Mastertons Coffee and Tea Specialists are a Port Elizabeth based speciality coffee roastery and have been pioneers in the roasting and blending of top quality coffee since 1924. This makes them one of the oldest, if not the oldest coffee roastery in South Africa! Providing a personalised service, they supply a large range of freshly roasted coffee blends and speciality grade single origin coffees, amongst numerous other awesome products, to the hospitality and retail sectors, as well as to coffee lovers around the country.

This month, Mastertons are releasing their newly updated packaging – a new look, but same great coffee! Their new 250g bags are distinctly ‘Mastertons’, and now feature a one-way valve to keep their coffee fresher for longer. Look out for each blend’s signature label, each telling a unique story to be found in every cup. Their coffee is currently stocked in a number of Spars and other retailers across the country, but predominantly in their home province of the Eastern Cape.

Fittingly for Heritage Month, Mastertons’ history spans the last 92 years of South Africa’s coffee scene, having been founded by Ronald John ‘Jock’ Masterton, who was born in November 1897! At the age of 23, Jock came to South Africa from Scotland in 1920 after having served as an Officer in the First World War with the aim of establishing his own business. Jock had also spent time in Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) where he became a qualified Tea Taster, often sampling more than 400 varieties of tea in a single day. Returning to Port Elizabeth, he opened ‘The Tea and Coffee House’ at 33a Queen Street (now Govan Mbeki Avenue) on 4 December 1924, and later moved to 114 Russell Road from where they still roast coffee today. When in Central, just follow your nose and you’ll be sure to find them! In 2015 Mastertons opened its coffee equipment store at 69 Parliament Street, which also houses their barista training centre.

In addition to this great new packaging, Mastertons will soon be releasing a new look website boasting an improved online shopping experience, so that even if you can’t visit their roastery yourself, you can still get their coffee delivered to your home. Mastertons also offers value added services such as barista training to their food services clients, a technical division specialising in coffee equipment repairs and maintenance and even has a fully kitted coffee vending trailer catering for large events and festivals. When you think coffee, think Mastertons!