Knysna currently serving V60. Coffee menus can change, so this claim may need updating if another local café adds it.
Plan your visit
One small coffee myth
Does good coffee need sugar?
There is no objective rule: sugar is personal. But a well-roasted, well-extracted coffee should taste balanced enough to enjoy without sugar if that is how you prefer it.
If coffee is so bitter or harsh that sugar feels necessary simply to make it drinkable, the roast, beans or extraction may be masking the coffee’s natural sweetness. Still, adding sugar does not make someone a “bad” coffee drinker. Drink it the way you enjoy it.
Test your coffee knowledge
Coffee is measurable.
Ten serious questions about extraction, grind, espresso and filter brewing. Each answer includes an explanation.
Take the coffee quiz