Archives for posts with tag: netherlands

Right next to the city’s train station is this modern and cleanly decorated store, which even is child-friendly and thus is full of hip parents with their screaming children. Good for them, but I prefer my coffee without children.

The coffee itself is okay, but their large cappuccino seems to be a cappuccino with the same single shot as their single, with simply some milk added to that. It’s a very flat cappuccino, lacking any spice. Perhaps I should try a regular, small cappuccino some day on a week-day, when the children are on school.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been nearly six months since my last visit and review of this place. Back then I was very positive, but this time things are different. The cappuccino lacks spice and the foam contains several large bubbles. The coffee even has a bad aftertaste, as if the machine has not been properly cleaned. Another bad thing is the fact they’ve cancelled their offering of wifi as of March 2010, while at the same time prices have risen compared to six months ago. Canceling wifi is an understandable choice if your store’s being used as an office away from the office, but it also deprives me of the possibility to work on assignments while drinking my coffee. Computers have been banned from the store but for one table. Choosing either to ban computers from all but one table, or canceling wifi would’ve been enough. The store’s supposedly a great enough success to be able to get away with less service for higher prices.

Note: although wifi still isn’t available, I didn’t have any further bad experiences with the coffee tasting off.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is a different kind of store. Not your average hip coffee house, nor your average lunchroom. Not hip, trendy, modern or daring but ordinary. Just ordinarily at your mother’s or ordinarily gezellig. The waitress looks as if she came straight from the 80s and the guests are playing board games as Scrabble and Ludo.

The cappuccino’ nice, but the milk’s been frothed too quickly resulting in large bubbles and is still slightly too cold. The Smit en Deloras bean used is okay, but lacks some spice. I’m usually not a fan of their beans, but an ordinary Smit-cappuccino is betters dan mother’s own Douwe Egberts cup. Tastoe is just ordinary, but with a special touch.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the opening of Doppio Espresso and Coffee United in late 2009, the number of good coffee houses just about doubled in Alkmaar. The interior design of this place is stunning, departing from the traditional ‘chairs around tables’ and instead focusing on benches with a few tables along it, as well as seats facing outwards on the first floor, allowing you to view the world pass by on the street below you, as you drink your coffee.

The cappuccino contains either too much milk, or the bean used just is more suitable for espressos than for cappuccinos. Besides it’s served in the well-known double-walled Bodum glasses, which I personally don’t like due to the thickness of the edge. Other than that, the foam is of good quality, so people like me should just stick with an espresso machiatto in order to still taste the coffee, and all will be fine at this place.

Read the rest of this entry »

Already being familiar with this chain from their branches in Amersfoort and Groningen, I was eager to try this newly opened one. The store looks nice and tidy, although as a minor detail, the free-standing, cheap and plastic trash bin in an newly designed store, in which otherwise everything seems to have been thought of, is a bit of a shame. But then again: who cares?

The cappuccino already looks nice as it’s being served, but is somewhat bitter upon tasting. I personally don’t usually mind bitterness, as I like my coffee somewhat bitter. However, even for me it could’ve been less bitter. Not knowing this bitterness from their other branches, I can only suppose the water was too hot, and the coffee burnt. It’s still one of the best coffees in town, though.

Read the rest of this entry »

Screaming Beans is yet another coffee house which is, rightly so, jumping onto the slow coffee trend. Chemex, Smart drip, French press or just poured on, the choice is yours at this bar right in the Nine Streets district of Amsterdam. I sticked with espresso and cappuccino, however, the latter of which was nearly perfect. The espresso, on the other hand, was a tiny bit sour, although some deliciously softening oils were present as they should be in an espresso.

The layout of the store was far from convenient, though. With only 16 seats, eight of those were set up as two sets of four, where, although these four were sets of two seats facing each other, with a separate table per two seats, the tables were too close to each other, judging from other visitor’s behavior. People were wary of sitting down at the table next to me, leaving me to essentially take four seats by myself, although I only were using one. But who knows, if you’re not afraid of other people, it helps get in contact with strangers! One personal annoyance: two mums with their screaming and crying kids were also enjoying a coffee…

Read the rest of this entry »

I was already aware the people of this little shop in Utrecht’s city centre were not only making coffee, they are loving coffee. After having had their cappuccino for a couple of times, I tried their espresso machiatto and have now declared this my favorite place to get coffee in the town of Utrecht. Great espresso, and exactly enough milk to my taste. The barista even asked if I’d like more milk to that, but no, his first attempt was spot-on. After a lot of mediocre machiattos at various other places, I am now finally aware of the fact an espresso machiatto is better than a cappuccino, if prepared properly.

After the initial visit over a year ago, staff has changed. Where the barista’s were at first taking utmost care to create the best possible espresso beverage, recent additions to the staff do seem to take less care, resulting in still good, but not as perfect drinks as before: say 3-4 cup-rating. However, I still go down here every now and then and especially love their specialities coffees they occasionally serve per drink, such as genuine Kopi Luwak and Jamaica Blue Mountain. Actions like these are usually advertised via their Twitter channel.

Read the rest of this entry »

Following good experiences at their branch on Utrechtsestraat, I decided for a visit to the outlet near Vondelpark. The interior design isn’t as cozy as on Utrechtsestraat, but the most important thing, their cappuccino, is (nearly) as good. Whereas the same Buscaglione bean is used, the foamed milk is somewhat too solid, thereby not allowing proper mixing of espresso and milk. Perhaps the barista just didn’t have his day. But, the cup seems to be rather small though, smaller than most cappuccino cups.

Read the rest of this entry »

Not too long ago, I saw some people carrying a brand-new espresso machine into this building. Ten weeks after the opening, the place gets quite crowded around lunchtime. It seems to me, though, they don’t have the coffee to thank their success for, but, rather, their deliciously looking sandwiches, which are freshly made upon ordering. My cappuccino has an aftertaste which is off, in a not-so-good way. With the foamed milk full of bubbles and cacao sprinkled over the milk, there certainly is enough room for the baristas to improve their games. The Puro coffee, which I hadn’t seen before, could use some spicing up, too. If these guys improve their barista skills, however, Homemade can become quite a nice place to have a coffee, with the interior reflecting their back-to-nature choice of food and beverages, a welcome change from the ‘away-from-nature’ mostly seen in the city.

Read the rest of this entry »