Simple_Peter Senior Member Joined: 22 Feb 2004 Posts: 2 Location: Netherlands Expertise: I love coffee
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Posted Mon Feb 23, 2004, 1:02am Subject: Re: Good coffee in Amsterdam
I don't really know for sure where to get good coffee in Utrecht, but one place I would consider trying is "Brandmeester's" in Korte Janstraat. It looks good and sells a pretty good selection of machines, plus coffee's and tee's. I have only tried their tee so far, but maybe you can try the coffee and tell if it's good or not?
Apparently it's a chain, and there is two of them in A'dam, so maybe you know it already?
Please also notice that it's a shop and therefore not open at night (except Thursday I suppose?).
Cheers,
Peter
PS: If you're also looking for a place to eat, then you might want to consider the "Nachtrestaurant" in one of the old warehouse "holes" down by the canal (and close to Brandmeester's). The surroundings are nice and they serve pretty good spanish/northafrican tapas (though the service can be a little slow).
flimbag Senior Member Joined: 24 Nov 2003 Posts: 174 Location: Liverpool Expertise: I like coffee
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Posted Mon Apr 5, 2004, 8:32am Subject: Good coffee BEANS in Amsterdam
Thanks for all your replies, people. I have to say, for a country that is as obsessed with its coffee as the Netherlands is, I'm surprised by how lousy it can be in so many places.
I have to say that the place that has impressed me the most has been Coffee Company -- which I suppose is the NL equivalent of Starbucks (but without the comfortable armchairs.)
What Coffee Company does appear to have though, is consistently good coffee -- particularly with regard to milk-based drinks. Which isn't to put down their expressos/ristrettos/cortados, etc. -- I just don't feel as competent to judge those yet.
On my last trip, I bought some beans home. I bought from two suppliers -- 500 grams of 'licht espresso' from Geils on Warmoestraat, which seems to be the oldest coffee dealer in the Netherlands, and also sells green beans, and 250 grams of espresso roasted by 'The Golden Coffee Box' that I bought from Plantage in Utrechtstraat.
(Plantage is a lovely little tea/coffee shop that really makes an effort and has some great things to sell. I'm not completely sure about their coffee, but the people who work there are wonderful. The table I was sitting at had a copy of Schomer for the customers to browse as they drank their coffee.)
Anyway, I've yet to sample the Golden Coffee Box product, but the 'licht espresso' from Geils has to be the worst coffee that I've drunk so far. I don't know whether that's because it contains lots of nasty robusta, but it's the first 'fresh' coffee that I've bought that I considered completely undrinkable. And that's if I could get a decent shot. I get mountains of very light crema but a shot that's gone almost clear by the time we're 20 seconds in -- even though the volume is correct, 2 oz in 25 seconds.
I've been drinking it alongside some home roasted Malabar Gold, which also contains robusta, but the robusta in that blend isn't at all intrusive -- on the contrary, I think it works very well (though the all arabica blend I get from Monmouth still rules,.
I didn't actually make it into Brandmeesters on my last trip, but I was very impressed by Duikelmans, and by the shop of the guy (I think he's next to the Neue Kirk -- who has the original Faema E61 and Kees Van Der Western modified La Marzoccoa in his window. He was quoting a very good price for the Domobars and was happy to ship them across to the UK -- something that he's done in the past.
I do love the Netherlands -- but what the hell is that little shelf in the toilet all about? And does it have anything to do with the reasons why the Dutch are all so obsessed with coffee?
Finally, I've just finished Geert Mak's (sp?) history of Amsterdam which was absolutely wonderful. If you do happen to be visiting this city, the book really gives you an insight into the unique qualities of the place and its inhabitants.
Sunnyfield Senior Member Joined: 9 Jul 2002 Posts: 140 Location: Hong Kong Expertise: I love coffee
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Posted Mon Apr 5, 2004, 9:09am Subject: Re: Good coffee in Amsterdam
500 grams of 'licht espresso' from Geils on Warmoestraat has to be the worst coffee that I've drunk so far.
Van Geels (Geils is the Dutch word for horny, fair enough they are located right behind the Red Light District... Freudian slip of the tongue?) is disappointing indeed. Van Wijs & Zn. also on Warmoesstraat has a better reputation, although I must say they often sell stale beans too.
Out of curiosity, how much is the VBM at Duikelmans?
Cheers Eward
PS Don't you think the shelf is charming? Readily presented to be admired whatever you left behind? ;-)
capricrn1 Senior Member Joined: 13 May 2004 Posts: 1 Location: Delaware Expertise: Just starting
Posted Thu May 13, 2004, 12:16pm Subject: Re: Good coffee in Amsterdam
I recently spent a vacation in Amsterdam and really enjoyed their coffee. Whether it was a cup at the airport or at a hotel it seem like the same style. I'd like to get the same coffee here in the US. Is it possible to brew their style here? If so, what type of machine is used and bean? Any help wouuld be appreciated.
Ciordia9 Senior Member Joined: 22 Oct 2004 Posts: 103 Location: Charlotte, NC Expertise: I live coffee
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Posted Thu Nov 4, 2004, 5:44am Subject: Re: Good coffee in Amsterdam
capricrn1 Said:
I recently spent a vacation in Amsterdam and really enjoyed their coffee. Whether it was a cup at the airport or at a hotel it seem like the same style. I'd like to get the same coffee here in the US. Is it possible to brew their style here? If so, what type of machine is used and bean? Any help wouuld be appreciated.
I'd like to renew this thread as I too am looking for this information. I was in Amsterdam 4 or so years ago and fell in love with their coffee with milk. Anyone have any ideas?
-a
http://andy.ciordia.info "Life is all about strategy, mathematics and psychological perceptiveness."
Bean_Believer Senior Member Joined: 22 Oct 2004 Posts: 30 Location: The Netherlands Expertise: Just starting
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Posted Thu Nov 4, 2004, 9:51am Subject: Re: Good coffee in Amsterdam
Ciordia9 Said:
I'd like to renew this thread as I too am looking for this information. I was in Amsterdam 4 or so years ago and fell in love with their coffee with milk. Anyone have any ideas?
About the "koffie": I've lived in NL for about 7 yrs now. I never used to drink coffee until I moved here because it was just some brown icky bitter dishwater liquid to me before. So, UNLESS the N.Am average household type coffee has changed since then, then I do agree that coffee here is far better. To support my case, I always had to bring back kilos of vacuumed foil-packed pre-ground coffee for my brother-in-law... which then extended to all my friends and family. Do you know how long they keep you at customs when you have bags of 250g & 500g vacuumed-sealed shiny foil rectangular-shaped packages... coming from Amsterdam?? Of course, it's always a kick to see the look on their faces when they repeat the word "coffee???" about 5 or 6 times!
The "koffiemelk": I've never really seen people use it in tea and most certainly not drink it straight... but I've seen it used to thicken soup. It looks a lot more like cream and it definitely has more fat content. I don't have any at home to tell you the exact contents but next time I'm doing groceries, I'll have a look. I used to joke that when you put "koffiemelk" into "koffie", the spoon could almost stand up in the middle of the cup.
One of the popular brands: www.goudband.nl then hover over "Producten" and then "Koffie verrijkers" (means coffee enrichers/enhancers) and then click on "goudband". According to the site, it's made of full milk and a stabilisor E339.
The little blurb above it goes on about being made according to traditional recipes in order to serenely enjoy a soft and creamy cup of coffee. I wonder if E339 is part of the traditional recipe. Hmmm. Another another thing probably worth mentioning is that I've never seen "fresh" koffiemelk in the refrigerated section. I've only ever seen it as the long-life-unrefrigerated-shelf version.
I don't know how, but hopefully this helps you out a bit :-)
SilverX1 Senior Member Joined: 2 May 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Utrecht, NL Expertise: I love coffee
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Posted Fri Nov 12, 2004, 10:43pm Subject: Re: Good coffee in Amsterdam
Though I don't live in Amsterdam but in Utrecht (relaxed mid country college/University town),I know there are plenty of nice places to get your coffee in A'dam. There are some nice little franchise shops like Brandmeesters, Kaldi or Simon Levelt. They all sell pretty decent coffee. Not very cheap, but good. My personal favourite is Brandmeesters. If you like a special coffee experience you should head over to a tiny little town called Baarn (between Utrecht and Amersfoort) to visit the shop annex roastery of Willem Boot: Golden Coffeebox (sorry site is in dutch only, but they used to have an english version0. The coffee there is absolutely faboulus ;) and Baarn and it's surroundings are nice as well.
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