Amsterdam is one of the world’s great cities, a living network of charming canals and row houses, thrumming with the non-stop vibrations of boats, bikes, and bars. Both utterly Dutchโhandsome, direct, no-nonsense and highly functionalโand totally international, this is a city of expats and global citizens, an international hub for art, music, design (especially design!) with a quality of life that’s tough to top. It’s also increasingly home to one of Europe’s most interesting and progressive food and coffee scenes, which have grown exponentially around each other over the last decade. Long gone are the days of mocking Dutch cuisine; today Amsterdam is home to restaurants that rival what you’ll find in London, Paris, or Copenhagen, whose new Nordic food & wine scene is clearly a major influence here.
The Dutch have loved coffee for centuries, and Amsterdam’s contemporary coffee scene is one of Europe’s most progressive and intriguing. Weโve covered the Amsterdam coffee scene extensively on Sprudge, with content handled by a platoon of our core writing staff over the last several years. Our ability to report from this remarkable city has never been better, thanks to our recent introduction of Karina Hof as Sprudge.com’s first-ever Amsterdam staff writer.
Hereโs 10 of our most favorite Amsterdam features pulled from the Sprudge archivesโa great place to start for visitors and coffee enthusiasts alike. Grab a stroopwafel and dig in.
Scandinavian Embassy
Progressive coffee is toddling, step by careful step, into being fully embraced by the highest heights of the culinary world. Itโs my belief that weโll see more daring chefs like Rikard Andersson teaming up with coffee professionals like Nicolas Castagno in the coming years. In a way, at my most optimistic, Scandinavian Embassy is like a message in a bottle, sent back in time from a future where the best food in the world and the best coffee in the world hold hands and blow minds in gleeful congress. Itโs a world I want to live in, and itโs a union that great coffee deserves.
But Scandinavian Embassy is here right now, and open for business on a quiet parkside street in Amsterdam. Start planning your pilgrimage, and thank us later.
The Coffeevine Bar
Yes, it is a coffee bar. No, an espresso machine is not in sight. All the coffee here is prepared with an apparatus requiring a filter: anย AeroPress, a Clever, or aย V60.ย This is Amsterdamโs first filter bar.ย It is likely also the only venue in the Netherlands so singularly devoted to slow coffee. And it is one of the very fewโmaybe two, some experts positโfilter-only coffeeย bars on the continent.
Hutspot
You cannot help but love this space, but you also secretlyย resentย it, because itโs โcuratedโ to the extent that saidย curation is forced, andย there has to be a limit to how far we as a nice-stuff-appreciating society are going to allow our buttonsย to be pushed.ย That dull, pointed buzz I feel at the back of my skull: Is it pain? Irony? Recognition? Every corner is an Instagram post waiting to happen; you will consider making an Instagram at least a half dozen times as you walk through Hutspot, and this is not by accident. And yet you want to curl up and stay awhile. Soak in this beautiful life thatโs being handed to you on a plate, a plate thatโs better than any other plate youโve seen before, and certainly better than the one youโve got back home in your humble cupboard.
You go upstairs for coffee, locally roasted byย Bocca,ย and choose to sit in the funky space that feels moderately North African, if you had ever been to North Africa and knew what that was like. There are decorative pillows in bright colors. You want to sit here and nurse a soy latte all day. This is allowed.
Black Gold
What feels really new aboutย Black Goldย is the man behind it. After 15 years of โworking in an office, drinking lots of bad coffee,โ as he recalls it, Siebrand van Hengel has obviously set his turntable to a different speed.ย To imagine his old incarnation, an inspector for the Dutch Media Authority tasked with detecting hidden advertisements in broadcasts, is unsettlingโhis is a globally relatable story. He admits the work drove him to hit 10 cups a day. โYou drink coffee because itโs just a moment away from your horrible job,โ he says.
As a longtime record collector and devotee of boom bapโโ90s and โ90s-inspired hip-hopโopening a music store had been a dream. But while he let his vinyl vending visions run wild, he also had doubts. โYou start thinking, โIs there enough money in it? Can I pay off my house?โโ he remembers.
Then coffee called. โI started thinking of coffee and vinyl as a way of supporting each other. It sort of seemed like they connect somehow,โ he says. โTheyโre both analog in a way.โ
Coffee Company Oosterdok
The Amsterdam coffee scene is experiencing something of a renaissance,ย beyond the cityโs manyย coffee houses. Reflecting that radically changing landscape, Coffee Company has recently opened a newย Oosterdokย location with a decidedly Third Wave spin.ย And wow, is it a beautiful cafe to look at. As Coffee Company’s Stijn Braas tells us, [Amsterdam] is an interesting place in terms of being between the classic darker roast French and Italian coffee culture and the progressive lighter roasts of the Nordic countries. Different from places nearby like London and Scandinavian cities, Amsterdam was relatively late to the game. Only a couple of years ago the first new style coffee shops opened.
White Label Coffee
White Labelโs property is longer than it is wide, creating a sort of geometrically dramatic effect. The rectangularity is heightenedย by a multi-level floor, ascending in hanging-gardens-of-Babylon-style tiers. At its apex is the bar. Atop that are aย Kees van der Westen Spirit, twoย Mazzer Konyย grinders, aย Mahlkรถnig EK 43ย grinder, and a spread of homemade baked goods.ย Clients looked very comfortable on a recent afternoon, sitting and drinking cozied up to theย Giesen W6ย roaster, aย Probatย sample roaster, and plenty of burlap.
De Koffieschenkerij
The venue is located in Amsterdamโs oldest building, the Oude Kerk, indeed an โold churchโ dating back to 1306. And although De Koffieschenkerijย turns three this spring, it was only licensed last year to operate as more than a museum cafe servicing entrance-fee-paying visitors to the church.
โItโs nice to know the priests were changing their clothes here,โ smiles owner Job Oosting. Not that he spends much time thinking about what clergy do behind closed doors. But when he and his partner, Anne Rijks, were presented with the churchโs decades-long disused sacristy as a possible spot for their venture, they saw the potential right away. โWe said: โYes, start a coffee business here,โโ recalls Oosting. โItโs not big, but itโs greatโyou know, the atmosphere.โ
Headfirst Coffee Roasters
What I like about roasteries that double as cafes is that the focus, when done well, is truly on highlighting the skill and range of their roasting. This is not โIโll haveย a coffeeโ and you get whatever is on hand and hope for the best. Here youโre invitedย to choose from different coffees and different roasts depending on what youโre planning to drink; if youโre not sure, the baristas are happy to lead you through the choices. Up on the wall was a list of the different coffee choices, which Headfirst divides intoย โroasted for espressoโ and โroasted for filter.โ
I went with the Ethiopia Aichesh, having a thing for the more floral coffees with bright acidity. It was a good choice. In fact, an amazing choice, being one of tastiest pour-overs I have had in quite a moment. These guys know their stuff.
Koko Coffee & Design
Koko is one of thoseย increasingly commonย specialty coffee outlets: a shop of many retail things. Founded by owners Karlijn Timmermans and Caroline Kruijssen, the duo has set out to make Koko โaย place for all senses and a place where people feel at home and get inspired.โ Their selection of independent goods focuses on fashion from Scandinavian and Dutch designers likeย Libertine-Libertine,ย Monique Poolmans, andย Stutterheim, alongside coffee-brewing gear, postcards, magazines, and other bits of art. The coffee, roasted byย Caffenation inย Antwerp, and their pastries, from local bakerย โDe dikke lepelโ (The Fat Spoon) help create an overall air of consideration and quality.
La Tertulia
La Tertuliaย has always had a uniquely un-coffeeshop-like airiness about it. The breezes blow off the cityโs longest canal. Carbon dioxide-hungry plants abound. Light streams through big windowsโand it was on one of them that, from the outside, I saw the small sign: โLa Tertulia proudly servesย Boccaย coffee.โ This was interesting. Bocca, which began roasting in 2001 in an Amsterdam garage just a few blocks northward, is fast becoming the Netherlandsโ favorite specialty roaster, and the brand has been represented at international coffee competitions by Dutch baristas. The company has some scale, but remains indie enough for Third Wave cafes to showcase it.
The elder of the mother-daughter duo, who own the coffeeshop, told me they had been using these beans for โthree or four years.โ Forgiving her imprecision, I asked how was it that they decided on that particular brand. I wanted a moving story: say, about the communitas of cannabis and coffee and its leveling effect on humanity.ย โLooking on the internet,โย she replied.
Enjoy more Amsterdam coverage in our city hub.
Top photo is of Eye Cafe at the Eye Film Institute in Amsterdam. Shot byย Teska Overbeeske and used by permission, from our feature Dutch Museums With Incredible Coffee Bars.ย
