Last weekend Ray and I took a road trip to the Midlands — a scenic region in South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal Province, between Durban and the Drakensberg Mountains — and stayed at a lovely resort called Brahman Hills near the town of Curry’s Post. I’ll write a full review of the weekend in a future post, but in the meantime I’m doing a quick pop-up travel story about Terbodore Coffee.

Ray’s cappuccino from Terbodore in the Midlands — possibly the creamiest and tastiest cappuccino ever.

I first discovered Terbodore last year during a brief visit to Franschhoek, where Terbodore has a satellite coffee roastery/coffee shop. The Franschhoek shop is smaller than Terbodore’s sprawling farm in KZN, but is still a fantastic stop for South African coffee tourists.

Jomo, a coffee roaster at Terbodore in Franschhoek, explains his work as the beans roast behind him.

I can actually smell the beans when I look at this photo.

A cappuccino in progress at the Terbodore Franschhoek shop.

Jomo again, because he is super photogenic.

The Terbodore Franschhoek location is great, but it’s much like other boutique roasteries/coffeeshops that I frequent here in Joburg. Terbodore’s Midlands location, which has been roasting and selling coffee since 2004, is on another level. I was unprepared for how awesome it is.

Terbodore Coffee in the KZN Midlands

As we drove to Terbodore, Ray expressed doubt that Google Maps was sending us in the right direction. We drove for several kilometers along an unpaved (but well maintained) road, with nothing to see but forest and an occasional farm entrance. Finally we found the sign for Terbodore, and entered this little piece of rural coffee paradise.

I smelled coffee roasting the moment we got out of the car. We walked through the gate and found ourselves in a pleasant little clearing, scattered with tables and hipster-like people eating hearty food and drinking coffee and beer. Overlooking the scene was a lord-like great dane, Sultan, who I recognized from the Terbdore logo.

Sultan, Terbodore’s official mascot.

I knew that Terbodore served food, but I was expecting a small café. In reality there is a full-on restaurant, packed with people on a Saturday afternoon. Ray ordered oxtail stew and I had vegetarian lasagne with salad. It was all delicious.

Lunch at Terbodore.

I ordered an iced coffee to accompany my meal. Good iced coffee is hard to find in South Africa — it’s usually way overdone and tastes more like ice cream than coffee. Terbodore’s iced coffee is great.

Iced coffee, with just enough milk and sugar, accompanied by a dog-treat-shaped ginger biscuit.

Ray and I both really wanted to buy a Terbodore hoodie, hand-embroidered with the signature Sultan silhouette. But they were a bit too expensive at around R550. Instead we finished our lunch, browsed the coffee products for sale, and then went outside to play with Sultan and a newly arrived great dane puppy, whose name I have forgotten.

Sultan and the puppy, both of whom I struggled to photograph. The puppy moved too fast and Sultan just didn’t give a sh*t.

Luckily Ray is a dog whisperer.

I loved our afternoon at Terbodore and I’ll definitely go back the next time I’m in the area, hopefully for breakfast. I’ve heard it’s delicious.

Terbodore’s Midlands location is at 87 Old Main Road, Curry’s Post, and is open Thursday to Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Terbodore’s Franschhoek location is at  Goederust Farm, La Motte, Franschhoek, and is open Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.