The Sea Point coffee shop that builds other coffee shops

10+ years of building baristas and small businesses

Last updated: Friday, 5 September 2025

Beyond serving one of the best coffees in Cape Town, mischu is also the quiet powerhouse that helps local businesses and entrepreneurs grow. It’s a training ground for baristas and a launchpad for small cafés across the Western Cape. Don’t just take our word for it. Hear what the businesses have to say. And come to mischu for their coffees, brunches, and pastries (they just opened a bakery).

mischu is the kind of place where the baristas know your name and your dog’s. Image: mischu

AWARD-WINNING COFFEE SHOP IN SEA POINT 

Over the last decade, Mikhael Bou Rjeily, owner of mischu, has helped more than a dozen cafés from Yzerfontein to Stellenbosch refine their offerings, train staff, set up operations and source beans they can trust.

“We’ve worked with people who were just starting out in business or didn’t have background knowledge in coffee,” says Mikhael. “It’s not just about supplying beans, it’s about supporting them to grow something meaningful and a business that lasts.”

Their signature Isabella blend, named after Mikhael’s daughter, is behind all of mischu's accolades. Image: mischu

HOW MISCHU SUPPORTS SMALL BUSINESSES

There are many coffee shops in the province, and serving some of the best coffee helps you be found by more people.

“If you Google ‘best coffee on the N1 road’, we pop up via TripAdvisor,” says owner Kim Bahra of the Whistling Bridge Café, a padstal just off the N1. “And I believe it’s because we use mischu’s beans, that’s why I’ve chosen to stay with them since we opened six years ago.”

Dietmar Keil, owner of Alpaca Loom and coffee shop near Paarl, says they started with mischu when they opened 15 years ago. “When we started, we weren’t a big brand, and Mikhael was the only one willing to help at that stage. Since 2014, we’ve never changed our supplier, and we’ve even sent our baristas to train with him.”

Chanel Carstens from Juvenate, in Stellenbosch, says mischu’s impact goes beyond great coffee. “Working with mischu means being part of a supportive community that genuinely cares about the success of local coffee businesses,” says Chanel.

And for the Frick family in Yzerfontein, the connection is personal. When they opened their café, Slowtime, for their son, Mikhael stepped in to train him. “Mikhael trained him until he could fully function as a barista,” says owner Wielie Frick. “We have been using the Isabella coffee blend of mischu ever since 2018 and will not consider using any other coffee beans or supplier.” 

Mikhael has personally upskilled over 5 000 baristas. Image: mischu

CROOKIES & CUBE CROISSANTS AT MISCHU BAKERY

While a network of cafés and small businesses trace their beginnings (or breakthroughs) back to this Sea Point roastery, many more Sea Point residents frequent it for their award-winning coffee. It’s won titles such as  Best Cappuccino in South Africa; Best Cappuccino in Cape Town; Best Espresso in Cape Town; and Best Coffee in Cape Town, three years in a row. 

Now, they have an in-house bakery with pastries that are gaining a cult following of its own. 

French pastry consultant Serana Obadia spearheads the bakery, which is behind a display lined with flaky croissants, cruffins, and Middle Eastern-inspired treats like halva brownies (made with tahini and spices) that nod to Mikhael’s Lebanese heritage. 

Signature items like the cube-shaped croissant bring regulars back week after week. They come in all sorts of flavours, such as pistachio (the bestseller), raspberry, chocolate, and hazelnut.

The crookie, a croissant covered in cookie batter, which blew up on Instagram and TikTok, is another one of mischu bakery’s most talked-about creations.

See mischu’s Instagram for sneak peaks at their new pastries every weekend. Image: mischu

SHOP ONLINE FOR BEANS & PODS 

If you’d like to make mischu’s coffee at home, you can buy beans, ground coffee and pods in store or online. They also stock instant powders like spicy chai and rich hot chocolates. 

And for the home baristas, they have a range of coffee accessories to upgrade your brewing setup, like an aeropress, coffee tamper, and more. 

Browse the selection and buy mischu coffee online.

Apart from the Isabella blend, mischu’s other special blends are Rafeal and Sienna. Image: mischu

VISIT MISCHU IN SEA POINT 

mischu is open: Monday to Saturday, 6:45am to 5:30pm; Sunday & public holidays, 7:30am to 5:30pm

Find it: 85 Regent Road, Sea Point

Contact on: 076 379 1693, mischu website, @mischucoffee

By Khadeeja Adams

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