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Java Heads - a well kept Newtown secret

Java Heads - a well kept Newtown secret
Written by Media Man
There’s a little wooden door hidden up a passage in the old Carfax premises, near the City Varsity campus, which bears the rather beautifully crafted logo “Java Heads”.
Behind that door lies a fragrant, busy coffee roastery, run by Mark Smith, with the occasional help of his dad Brian, an engineer who made and maintains the Java Heads roasting machine.
Java Heads are suppliers and roasters of fine coffee, but if you can find your way to their door, as the occasional student seems to do, you can also get a cup of the most exquisite espresso, which will keep you working all morning without fail.
But the best part of making the trip there is that you can get a large bag of top quality coffee for a very decent price. You can invent your own blend, which a totally unique thing to Java Heads. And you can get to see a bit of how coffee is made. For instance, did you know coffee beans are green before they are roasted? I didn’t ...
Roasting and blending is apparently as fine an art as making wine; it requires a lot of experience and subtlety, and it is what defines your brand. Mark happened on the idea of entering the coffee business while back-packing across America in the early 90s, which is when coffee retailing really started to peak.
“This was mostly due to the booze restrictions in the States at that time. You had to show your ID to get a drink at a bar, even if your beard was grey and hung to the floor,” says Mark. “Coffee shops like Starbucks became the counter to that. You could be of any age and hang out talking crap in a coffee shop; people behaved themselves there, too.”
“When I got back to SA I contacted the coffee franchise San Francisco. My father began making the roasting machines for them, and I opened San Francisco Coffee Roastery in 1994 on Melville’s 7th Avenue.”
Part of the franchise agreement was that you could do your own roasting, and Mark soon became hooked on the art. Two years later he moved to Carfax, because he knew the owners, and the location and price were perfect.
The coffee industry is expanding worldwide, says Mark, although in our country it is still primarily a white man’s drink. Competition is tough, as there a number of local roasters. The recession has hit the hospitality business hard, and in turn the people who supply restaurants with coffee. “It’s been tough,” admits Mark.
After oil, coffee is the most traded substance on the planet. There are many reasons why people drink coffee, according to Mark, apart from the obvious reason that it keeps you going. “There is a whole culture and etiquette around drinking coffee – and it does have some health benefits too, like raising your blood pressure.”
Java Heads imports coffee from all over the world. Phone Mark on 083 263 9125.