Amsterdam’s best (actual) coffeeshops
It may be notorious for another kind of coffeeshop, but Amsterdam locals love their caffeine. The Dutch drink an average 3.2 cups of joe a day, the third highest consumption in the world and nearly double that of the Brits.
Once, this was mostly glugged at home, but lately there’s been a wave of artisan coffee ventures – including Good To Go, a bike-through coffee kiosk in the Oud-West.
5 of Amsterdam's best artisan coffee shops
Two For Joy Coffee Roasters
Haarlemmerdijk 182, 1013 JK, AmsterdamWith its Chesterfield sofas, exposed brickwork and posies in milk bottles, this place has a laidback, living-room vibe that distinguishes it from some more po-faced rivals.
The beans are house-roasted, the coffee hits the mark and the cakes are really quite delicious.
Monks Coffee Roasters
Bilderdijkstraat 46, 1052 NB, AmsterdamTouted as a slice of Melbourne in Amsterdam’s fast-regenerating Oud-West district, Monks is a hive of caffeinated activity for MacBook-toting freelancers.
Sweet treats come courtesy of Jenn Knight, whose Tablespoon Baking Company does a mean peanut butter cookie.
The Coffee Virus
Overhoeksplein 2, 1031 KS, AmsterdamIs it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it’s the world’s first coffee drone. The team behind this friendly, sweetly ramshackle café inside the A-LAB start-up building made headlines with their ‘coffee-copter’ back in 2014.
Happily, their conventional lattes are just as good as the flying ones.
Bocca
Kerkstraat 96hs, 1017 GP, AmsterdamWhat’s your preferred level of TDS? (That’s total dissolved solids, obviously.) Coffee nerds adore this flagship tasting room, staffed by obsessive baristas.
Bocca is a hobby that’s spiralled out of control for brothers Menno and Tewis Simons, who went from roasting in their garage to supplying beans to businesses across town.
CT Coffee & Coconuts
Ceintuurbaan 282–284, 1072 LR, AmsterdamThe final curtain may have fallen on this building’s former life as a playhouse, but lashings of drama survive in its cavernous art deco structure.
As the name suggests, the stars of the show nowadays are a bespoke house espresso, roasted by the coffee wizards behind Bocca (see above), and entire fresh coconuts served with a splash of lime.