Borgman & Borgman, Leiden

Coffee is all about family.

Borgman & Borgman is a great café located in downtown Leiden in the Netherlands. Leiden may not be as well-known as other Dutch cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam but it’s no less beautiful. A university town, Leiden has a gentle, bucolic landscape with pleasant-looking buildings. Folks here love literature; everyone seems to be reading a book or two.

And what better place to enjoy a read than in a cosy café? Borgman & Borgman is a father-and-son run coffee bar and roastery. Rien and Tom Borgman (the senior and junior Borgmans, respectively) roast their own coffee beans, an unusual luxury in a small town. Coffees offered go beyond the expected espresso; they have filter brews here too, either Aeropress or Chemex, and even cold brews. Awesome!

Borgman & Borgman has a casual, relaxing atmosphere – nothing fancy in terms of the décor but simply basic shapes and colours. Minimalist and clean but lived in too. This is a real space for real people. My fellow coffee drinkers nurse their cups and enjoy their breakfast – a sandwich or toastie or something sweet like their caramel-ginger crunchie.

I look around and ponder my surroundings: the café, the baristas, the people around me. It’s like a scene from a movie, a strange yet very familiar one. Every café should feel like this, like home, sort of.

Borgman & Borgman是一家位於萊登（Leiden）市中心的咖啡館。
說起萊登，或許它的名氣不如阿姆斯特丹或鹿特丹等城市來得大，
但它卻是荷蘭的大學城；這裡除了是文人薈萃地外，城市的風景面貌也很怡人。
結合了這些因素，所以雖然Borgman & Borgman的空間不大，
也沒有華麗的裝潢和佈置，但卻是一家非常有感覺的咖啡館。
連帶這的咖啡師也給我一種溫文爾雅的氣息。
我先點了一份三明治和手沖黑咖啡。
新鮮的食材讓簡單的早餐變得可口誘人，配上淺焙的黑咖啡，
也許不豐盛，但絕對是愉悅的一餐。

週末的人潮很多，店裡忙碌極了，
但咖啡師卻依然一副好心情，送食物和咖啡來時，還抽空和我聊了幾句，
并向我推薦荷蘭其他城市的咖啡館。
吃完早餐，在享用咖啡的當兒，
我偷偷透過相機觀察了咖啡師和其他客人，
其中有幾幕，給我好像身在某部電影的感覺；
一種莫名卻美好的情懷。
帶著這樣的心情，我追點了一杯卡布。
沒有美麗的拉花，卻香醇順口；
就如這家咖啡館給我的感覺一樣。