Amsterdam, coffee and the Amsterdam Coffee Festival

With the strong links Velasquez and Van Wezel have with the Netherlands a blog on Amsterdam was long overdue. We gave it a little twist and rather than Martin writing one himself on his hometown, our blog is written by Will, our head barista, who headed to Amsterdam for the Amsterdam Coffee Festival.

It had been around five and a half years since I'd been abroad, and over a decade since I'd had the pleasure of visiting Amsterdam. So when Martin and Oscar suggested I head over to Amsterdam Coffee Festival to see what the scene is like, it made absolute sense. We regularly host coffees roasted in the Netherlands, so it makes sense to take the chance to see what's happening within the local industry, while visiting some coffee shops to experience the scene itself.

Upon getting off the Eurostar on Wednesday evening, the urge for a coffee was dire, the only issue being it was later in the afternoon. Checking my map, I noticed that Lot 61 was a swift tram ride away and still open for a quick pick me up.

Straight away, ordered the house espresso option; Bombora, a blend of Guatemalan and Brazilian coffees. Arriving with a thick, dense crema, after a good stir it was tasting like dark chocolate coated cherries. Deciding this wasn't enough, I rushed up and grabbed a swift batch brew, which was an Ethiopian coffee; floral notes up front, subtle lemony on the after taste, super clean. What I noticed, which I saw throughout my trip, was that you're note served a massive mug of filter when you get a batch brew. It was maybe 6oz (150ml ish), which I can truly get behind.

Feeling energised, I took a quick detour through Foodhallen to get a snack before heading to the hotel. This took the form of a caramelised pork belly banh mi from Viêt View. Tasty little number, definitely hit the spot it needed to. The whole Foodhallen vibe felt more like a spot to socialise with drinks and well made small bits rather than somewhere to find a proper meal, which with the selection of food stands and the heavily stocked bar, made it more than up for the task.

Once I'd finally made it to the hotel to check in, freshen up, and start planning my main day at ACF, I took myself out for dinner at Tropico Latin Flavours, a Colombian restaurant nearby that Martin had suggested to me. Walking in, the entire aesthetic told me that whatever was in store was going to be incredible.

Grabbed a Club Colombia lager to whet my appetite, then got stuck into the Bandeja Paisa. Pork belly, sausage, rice, fried egg, plantain, beef mince, some kind of bean stew - I didn't even take the time writing down what was in it because it looked right up my street and it tasted incredible. Feels like whoever made it, made it for me specifically. No other way to describe it. When I'm next in Amsterdam I'm going back for sure.

After a deep sleep, helped greatly by the last night's meal, Thursday had arrived, meaning it was time to get myself ready for a busy day of coffee, coffee, and coffee
Down the street from my hotel was White Label. A gorgeous space with a fascinating layout, the baristas are super friendly, made me feel like a local even though I didn't know where to tap on the card reader.

Ordered their natural Indonesia on espresso; tasted of wine gums, raspberry, with a heavy mouthfeel.

A bit of astringency but in a way that reminded me of tea rather than a bitter espresso, so it balanced pleasantly. Off to a great start!

Realising that my day was going to involve a lot of caffeine, I took a short detour through to Ulmus Bakery. A nice little spot that I'd had no less than 4 people recommend to me, and I was walking past it anyway; would be rude not to.

To put it bluntly, they served me the best kouign amann I've ever had. Ever. Perfect pastry, super buttery rich and lightly caramelised sweetness, balanced out with big chunks of flaky salt. Flawless execution of a pastry near and dear to me.

Primed and ready for more coffee, I took a lovely long walk through an incredibly rainy Amsterdam over to Five Ways. I'd seen a few coffees in my research using their coffee, and it seemed only right to go to their cafe as the spot to try it.

Walking in, you're welcomed with a big open room, seats lining the windows with a cute upstairs spot to sit out of the way of the daily hustle and bustle. The bar is incredibly well equipped, and the team on bar were chilled, friendly and efficient, taking their time to execute orders to a high standard.

After running through their 3 espresso options, I opted for the Ethiopian offering. Super juicy, medium body, strong note of peach juice, a bright acidity and a welcome sweetness to round it out.

Riding high on espresso I decided I needed something a bit easier going, and Rum Baba delivered. They have 3 espresso options (all on Bentwood grinders - coffee folk will appreciate why I was stoked by this) and a solo barista running the bar, expertly multitasking. The vibe of the room was interesting; the bar itself had been set up against one wall, so barista and guests all essentially share the same space. It was nice, albeit something I'd not experienced before despite seeing elsewhere. Serving a delicious coffee from Colombian producer Nester Lasso, the batch brew was once again a much more manageable serving of filter and served in a charming mug that I was very close to asking if I could buy from them.

Last stop before actually getting to ACF was Uncommon, a frequent feature on the Velasquez and Van Wezel shelves. By this point the rain was torrential, which made getting a table rather difficult as this well designed space was table service for dine ins. The lovely person taking care of the tables kindly didn't want me to have my coffee on their outside tables out of concern for me getting soaked, but after reassuring them I'd be fine and I was watching out for my tram, they let me settle in. Another coffee from Nester Lasso, this was an Ombligon prepared on espresso. The quick notes I took for this spot should highlight my enjoyment;

"So complex - chocolate, rum, spices, tobacco (!!), ferment and fungal (kind of mushroomy), dark sweetness, boozy like dark rum, earthy". So, needless to say, it was very nice, and I didn't even get soaked while enjoying it, but I did very much appreciate them trying to take care of me while I was with them.

Following this I finally reached the Amsterdam Coffee Festival. To anyone who hasn't attended a coffee festival in any location before, it can be boiled down pretty simply;

Lots of companies that have business in the industry in one way or another - roasters, cafes, dairies, alt-milk brands, syrup companies, bakers, water filtration manufacturers - all have stands showcasing their wares in some manner or another. Might be so they can make their way into cafes, might be to work with roasters, could be just to advertise the brand. In any case, it's a lot of brands all packed into small spaces, meaning there's lots of people to see and lots of things to sample or purchase.

I was fortunate in that I bumped into the always wonderful Ella and the crew from Schot Coffee who were exploring the festival, and later bumped into the delightful Sam from Square Mile who I spent the rest of my day with, so I was blessed by having friends to navigate this massive coffee playground with. If you do decide to go to a coffee festival, going with mates is definitely the best move to make.

During this first day, I had booked myself to attend a coffee and natural wine tasting with A Matter Of Concrete and Far Out Drinks. It wasn't a pairing, more a comparison on how each industry has been evolving, almost overlapping and now in differing directions, and what we might see more of in future. The wine that I took the greatest liking to was a “Palhete”, specifically Nina by Casa de Mouraz (thanks to Joey of Far Out Drinks for correcting my awful spelling on this 😂), and the coffee that definitely stood out was Chiroso, produced by Wilton Benitez in Colombia. Absolutely delicious, both utterly dangerous in that I could drink vast amounts of both if they weren't portioned out for me!

Post festival, myself and Sam from Square Mile took a long walk over to restaurant nNea, a pizza place that my friend Keita of Yuki Bar had recommended to me. All I knew was that it would be very tasty, but I did not know it was rated 49th best pizza in the world in 2023, and 9th in all of Europe. I'll be brief; perfectly seasoned focaccia (I didn't even realise you needed to season focaccia like they did), perfectly flavoured pizza served with scissors rather than a pizza roller, and a spot on tiramisu for afters. Their high rating makes sense as this was an incredible experience that I must also strongly recommend if you are fortunate enough to get an opportunity.

To end the night, we made our way to Five Ways as they were hosting an after party in collaboration with Slayer espresso machines. A lot of delicious drinks on offer, and more importantly a great opportunity to meet some super delightful people, namely Ruben of Sprout Roasters, Duncan and Jules from Bay City, and Jack from Five Ways. Wonderful night for sure, but it was a long day and so time for bed.

Friday comes around, and I decided to once again have a lot of coffee before attending a festival that serves mainly coffee, so swung by White Label again for a repeat of the Indonesia espresso. It was absolutely consistent so I had to grab a bag of it to share with others back in London.

Also had to take another trip through Ulmus, this time to grab a pain au chocolat on top of a kouign amann for a snack later in the day. Again; best kouign amann I've ever had. Can't stress it enough.

But finally it was time to hit a spot I was extremely excited to visit: Friedhats FUKU Café. At the cafe, we've used Friedhats since as early as 2017, so to finally experience how they like their coffees to be expressed to their guests was a great time.

First off, the space is extremely familiar; it feels like walking into a local bar, only you're there to grab coffee instead of a stiff drink. The team working there are friendly and welcoming, and the barista who I got chatting to the most, Boris, even spoke highly of our very own Alex who owns Scenery, which was a nice treat!

Onto the coffee: I started off with Cerro Azul GXO, prepared as espresso. This was buck wild. Aroma off the charts, syrupy sweetness, smelling of cacao, cherry, a whole spectrum of sugar. Delightful acidity that wasn't overwhelming but was definitely present, flavours matched the scent plus some boozy notes. I started struggling to find more words but stopped caring because it was so good.

While I was choosing my next drink, Boris was nice enough to let me try a shot of the Pink Bourbon from Colombia, which almost acted like a palette cleanser as it was super clean and fruity.

After some chatting, I decided to go with Gesha Spirits as my second espresso. Lemongrass scent, jammy mouthfeel - legit felt like a mouthful of jam - incredibly sweet... Again, a complex and intense coffee that was so full of flavour, that in this instance I chose to enjoy rather than analyse like I usually do.

For my last cafe visit, it was to Saint Jean; a bakery that had teamed up with Wide Awake to host a small pop up event. Very pretty space, and everything looked delicious, which is clearly the general opinion as they needed a barrier outside to help control their queues. The barista on bar prepared me a single espresso of "Super Freak", which was from Papua New Guinea. Really clean, juicy, almost reminded me of Rubicon Papaya. After enjoying that, I got to meet Seb and Rutger from Wide Awake and very much gush as how it was a delight to host their coffees on the Velasquez and Van Wezel shelves. Seb prepared a brew from Colombia, from producer Sebastian Ramirez, that I thoroughly enjoyed while talking to them, and as the conclusion for my cafe visits in Amsterdam it was very much a high note.

Once again I made my way back to the festival to explore, and meet up with some people who I had befriended the night before at the after party, and make sure that I had absolutely checked everything that I could possibly want to experience.

Safe to say that this was a successful excursion exploring a small selection of what Amsterdam has to offer. I will definitely be back, and I very much look forward to whenever that may be.

Coffee bars Will visited:

Lot 61 Coffee Roasters - Kinkerstraat 112, 1053 ED Amsterdam

White Label Coffee West - Jan Evertsenstraat 136, 1056 EK Amsterdam

Five Ways Coffee Roasters - Kinkerstraat 186, 1053 EM Amsterdam

Rum Baba Coffee Roasters - Elandsgracht 134, 1016 VC Amsterdam

Uncommon Amsterdam - 1e Constantijn Huygensstraat 63H, 1054 BT Amsterdam

Friedhats FUKU Cafe - Bos en Lommerweg 136H, 1055 ED Amsterdam

Saint Jean Bakery - Lindengracht 158H, 1015 KK Amsterdam

Will also visited:

Viet View - Foodhallen, Hannie Dankbaarpassage 16, 1053 RT Amsterdam

Tropico Latin Flavors - Hoofdweg 294, 1057 DK Amsterdam

Ulmus Bakkerij - Cabralstraat 7, 1057 CD Amsterdam

nNea Pizza - Bilderdijkstraat 92, 1053 KX Amsterdam