A Quick Look at 5 of Amsterdam’s Coolest New Cafés

Fresh off of the heels of the Amsterdam Coffee Fest, we explore some new faces in the city’s café scene.

BY TANYA NANETTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Featured photo by Javier Melpri

A couple of years ago, we highlighted four of Amsterdam’s coolest roasters, and now we’re back to spend a few days searching for visit-worthy coffee shops in this beautiful locale—with surprising results.

Bakeries, holes in the wall, and even some stellar Mexican food … Amsterdam has it all, and it’s ready to be explored while always keeping one simple rule in mind: If you want a cup of coffee, don’t look for a “coffee shop.” (Here, that’s what they call a cannabis café!)

Join us on our tour through the city’s newest spots, and should you ever find yourself roaming the streets of what some call the “Venice of the North,” be sure to check out these five cool spots.

Belly Pepper

The more I travel, the more I develop mixed feelings about brunch. Sure, I love the feeling of visiting a nice café late in the morning, grabbing something tasty to eat, and washing it down with a delicious coffee—but after many years of sifting through menus with the usual suspects of pancakes, avocado toast, French toast, and all of the other breakfast classics, I sometimes get a bit bored.

That’s why I was so happy the first time I visited Belly Pepper, a cozy coffee shop that serves Turkish-inspired delicacies in addition to perfectly brewed coffee. If you can only visit once, don’t miss the classic spinach and cheese borek with poached egg, or the mouthwatering Çilbir (Turkish poached eggs). You won’t regret it.

Morning Owl Coffee

Zeedijk, the heart of Amsterdam’s Chinatown and one of the most chaotic streets in all the city, is home to many tourist-oriented stores and restaurants. That’s why I was so surprised when I stumbled upon Morning Owl Coffee: a small, more authentic feeling café.

The shop sells perfectly executed coffee and a curated selection of Dutch beans to take home, all just steps away from the beautiful and bustling He Hua Temple. Behind the counter is owner/bartender Casey Kooyman, who told me his story while making a tasty pourover.

“I’m a longtime California barista and started my journey in coffee at Starbucks in New York City over 22 years ago,” Casey says. “I moved to Amsterdam in 2017 and have been working as a freelance barista in several locations, (in addition to) having a small mobile café on the Dappermarkt. Morning Owl Coffee is my first physical location, and my goal was to highlight the Amsterdam coffee scene by showcasing some of my favorite roasters in Amsterdam and other cities in the Netherlands.” Definitely an Amsterdam must-try!

Fort Negen

Always on the lookout for the best artisanal bakeries in every city, I undertook the long walk from the center of Amsterdam to Fort Negen, at the suggestion of a friend who, like me, has a notorious sweet tooth.

Luckily for my partner and I, we were not deterred either by the location of the bakery—quite far off the beaten path—or by the long queue we found waiting for us outside the door. A quick bite of the delicious pain au chocolat was all we needed to be sure we had made the right choice.

Once we finished our first round, we diligently went back in line to order more: a miso chocolate cookie, a croissant, a loaf of sourdough bread, and a flat white made with beans roasted by the local Rum Baba Coffee. All delicious and absolutely noteworthy.

Elevate Coffee Lab

Among the many cafés in the super-touristy district of De Pijp, Elevate Coffee Lab, which opened just a few months ago, deserves a special mention.

Everything here is dedicated to offering a high-quality coffee experience: The list of available beans is short and exclusive, the space minimal to avoid distractions, and owner/barista Ahmad Alshikh is friendly and welcoming yet extremely knowledgeable. Over a cup of delicious coffee roasted by Keen Coffee, Ahmad recounts why they decided to open Elevate Coffee Lab.

“We wanted to take the Amsterdam coffee scene to the next level,” he shared with Barista Magazine Online. “We do this by serving high-quality, competition coffee and signature cocktails—but also by making these coffees more accessible to the general public.” And after a second round of coffee, I could only agree.

Café Tepoz

Now one of my favorite cafés in the city, Café Tepoz made me fall in love with it at first sight. My partner and I walked into the small café on a cold winter morning, looking for something to warm the body and spirit—and within minutes, we were catapulted right into the heart of Mexico.

Delicious machaca breakfast tacos that were perfectly spicy and juicy, refreshing aguas frescas, and a wonderful Mexican horchata, all topped off by the lovely owner, host, chef, and barista, Yefte Fernandez, made this visit flavorful and memorable.

Yefte puts it simply, describing Café Tepoz as “a different brunch, with strong beers and Mexican flavors. Food with sazon. Coffee with corazon. A taste of Mexico every time.” Definitely a place I will never tire of stopping by while on a trip to Amsterdam.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tanya Nanetti (she/her) is a specialty-coffee barista, a traveler, and a dreamer. When she’s not behind the coffee machine (or visiting some hidden corner of the world), she’s busy writing for Coffee Insurrection, a website about specialty coffee that she’s creating along with her boyfriend.

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