Stellenbosch has a coffee problem... ☕😂

There was a time when you went for a walk because you felt like going for a walk.

Not anymore.

Now you go for a walk because your watch has informed you that you've only done 6,742 steps today and frankly, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Stellenbosch is particularly bad. You can't walk down Dorp Street without passing someone checking their Garmin to see whether walking to get a flat white counts as Zone 2 training.

Everything is measured. Steps. Heart rate. Sleep. Stress. Calories. VO₂ max. Recovery. Body Battery.

You can't even have a restless night's sleep privately anymore.

You wake up feeling perfectly fine and your watch announces:

"Your sleep was POOR."

Oh. Okay. Thanks.

And then there's Discovery Vitality.

At this point, you can't fart without Discovery knowing about it.

"Congratulations Simon! Unusual cardiovascular activity detected at 14:37. You've earned 3 Vitality points."

We used to listen to our bodies.

Now we wait for a small computer strapped to our wrist to tell us whether we're tired.

And God forbid you go for a beautiful hike up Stellenbosch Mountain and forget to press START.

Did the hike even happen? 😂

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There are two types of people in a Stellenbosch coffee queue.

The first has been standing in the queue for five minutes and knows exactly what they want.

“Flat white. Normal milk. Thanks.”

Done. Next.

Then you get the person who reaches the till and appears completely surprised that coffee is being sold there.

"Ummmm… what do I feel like?"

You’ve had FIVE MINUTES.

Then it begins.

"Can I have a flat white… but with almond milk… actually, do you have oat? And can you make it extra hot? But not too hot. And maybe half a shot. Can I get some hot water on the side?"

By this stage the guy who ordered the normal flat white has finished his coffee, driven home and started a family.

Which got me thinking that Stellenbosch needs a new coffee shop:

There is no menu.

There is no milk discussion.

There are no syrups.

There are no follow-up questions.

You walk up to the counter. They look you in the eye.

“Flat white?”

You say yes.

Thirty seconds later you have a flat white with normal milk in your hand.

You say, “Do you have almond milk?”

Voetsek.

Fastest coffee shop in Stellenbosch. ☕😂

Good news for the DIYers, builders and weekend project starters. Mica has opened at Newinbosch, and it's well worth a visit.

They've got a surprisingly wide range of hardware, tools, DIY supplies, automotive products and all those random bits and pieces you suddenly discover you need halfway through a job.

But what really stands out is the great customer service. There are actually people around who are happy to help you find what you're looking for. A surprisingly underrated feature in a hardware store. 😂

Great to see another quality local business opening in Stellenbosch. 🔧🔩

Sox Mood Stellies has basically dedicated September to supporting the Stellenbosch Trail Fund, with a month of events, fundraising and some pretty cool cups thrown into the mix.

There’s plenty happening. A STF Walk on 12 September, a 5km social run on the 16th, a river clean-up on the 20th, a 5km Run & Boerie Braai on the 24th, and an STF Trail Ride on the 26th. There are giveaways along the way too, and the boerie run even includes a free roll when you buy Sox. 🌭

Money raised during the campaign goes towards the Stellenbosch Trail Fund and the work they do looking after the trails around our town.

So if you spend your weekends walking, running or riding Stellenbosch's trails, this is a pretty easy one to get behind.

Drink coffee. Run around the mountains. Eat a boerie roll. Help the trails. September sorted.

Don’t look so smug. 😂

We can almost guarantee your carpets would produce something similar after a proper deep clean.

And that “5-second rule” in your house?

Yeah… maybe retire it.

Drop a chip on the carpet, pick it up and eat it?

You’ve basically added seasoning.

For most of human history, scarcity was real.

Food was scarce. Safety was scarce. Medicine was scarce. Opportunity was scarce. Our ancestors weren't deciding where to go on holiday. They were trying not to starve, freeze or get eaten.

So perhaps it makes sense that our default setting is still:

There isn't enough. Be careful. Don't risk it. That's impossible.

But the world changed much faster than our thinking did.

Today, many of us live in a world our ancestors couldn't have imagined. We can buy food without hunting it. Cross the planet in a day. Learn almost anything for free. Start a business from a laptop. Speak instantly to someone on the other side of the world.

Yet our thinking can still be stuck in survival mode.

Someone says, "I'd love to take my family to the Seychelles one day."

Scarcity immediately answers:

"Way too expensive. We could never afford that."

Abundance asks a completely different question:

"Amazing. How could we make that happen?"

That's the difference.

An abundance mindset doesn't mean wasting money, ignoring reality or believing the universe will magically give you whatever you want.

It means refusing to make "I can't" your starting point.

Maybe you need to save for three years. Maybe you need another income stream. Maybe you need to change jobs, build something, sell something or sacrifice something else.

But you've changed the question from "Why can't I?" to "How could I?"

And that tiny change can alter the direction of your entire life.

The world will give you enough reasons why something won't work.

You don't need to become one of them.

🌤️ Friday: A lovely spring day with sunny spells. 22°C / 15°C

🌦️ Saturday: Mostly cloudy with the odd shower possible. 21°C / 15°C

☀️ Sunday: The pick of the weekend! Warmer with sunshine through some high cloud. 26°C / 16°C

🌧️ Monday: Cooler again, with rain and drizzle around in the morning and plenty of cloud. 19°C / 14°C

🌧️ Tuesday: Cloudy and cool with a little rain possible at times. 18°C / 13°C

Weekend verdict: Sunday is looking like the winner. Saturday may require keeping the braai under something with a roof. Monday and Tuesday remind us that Stellenbosch spring still hasn't quite committed to the relationship.

As always, thanks for reading. If you spot something in town worth knowing, reply and tell us. Half the best Stellenbosch stories begin that way.

See you around town,
Stellenbosch Brief

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