When did specialty coffee take off in Amsterdam?

Bocca was founded in 2001 by brothers Menno and Tewis Simons, after Menno began roasting in a Jordaan garage. Coffee Company's lead barista trainer dated the wider change to 2010, when the American roaster Stumptown ran a pop-up shop in Amsterdam, and said quite a few new roasters and coffee bars opened in 2012. Coffee Company itself opened in 1996.

Where are the specialty coffee roasters' cafés in Amsterdam?

Oud-West has the largest group, with Monks Coffee Roasters on Bilderdijkstraat, LOT61 on Kinkerstraat and Dak's showroom bar on Bellamyplein. Bocca's espresso bar is at Kerkstraat 96 in the canal ring, EspressoFabriek at Pazzanistraat 39 in Westerpark and Stooker on Kastanjeplein in Oost. FUKU on Bos en Lommerweg serves Friedhats coffee, and White Label Coffee has cafés in De Baarsjes and Noord.

Specialty Coffee in Amsterdam: Oud-West Roasters and Bocca

Q: Which Amsterdam specialty coffee bars open earliest?

Monks Coffee Roasters on Bilderdijkstraat opens at 08:00 every day, and Dak on Bellamyplein, CoffeeRoastery DaCosta on De Clercqstraat and EspressoFabriek on Pazzanistraat at 08:00 on weekdays. Bakers and Roasters on Kadijksplein starts at 08:30 every day. For a later cup, Elevate Coffee Lab in De Pijp opens on Saturday evenings from 19:00 to 23:00, and Bocca on the Kerkstraat stays open until 19:00 on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Netherlands drinks about 8 kg of coffee per inhabitant a year, according to International Coffee Organization figures for 2025; only Sweden (8.2 kg), Norway (9.9 kg) and Finland (12 kg) drink more.¹ Most of it is supermarket coffee. Douwe Egberts began in 1753 as a shop for colonial goods in Joure, Friesland, and its parent company, JDE Peet's, now has its head office at Oosterdoksstraat 80 in Amsterdam.²

Speciaalkoffie (specialty coffee) took hold as the Dutch started to drink less and pay more. NOS reported in 2020 that consumption had fallen about 8% in liters since 2005 while spending rose 20%, and that milk drinks, mainly cappuccino, made up almost 30% of the coffee drunk outside the home.³ In Amsterdam the result is a network of small roasters pouring at their own bars, with the largest group in Oud-West.

Local tip: On weekdays Monks on Bilderdijkstraat, Dak on Bellamyplein and EspressoFabriek on Pazzanistraat all open at 08:00; at weekends only Monks and gratitude espresso on Maasstraat keep that start.

Where these cafés are: Oud-West (5), De Pijp (3), Oost (3), Grachtengordel (2), Westerpark & Spaarndammerbuurt (2), Plantage & Oostelijke Eilanden (1), Slotermeer & Sloterdijk (1), Rivierenbuurt (1), Haarlemmerbuurt & Westelijke Eilanden (1), Oud-Zuid (1), Jordaan (1), Dam & Spui (1).

At a glance

22Cafés listed

13With opening hours

08:00Earliest opening

23:00Latest closing

Opens earliest: Back to Black, from 08:00 (Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00 · Sat–Sun 09:00–18:00).

Closes latest: Elevate Coffee Lab, until 23:00 (Tue–Fri 08:00–17:00 · Sat 08:30–17:00, 19:00–23:00 · Sun 08:30–17:00).

Most common features: outdoor seating (36%), wi-fi (27%), indoor seating (23%).

From Coffee Company to a Stumptown pop-up

Coffee Company opened in 1996 and had 33 branches in the Netherlands by 2013, when Sprudge compared its place in Amsterdam to that of Peet's in the United States.⁴ Its lead barista trainer, Stijn Braas, dated the change to 2010, when the American roaster Stumptown ran a pop-up shop in the city and, as he put it, kickstarted the wave. In 2012, he said, quite a few new roasters and coffee bars opened.⁴

By his own account the city was a late starter: in 2013 Braas said the first new-style coffee bars in Amsterdam had opened only a couple of years before.⁴

Bocca, from a Jordaan garage

One roaster was already at work. Menno Simons began roasting in a garage in the Jordaan around 2000, after frequent work trips to Ethiopia had him testing Ethiopian beans, and in 2001 he founded Bocca Coffee Roasters with his brother Tewis.⁵ A few years later he set up Trabocca, a green-coffee trader focused mainly on Ethiopia, which supplies Bocca. In 2014 Bocca won the European Coffee Award for best artisan roaster.⁵

Bocca's espresso bar at Kerkstraat 96 has outdoor seating and Wi-Fi, and on Fridays and Saturdays it stays open until 19:00, later than most specialty bars in the city.

Roasters' bars in Oud-West and beyond

Oud-West has more specialty bars than any other district. Monks Coffee Roasters on Bilderdijkstraat has Wi-Fi and tables outside, Dak runs its showroom bar on Bellamyplein, and LOT61 on Kinkerstraat is café, shop and roastery in one, selling fresh beans to take home.⁶

Further out, EspressoFabriek still pours at Pazzanistraat 39 in Westerpark, from 08:00 on weekdays and 09:00 at weekends, and Stooker has its bar at Kastanjeplein 2 in Oost. In Bos en Lommer, FUKU at Bos en Lommerweg 136 serves Friedhats coffee, bought directly from farmers or from European distributors, alongside kimchi sandwiches and lemon cake.⁶ White Label Coffee, a roastery known for its flat whites, has cafés on Jan Evertsenstraat in De Baarsjes and on Zonneplein in Noord.⁶

Morning starts and evening cups

The specialty day starts at 08:00. Monks Coffee Roasters on Bilderdijkstraat opens then every day, Dak's Bellamyplein bar and CoffeeRoastery DaCosta on De Clercqstraat on weekdays. Bakers and Roasters on Kadijksplein starts at 08:30 every day.

Late cups are scarce. Elevate Coffee Lab on Van der Helstplein in De Pijp reopens on Saturdays from 19:00 to 23:00, while gratitude espresso on Maasstraat in the Rivierenbuurt keeps to 08:00–15:00 from Tuesday to Sunday and stays shut on Mondays.

Specialty coffee cafés in Amsterdam

At a glance

Back to Black

Back to Black

Bakers and Roasters

Bocca Coffee Roasters

Coffee Roastery

CoffeeRoastery DaCosta

Dak Showroom by Dak Coffee Roasters

Darras Coffee Roasters

Elevate Coffee Lab

Espressofabriek

gratitude espresso

Lova

Monks Coffee Roasters

Badeta Coffee Roasters Van Wou/ Albert Cuyp Market

Clapham Speciality Coffee

Haku Specialty Coffee

Lot Sixty One Coffee Roasters

LOT61 Coffee Roasters

Palma Coffee Roaster

Rovers Coffee Roasters

Rum Baba Coffeeroasters

Stooker Roasting Company

From Coffee Company to a Stumptown pop-up

Bocca, from a Jordaan garage

Roasters' bars in Oud-West and beyond

Morning starts and evening cups

Sources

Other ways to browse Amsterdam

Terraces

Wi-Fi

Vegan & vegetarian

Brunch

Specialty coffee in Amsterdam: questions

When did specialty coffee take off in Amsterdam?

Where are the specialty coffee roasters' cafés in Amsterdam?

Which Amsterdam specialty coffee bars open earliest?

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