Coffee is the outlier.
How many cafés do you know are located in a swimming pool? While not exactly floating on water, Rotterdam’s Aloha Bar is set up in an abandoned water theme park. The former Tropicana water park was one of the derelict, post-80s buildings that stayed vacant till it was converted into a specialty coffee hub.
From a water fun landmark into a caffeine landmark; all it takes is a bit of creativity and vision. The space still retains much of its former “glamour”, if one could call it that: from shiny tiles to large black parasols giving shade to white deckchairs. Hanging plants add an element of green that recalls its prior incarnation: a make-believe tropical paradise.
Inside the café, beans are freshly roasted on a Giesen roaster. Espresso-based beverages are made using a Mirage Duette Classic machine by world-renowned Kees van der Westen. Stencilled walls and mix-and-match chairs in rainbow colours add to the eclectic décor.
Ask your barista to recommend a brew and a preferred technique of brewing, such as Aeropress. Then sit back on the terrace, relax and imagine it’s an eternal summer while sipping on a cuppa that’s perfectly lovely and perfectly unusual – after all, how often can you claim to drink coffee made from beans roasted inside a former water park?
某個週末午後，我一個人走在鹿特丹的路上，
沿著地圖尋找著一家叫Aloha的咖啡館，
從遠方看到這棟建築物時，我還一度以為找錯了地方。
踏入館裡，更覺得這跟我想象中的咖啡館落差很大。
這裡頭的空間太寬闊了，而且各個部分的佈置和感覺都不同，
加上室內那塊像泳池的凹地，這真的是咖啡館嗎？
接著來到吧檯前，除了漂亮新穎的Mirage Duette Classic，
還看到了包裝得色彩繽紛的咖啡豆，手沖器材和後方那架Giesen烘豆機，
這才讓我打消了之前的猜疑。
先點了一杯手沖；清甜、微酸、花香，是我喜歡的口感，
於是再去續了一杯卡布，依然沒讓人失望，
心想還好我沒“以貌取咖啡館”，不然就與一家好咖啡館失之交臂了。
回來找資料時發現，咖啡館的原址是一家水上樂園，
停業后廢棄了好一陣子，才由一群對咖啡充滿熱誠的朋友將之改成現在咖啡館，
而裡頭依然保留了許多水上樂園的建設，難怪看起來不像一般的咖啡館。
在水上樂園喝咖啡，這是一個有趣又特別的經歷.
| Aloha Bar Maasboulevard 100, Rotterdam, Netherlands alohabar.nl |
