Truth Coffee Roasting - Specialty Coffee Roaster | Unpacking Coffee [Skip to content](#main-content) [ ](https://unpacking.coffee)[ ![Unpacking Coffee Logo](/images/cuppin-logo.svg) Unpacking Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/dashboard) [ Coffees ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees) [ Cuppings ](https://unpacking.coffee/cuppings) [ Recipes ](https://unpacking.coffee/recipes) [ Log in ](https://unpacking.coffee/login) [ ](https://unpacking.coffee/login "Log in") [ Register ](https://unpacking.coffee/register) [ ](https://unpacking.coffee/register "Register") [ Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters) Truth Coffee Roasting Truth Coffee Roasting ===================== Truth Coffee Roasting is a Cape Town specialty coffee roaster founded in 2009 by David Donde, one of South Africa's specialty coffee pioneers. Truth's flagship café opened at 36 Buitenkant Street in 2012 in a steampunk-themed 1898 Victorian warehouse — designed with Haldane Martin around a vintage roasting machine — and was named Best Coffee Shop in the World by The Telegraph in 2015. Watch Episode Read Transcript - [ Truth Coffee ](http://truthcoffee.com) - [ Truth Coffee Twitter ](https://twitter.com/truthcoffee) - [ Truth Coffee Facebook ](https://facebook.com/TRUTH.Coffee/) - [ Truth Coffee Instagram ](https://instagram.com/truthcoffee/) - [ Location photography by Shanna Jones ](http://shannajones.com) ![Truth Coffee Roasting](/storage/roaster-profiles/214/featured.jpg) THE CONVERSATION Ray: This week, we are talking about South Africa's Truth Coffee. Kandace: I chatted with David. He's got a lot to say about coffee, so I think we should just let him take it away for a moment. David: David Donde here. I'm the founder of Truth Coffee Roasting and hopelessly ADD! Kandace: David started out as a hotel owner. David: I knew that I needed fresh coffee, so I went to my suppliers one by one and I said, "Well will you guys deliver fresh coffee to me? Would you guys deliver?" Everyone said: "No, too far away." Eventually, one said: "Well, I'll sell you a roaster. I know this guy whose got this one kilogram roaster for sale." I got lucky. He sold me the roaster, which was a one kilogram roaster. It was kind of fun. I could see what was going on. But, I had this hotel that was completely full on the weekends (100% occupation) and completely empty during the week. I had all this time to roast and then I got even luckier. I had nobody to teach me how to roast coffee! I came from this engineering, design background and all I had was scientific method; you do something, you make careful notes, and then you have this feedback loop. I developed this empirical system of roasting coffee and roasting based on the feedback. Basically, I had no preconceived ideas of how dark coffee should be, how long it should take, which beans to use. I just had my palate to work with. Kandace: He went from that to being noted as the coolest coffee shop in the world. Ray: They're cool. I mean, I haven't been there in person. Kandace: He talked about chasing the flavor which I thought was really interesting, just figuring out what you're trying to get out of that particular coffee. David: Well, there's been this old-school coffee tradition with really burned pots of filter coffee that are served piping hot. It's what I call the cheap beer phenomenon, where if you got a really cheap, nasty beer, you just serve it cold enough you can drink it. When it gets warm, you actually taste it. Coffee is the same. If you serve it hot enough, you can get away with anything. If you start caring about over over-extraction and under-extraction, then serving temperature gets really important and the brew, grind size, extraction time, and temperature are all interrelated. With a general brewing time that we've got, you just don't want to serve it piping hot and kill your coffee before it gets started. Kandace: This is, for the fact that Truth will not consider themself an eco-friendly business... David: We are primarily a coffee company, so we're about the taste of the coffee. All of our coffee is bought to the relationship model. We paying way more than the Fair Trade price. I don't need to explain to you. There isn't a specialty roast in the world who cares about the Fair Trade price, let alone the commodity price. It's just an irrelevance to us. We do have deep connections with our suppliers, whether with brokers or directly, it's all an engagement with the farmer. Our broker acting more as a matchmaker than as a traditional firewall. I think that's essential. Then also, the limitations of fair-trade and organic and what people think they are buying and what they are actually buying. People believing that organic label is going to cause the best coffee, and the most naturally grown coffee they can imagine, and it's not true. It involves organic certification. We know now of 150 certified organic insecticides with high residual toxicity. It doesn't make them good, but it does make them organically certified. Ray: He also brought up a valid point, which is that a lot of people are trying to make better and better packaging, but what would it look like if a bag to put your coffee in cost a hundred dollars? What would you then? Kandace: I would dip that in gold. Ray: Yeah, it would be a really frickin' nice bag, wouldn't it? They roast on a roaster that is so vintage, it's from the 40s. It was originally designed to roast on diesel, but interestingly, they're using bio-fuels. David: The heart of our roastery is the 60 kilo vintage throwback from the 40s. We not sure of exactly what year it was made. I think it's the only roaster in the whole world powered by bio-fuel. Ray: This is good. This is Truth. It's a very simple, simple label. Right now we are trying the Vengeance. One thing he said that he really wanted for the business, I thing you asked him, what his goal was or what was next and he said that he wanted... David: I would love to be on Coffee Geek’s bucket list, and that's what it's all about. I don't want to anyone's favorite coffee, I want to be in their top five favorite coffees. Kandace: Well, he's made a pretty phenomenal destination. Ray: Yeah, sounds like it. Kandace: This coffee shop... Ray: He gave us a brief tour, right? Kandace: Yes. David: We are roasting now. I think we have a mini roaster here today. Sorry, I was going to show you the plans but they aren't ready. I hope this is giving you some sort of sense of what we've got ... It is huge. We keep the sugar well hidden. Ray: Truth Coffee, of Cape Town, South Africa. Watch the Show https://vimeo.com/174148031 THE CONVERSATION Ray: This week, we are talking about South Africa's Truth Coffee. Kandace: I chatted with David. He's got a lot to say about coffee, so I think we should just let him take it away for a moment. David: David Donde here. I'm the founder of Truth Coffee Roasting and hopelessly ADD! Kandace: David started out as a hotel owner. David: I knew that I needed fresh coffee, so I went to my suppliers one by one and I said, "Well will you guys deliver fresh coffee to me? Would you guys deliver?" Everyone said: "No, too far away." Eventually, one said: "Well, I'll sell you a roaster. I know this guy whose got this one kilogram roaster for sale." I got lucky. He sold me the roaster, which was a one kilogram roaster. It was kind of fun. I could see what was going on. But, I had this hotel that was completely full on the weekends (100% occupation) and completely empty during the week. I had all this time to roast and then I got even luckier. I had nobody to teach me how to roast coffee! I came from this engineering, design background and all I had was scientific method; you do something, you make careful notes, and then you have this feedback loop. I developed this empirical system of roasting coffee and roasting based on the feedback. Basically, I had no preconceived ideas of how dark coffee should be, how long it should take, which beans to use. I just had my palate to work with. Kandace: He went from that to being noted as the coolest coffee shop in the world. Ray: They're cool. I mean, I haven't been there in person. Kandace: He talked about chasing the flavor which I thought was really interesting, just figuring out what you're trying to get out of that particular coffee. David: Well, there's been this old-school coffee tradition with really burned pots of filter coffee that are served piping hot. It's what I call the cheap beer phenomenon, where if you got a really cheap, nasty beer, you just serve it cold enough you can drink it. When it gets warm, you actually taste it. Coffee is the same. If you serve it hot enough, you can get away with anything. If you start caring about over over-extraction and under-extraction, then serving temperature gets really important and the brew, grind size, extraction time, and temperature are all interrelated. With a general brewing time that we've got, you just don't want to serve it piping hot and kill your coffee before it gets started. Kandace: This is, for the fact that Truth will not consider themself an eco-friendly business... David: We are primarily a coffee company, so we're about the taste of the coffee. All of our coffee is bought to the relationship model. We paying way more than the Fair Trade price. I don't need to explain to you. There isn't a specialty roast in the world who cares about the Fair Trade price, let alone the commodity price. It's just an irrelevance to us. We do have deep connections with our suppliers, whether with brokers or directly, it's all an engagement with the farmer. Our broker acting more as a matchmaker than as a traditional firewall. I think that's essential. Then also, the limitations of fair-trade and organic and what people think they are buying and what they are actually buying. People believing that organic label is going to cause the best coffee, and the most naturally grown coffee they can imagine, and it's not true. It involves organic certification. We know now of 150 certified organic insecticides with high residual toxicity. It doesn't make them good, but it does make them organically certified. Ray: He also brought up a valid point, which is that a lot of people are trying to make better and better packaging, but what would it look like if a bag to put your coffee in cost a hundred dollars? What would you then? Kandace: I would dip that in gold. Ray: Yeah, it would be a really frickin' nice bag, wouldn't it? They roast on a roaster that is so vintage, it's from the 40s. It was originally designed to roast on diesel, but interestingly, they're using bio-fuels. David: The heart of our roastery is the 60 kilo vintage throwback from the 40s. We not sure of exactly what year it was made. I think it's the only roaster in the whole world powered by bio-fuel. Ray: This is good. This is Truth. It's a very simple, simple label. Right now we are trying the Vengeance. One thing he said that he really wanted for the business, I thing you asked him, what his goal was or what was next and he said that he wanted... David: I would love to be on Coffee Geek’s bucket list, and that's what it's all about. I don't want to anyone's favorite coffee, I want to be in their top five favorite coffees. Kandace: Well, he's made a pretty phenomenal destination. Ray: Yeah, sounds like it. Kandace: This coffee shop... Ray: He gave us a brief tour, right? Kandace: Yes. David: We are roasting now. I think we have a mini roaster here today. Sorry, I was going to show you the plans but they aren't ready. I hope this is giving you some sort of sense of what we've got ... It is huge. We keep the sugar well hidden. Ray: Truth Coffee, of Cape Town, South Africa. Watch the Show https://vimeo.com/174148031 No coffee offerings have been added for this roaster yet. Log In to Cup Log in to your account Enter your email and password to continue Email address Password Remember me Cancel Log in Need an account? [Sign up](https://unpacking.coffee/register) Log In to Cup Log in to your account Enter your email and password to continue Email address Password Remember me Cancel Log in Need an account? [Sign up](https://unpacking.coffee/register) 0 Coffee Offerings 0 Total Cuppings Added 11 months ago Roaster Details Website [ truth.capetown ](https://truth.capetown) Established 2009 Location City Cape Town Country South Africa Use filters or recent searches to refine your results. Press Esc to close. Filters 12 showing Users 0 Coffees 0 Roasters 0 Recipes 0 Explore featured coffees Start typing to search across the entire database. [ ### [ Elite Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/152-elite-coffee) by [ unknown ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/275-unknown) First noted May 13, 2026 Last tasted May 13, 2026 1 cupping [ milk chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/33 "milk chocolate") [ stone fruit ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/125 "stone fruit") [ roasted nuts ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/215 "roasted nuts") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/152-elite-coffee) [ ### [ Florida Weather ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/151-florida-weather) by [ Mythos Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/274-mythos-coffee) Process Anaerobic Natural, Natural Blend Colombia and Ethiopia First noted May 13, 2026 Last tasted May 13, 2026 1 cupping [ orange ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/17 "orange") [ sun-dried raisin ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/214 "sun-dried raisin") [ milk chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/33 "milk chocolate") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/151-florida-weather) [ ### [ Tanzania Peaberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/150-tanzania-peaberry) by [ Knowledge Perk Coffee Company ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/273-knowledge-perk-coffee-company) Certifications Rainforest Alliance Process Washed Country Tanzania Region Northern Tanzania First noted May 13, 2026 Last tasted May 13, 2026 1 cupping [ apple ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/1 "apple") [ lime ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/19 "lime") [ allspice ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/213 "allspice") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/150-tanzania-peaberry) [ ### [ Colombia Nariño ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/149-colombia-narino) by [ DOMA Coffee Roasting Company ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/268-doma-coffee-roasting-company) Certifications Organic Process Washed Varieties Colombia, Castillo, Caturra Country Colombia Region Nariño Harvest 2025 Source La Jacoba (smallholder Farmer Association) First noted May 12, 2026 Last tasted May 12, 2026 1 cupping [ chamomile ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/127 "chamomile") [ golden pear ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/211 "golden pear") [ maple syrup ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/26 "maple syrup") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/149-colombia-narino) [ ### [ Limited Ethiopia Natural ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/148-limited-ethiopia-natural) by [ Council Oak Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/266-council-oak-coffee-roasters) Process Natural Varieties Wild Heirloom Ethiopia Arabica Cultivars Country Ethiopia First noted May 12, 2026 Last tasted May 12, 2026 1 cupping [ nectarine ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/126 "nectarine") [ berry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/109 "berry") [ floral ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/105 "floral") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/148-limited-ethiopia-natural) [ ### [ Santa Elena Geisha (IYKYK) ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/147-santa-elena-geisha-iykyk) by [ Three Oaks Roasting Co ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/263-three-oaks-roasting-co) First noted May 12, 2026 Last tasted May 12, 2026 1 cupping [ mandarin orange ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/142 "mandarin orange") [ lavender ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/57 "lavender") [ strawberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/7 "strawberry") [ lemongrass ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/106 "lemongrass") [ cane sugar ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/29 "cane sugar") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/147-santa-elena-geisha-iykyk) [ ### [ Colombia Huila, Santa Maria ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/146-colombia-huila-santa-maria) by [ Boonton Coffee Company ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/261-boonton-coffee-company) Process Washed Varieties Castillo, Caturra Country Colombia Region Huila Elevation 1500-1600m Harvest 2025 First noted May 12, 2026 Last tasted May 12, 2026 1 cupping [ honey ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/22 "honey") [ apricot ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/4 "apricot") [ pear ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/2 "pear") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/146-colombia-huila-santa-maria) [ ### [ Costa Rica Hellen Mora ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/145-costa-rica-hellen-mora) by [ HAYB ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/262-hayb) Process Natural Varieties Geisha Country Costa Rica Region Tarrazú Elevation 1800-1900m First noted May 12, 2026 Last tasted May 12, 2026 1 cupping [ cherry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/5 "cherry") [ strawberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/7 "strawberry") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/145-costa-rica-hellen-mora) [ ### [ Centenario - Edwin Martinez, Guatemala ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/144-centenario-edwin-martinez-guatemala) by [ Torque Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/259-torque-coffee) Process Washed Varieties Red Bourbon Country Guatemala Region Huehuetenango Elevation 1600 - 1900m Harvest 2025 Source Edwin Martinez, Finca Vista Hermoa First noted May 11, 2026 Last tasted May 11, 2026 2 cuppings [ lemon ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/18 "lemon") [ floral ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/105 "floral") [ milk chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/33 "milk chocolate") [ sweet ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/171 "sweet") [ lingering finish ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/209 "lingering finish") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/144-centenario-edwin-martinez-guatemala) [ ### [ Finca El Mirador Washed Sidra ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/143-finca-el-mirador-washed-sidra) by [ Chuck's Roast Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/258-chucks-roast-coffee) Process Washed Varieties Bourbon Sidra Country Colombia Region Huila Source Finca El Mirador First noted May 11, 2026 Last tasted May 11, 2026 1 cupping ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/143-finca-el-mirador-washed-sidra) [ ### [ Bolivia, Caranavi ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/142-bolivia-caranavi) by [ Mother Tongue Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/257-mother-tongue-coffee) Source Illimani Mountain First noted May 11, 2026 Last tasted May 11, 2026 1 cupping [ caramel ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/23 "caramel") [ nougat ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/31 "nougat") [ milk chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/33 "milk chocolate") [ honey ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/22 "honey") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/142-bolivia-caranavi) [ ### [ Kenya Nyawira AA ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/141-kenya-nyawira-aa) by [ Heart Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/47-heart-coffee-roasters) Process Washed Varieties SL28, SL34 Country Kenya Region Embu Elevation 1400m First noted May 11, 2026 Last tasted May 11, 2026 1 cupping [ black currant ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/207 "black currant") [ rose hips ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/208 "rose hips") [ molasses ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/25 "molasses") ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/141-kenya-nyawira-aa)