Category: roasting

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brewing coffee news roasting

Best Coffee Subscriptions in the Netherlands

nordkapp coffee beans

One of the better things that Corona has brought to the world is the increasing availability of fantastic, fresh roasted, coffee bean subscriptions to all those who value excellent coffee when working from home! There are so many coffee roasters that have popped up as well and they sometimes bring you true gems from the coffee world to your home.

Fresh roasted beans

A coffee subscription brings you freshly roasted coffee beans to your doorstep on a regular basis. Some let you choose the frequency at which this happens, others deliver it to you every other week or month. Often, you can choose the “profile” of the coffee, which means you can decide if you want to the coffee roasted for espresso (a little darker) or for filter (a little lighter).

Did you know that coffee loses most of its delicate flavors within 15 minutes (!) after grinding? If you have always used supermarket coffee, then you really do not know how good coffee can taste!

Tasting Table (source)

Fixed subscriptions

Most coffee subscriptions can send you a fixed set of beans of your choosing, sent to you at regular intervals. You chose the roast level (espresso or filter, dark/medium/light), the quantity and which beans. From then on, you’ll never run out of fresh coffee beans again.

You may be able to set some parameters, such as blend vs. single origin or washed vs. natural beans. A few promise to occasionally send you a surprise coffee or a special coffee as well, as a thank you for your loyalty. This means you get a reliable source of great coffee beans sent to your house.

Quality of the beans

The quality level is above and beyond what you can get from the supermarket or your local coffee store, despite the latter already offering a much better bean than the supermarket. Local coffee roasters simply chose better green beans and take more pride in their (artisan) craft. They take more time and care to roast the beans slowly, which greatly enhances the flavors in the beans (source).

A rotating coffee subscription is a subscription for fresh coffee (beans or ground to your specs) that arrives regularly, but contains different coffees each time.

No Pressure Coffee

Another benefit of getting a fixed set of beans on a rotating schedule is that you don’t need to complete redial your brew settings all over again. Each bean often has a unique recipe: the setting on the grinder, the weight of dry coffee you use for the best flavor, the temperature of the water used to brew the coffee and maybe even the number of pours used to make filter coffee. If you write down your recipe (I highly recommend you do!) then when you get a known coffee again, you can simply reach for your last recipe and use that instead of having to go through several runs to optimize the recipe for taste.

Rotating subscriptions

Some coffee subscriptions give you the option to rotate the beans regularly. Each new delivery will bring different beans than the one before. I call this a “rotating subscription“. It’s a lot of work to source new green coffee beans on a regular basis, roast them and taste/cup them, adjust roasting profile, weigh and package all the subscriptions and do it all over again a week (or so) later. That’s something that only a handful people manage.

But… if you stay on long enough, you may start seeing certain beans reoccur. Not everyone has a limitless supply of every bean out there. Even roasters buy limited quantities of green beans and these run out, eventually.

Recommended Coffee Subscriptions

Here is my list of recommended coffee subscriptions in the Netherlands:

NOTE: all of the above roasters now offer a choice between a fixed or a rotating coffee subscription! That’s great news for us.

the coffee vine, Amsterdam (2012), is a unique coffee subscription because they use rotating coffee roasters and ship their monthly changing beans all across Europe and world-wide! They have true gems and unique beans but the coffee is not what I’d call suitable for beginners. If you’d like to try totally different and wonderful beans each and every time, this is your go-to place!

If you are a coffee roaster and you offer a (rotating) coffee subscription as well, please get in touch with me if you’d like to be included in this list!

No Pressure Coffee

Update Jan 2024:
Boon no longer exists, filter box by Man met Bril is gone, Black and Bloom has sadly reduced their catalog and does not serve a subscription anymore, Uncommon added. Text updated and reworded.

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news roasting

My Favorite Coffee Roasters in the Netherlands

Roasting coffee beans is easy. You just need a metal pan and fire.

Roasting coffee beans well is slightly harder. You need to pay close attention.

Roasting coffee beans excellently and consistently is both art, talent and science. It requires great skills and experience.

When you roast the coffee beans, the Maillard reaction creates a multitude of chemical compounds from around 145 C and caramelizes sugars present in the bean.

Roasting specialty coffee beans is on another level because they are of higher quality and you are trying to highlight, enhance or bring out certain flavors and tones that make that particular (micro)lot or harvest shine. Do it once and that’s luck. Do it twice and you are good! Do it more than twice and you are a true artist.

coffee roaster
Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas on Pexels.com

In light of celebrating those true coffee artisans and artists out there, here is my highly subjective list of the best coffee bean roasters in the Netherlands:

In alphabetical order:

  • Black and Bloom, Groningen
  • Boot Koffie, Baarn
  • Capriole, Den Haag
  • Giraffe Coffee Roasters, Rotterdam
  • Lot61, Amsterdam
  • Man met bril, Rotterdam
  • Manhattan Coffee Roasters, Rotterdam
  • Nordkapp Coffee, Utrecht
  • Single Estate, Den Haag

Why are they the best? Because they procure excellent beans and are able to create a roast profile that brings out the best of the bean.

They make great every day blends that are always outstanding, but also produce time-limited special editions of simply brilliant and out-of-this-world (micro)lots from somewhere special that just blow your mind.

Drinking those is more like enjoying a fabulous bottle of wine than drinking coffee…

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coffee news roasting

Best Coffee Beans in the Netherlands

We all need good coffee beans.

We all want good coffee.

So I decided that this valuable guide to the best coffee beans in the Netherlands needed to be updated!

Christian, January 2024

What are the best coffee beans in the Netherlands? Well, that depends a little on personal taste and favorites, but I can tell you who roast amazing coffee beans in the Netherlands and sell their coffee online!

Traditionally, there are a handful established coffee roasters in the Netherlands who have been producing specialty coffee since it wasn’t called specialty coffee. These are oldskool roasters who’ve always been on the lookout for great green beans, source great coffee farmers and who know how to source these beans and treat them well. In my opinion, these are:

However, the whole third wave coffee movement have sparked a bunch of great newcomers with new routes, difference sources, smaller batches and that great newcomer creativity and curiosity. They get beans that are “off the beaten path”, if you will, or from non-traditional coffee producing countries.

More recently, since roughly 2010, coffee farmers are experimenting with added fermentation of beans before drying them. This creates a whole range of funky flavors.

These are, amongst others:

Some are pretty large scale roasters already, roasting dozens kilos of coffee every single day to keep production and delivery going. But others are small, artisan roasters, roasting green coffee beans to order once or twice a week.

I’ve had excellent coffee beans from all of these sources, but three that stand out for me and who’s taste I can still recall are:

#1 Giraffe

Fabulous lush sweet yellow fruit tones combined with a medium to full body coffee, just enough bitters and everlasting flavors. And the smell when you brew is intoxicating!

#2 Black and Bloom

Super super sweet Summer berries!

#3 Nordkapp

Super tasty creamy coffee with red fruit tones and a full body. But the peculiarity is the thick fermented “wine-like” notes you smell when you open the package.

What’s the best coffee I’ve had from a non-Dutch source, you ask?

Amavida Coffee! ❤ Price was high but the rewards were too!

But don’t take my word for it! Check (the sadly discontinued) “Koffie Top 100” from 2018, which ranked the 100 best places to drink coffee in the Netherlands, and a find a place near you that excels in making coffee. Ranking was made by a professional coffee jury and each venue was visited at least 2x to see if they were consistent. Very impressive list, even today.

For a more recent assessment of coffee in the Netherlands, check the fantastic site koffietje.nl by the always lovely Sam. She brings a personal note to all the coffees she tries. If she likes it, you know it’s good. But if it’s great depends on you!

Update May 2022:
Added Blommers to the list after tasting their excellent beans during the Dutch Brewers Cup finals in March 2022 at the Amsterdam Coffee Festival (ACF).

Update Jan 2024:
Added Uncommon Amsterdam, Little Roastery and (how could I forget?) the Village Coffee. Small typos corrected and added note about fermentation of beans. Mentioned koffietje.nl. Replaced koffie top 100 link. Boon has closed.

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brewing coffee news roasting

De energie van een kop koffie – NRC

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020/05/29/de-energie-van-een-kop-koffie-a4001234

Dutch newspaper NRC did an investigation into the total energy it takes to produce a cup of coffee. By total they mean the LCA, Lifecycle Assessment, from growing to harvest to transport and roasting to you making your cup.

You will be surprised to learn what the most energy efficient type of coffee is. I.e. the least amount of energy required to make one cup of coffee…

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brewing coffee news roasting

Coffee Roasters in Netherlands

Koffietje.nl already had the great idea to list as many local coffee roasters in the Netherlands with a webshop as possible, so that everyone who’s working at home #stayhome due to Corona crisis can enjoy the best coffee possible. Excellent!

Of course this leaves out those roasters who don’t have a shop (yet)…

Thankfully, Misterbarish.nl already has an extensive list of coffee roasters in the Netherlands (and a list for Belgium). Yay! With these two lists together there is nothing stopping you from ordering fresh roasted coffee beans that suit your taste to brew at home.

hario v60
Hario V60 brewing fresh filter coffee
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brewing coffee roasting

Verse koffiebonen bij het thuiswerken

coffee roaster
Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas on Pexels.com

Als je thuiswerkt en verse koffiebonen nodig hebt, check dan deze megapost met links naar alle branders in Nederland, die bekend zijn, met een webshop om bonen te bestellen! ☕🌱

Koffietje.nl worstelde met dezelfde gedachten als ik:

Hoe kom ik aan lekkere, goede, verse koffiebonen voor m’n koffie als ik het huis niet meer uit mag?

Bezorgen natuurlijk, maar door wie? Wie brandt nog dagelijks koffiebonen en heeft een webshop waar ik die kan bestellen zodat ze bij mij thuis bezorgd kunnen worden? Want ik wil geen oude bonen! 😀

coffee and latte art
coffee cups and latte art

Nou, het is een megapost geworden op Facebook en de lijst groeit nog steeds. Gelukkig hebben ze de lijst met koffiebranders in Nederland met een webshop ook op hun website gezet, daar is hij wat overzichtelijker! #stillroasting

En als jij zelf nog goede suggesties hebt, geef ze vooral door aan koffietje op facebook! Daar hebben we allemaal wat aan!

PS: Ben je een koffiebrander maar heb je nog geen webshop zodat klanten bij je kunnen bestellen? Neem dan ff contact op! Zelfs met een gratis Google Forms bestelformulier kom je een heel eind en dat is zo gemaakt! Shopify kan ook maar vergt meer tijd, heb je later ook wel weer wat aan.

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coffee news roasting

Comparing different coffee bean suppliers in the Caribbean

Besides setting up a new espresso machine, I cannot think of anything more exciting for a barista than to sample and taste different coffee beans. Especially if they’re also from different suppliers.

So far I’ve been able to try a single origin Ethiopian Sidamo and Rwandan bean from Malongo, a French roaster in France with a local dealer. I personally like the fresh citrus flavors of Ethiopian coffee but the Rwandan bean made an excellent espresso and customers liked it better, or so it seemed. The acidity of the Ethiopia beans is too far from home for people who are used to dark French and Italian roasts from more or less generic commercial blends rather than specialty coffee beans.

I also sampled blends from Carib Bean Coffee in Antigua. Though I was disappointed to only receive blends from them, they were well balanced and accessible for everyone. Not just coffee fetishists such as myself! I believe their coffee could replace our standard Starbucks beans for milk based coffees easily and make an excellent coffee. I was most pleased with their Hurricane Brew, a medium dark blend, and the Primo Espresso, a very dark roast. That is surprising because I usually shy away from dark roasts for espresso. The beans were roasted fresh and shipping was swift, so their taste was outstanding!

Lately I have had the pleasure of trying a few samples from Batdorf & Bronson, who’s roasting coffee in Olympia, WA. They roast n demand, after your order and ship quickly. So your order is as fresh as it can be, all things considered. Our shipping office sadly did not pack them on a temperature controlled container so I’m guessing it was a bit below their optimal flavors. However, upon opening the 12 oz “Dancing Goat” sample, we where amazed at the wonderful nutty and caramel odors and a beautiful warm saturated coffee wave came over us. After setting the Baratza grinder to the correct setting and weight, I was deeply moved to finally taste an outstanding coffee again on this island! Wow! The richness of the blend, the balance of the sugars, acidity and bitters was awesome. Full body, rich after taste. Hints of nuts, chocolate and other flavors that I simply could not identity quickly enough. Wonderful!

Besides the beans, however, there are others factors to consider. Cost, of course, but also reliability, logistics, reputation and their green bean sorcerer.

  1. Malongo is the closest but has the worst logistics process. Nothing is roasted to order, roast dates aren’t listed and all those things considered it is rather expensive coffee.
  2. Carib Bean Coffee is not on the island but on regular shipping routes, both by air and seas. So delivery could be regular. The blends are better than Malongo and prices relatively better. It’s a regional respected company with a name to loose so they could make a good partner for introducing third wave coffee in St Maarten and the Caribbean!
  3. Batdorf has the best coffee, it’s roasted to order and shipping is speedy. It’s hard and expensive to get a few pounds here in a cooled container, so we’d probably have to order up and minimize transport costs. However, that negates the freshness of the bean because they’ll be waiting in our fridges,.not someone else’s. They are specialty coffee roaster and have made quite a name, so also a great company to partner with if the logistics can be optimized.

All in all very complex but exciting!

Once I have tasted all the samples, I plan on ordering two coffees from each candidate and organize a coffee tasting for the management team of the Market Garden supermarket and a few others. This way, they get to participate in what I’m doing and learn more about coffee, brewing, roasts, flavors and third wave coffee!

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coffee news roasting

Sourcing coffee beans, next stage

Cropped shot of a man's hands holding freshly roastd aromatic coffee beans over a modern machine used for roasting beans

The story continues…

After choosing two US coffee roasters from the short list of four for Double Dutch Café, we have entered the next stage.

  • Amavida.com (Florida)
  • Batdorfcoffee.com (Washington)
  • Carib Bean Coffee (Antigua)

We’re ordering samples from both suppliers, determine how the ordering process works and how we must handle the logistics of getting the fresh roasted beans from the warehouse in Miami to Sint Maarten. I trust they will deliver them appropriately to Miami but the warehouse must store them in a temperature controlled environment and ship them in the same way.

It will be learning experience for everyone on our side, because coffee is usually not treated with this much care.

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coffee roasting

Sourcing Great Coffee Beans for Sint Maarten

Cropped shot of a man's hands holding freshly roastd aromatic coffee beans over a modern machine used for roasting beans

Getting good coffee on this island is a challenge. That’s funny because we live right in the middle of the some of the world’s best coffee countries. So you’d expect a larger selection. Sadly, the opposite is true.

While every coffee selling business here seems to focus on making coffee from cups (Nespresso, Lavazza, Illy) and the local population mostly used to and stuck with cheap, large scale, commercially produced filter coffee such as Santa Domingo ground coffee, very few places have whole coffee beans to begin with.

When I started to make an inventory of the equipment needed to create a Specialty Coffee shop on St Maarten, I immediately noticed the lack of good grinders & espresso machines, long delivery times, uncertain product availability and total lack of good single-origin coffee beans. Malongo, a large French roaster with a presence on the French side of this island (Saint Martin) was the exception. Sadly, their stock was low, the beans old (almost a year after packaging date, no roast date mentioned anywhere!) and the selection limited to four countries: Brasil, Colombia, Rwanda, Ethiopia. And they had just survived hurricane Irma as well but I have no idea how good or bad their stock survived that storm.

So I am doing what everybody here does: if you can’t get it here and people won’t get it for you, you find and buy it yourself in the US, send it to Miami, FL, and have it shipped here by one of the several shipping companies that visit the island at least twice week. Here’s the list of roasters that I’ve contacted and who’ve replied to me they’d be interested in selling us beans at wholesale:

I’m very excited to make a choice from these wonderful companies, their coffee descriptions online give me a lot of confidence that they are indeed “Third Wave Roasters” and take quality seriously. I still have an order coming in from Malongo that will last a while, but their orders take 2 months to fulfill and that’s simply too long. I contacted Smit & Dorlas in Curaçao but they don’t have single origin coffees, only blends – but can ship these in 2 weeks -, and blends are not what I want to serve in the Double Dutch Cafe for black coffees, if at all possible.

I will blog about the progress that I’m making in getting serious coffee to St Maarten and having people take coffee more seriously on this island. 🙂