Espressofabriek, Amsterdam

Coffee is the unexpected.

Amsterdam isn’t all about canals and “coffee shops” where tourists congregate for their cannabis kicks. About a 15-minute bus ride from the Amsterdam Central bus station is an almost bucolic urban park. Westerpark used to house one of the Dutch capital’s gas extraction facilities but today has a new life as a cultural centre with markets, festivals and young businesses thriving.

One of these new enterprises is Espressofabriek, founded in 2005 by Rick Woertman with a mission of bringing specialty coffee to Amsterdammers. It’s housed in a two-storey red-bricked building, the top floor a roastery and the café on the ground floor. Outside wooden picnic benches offer an al fresco experience when the weather is fine. The best furnishing they have is intangible, of course: the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

We order a cappuccino and a filter coffee. Our cappuccino looks ordinary, perhaps due to its under-frothed milk, but the coffee beneath has an intense flavour that deeply impresses. Never judge a coffee by its foam, yes?

The filter is an Ethiopian Konga; notes of wild fruits and sublime acidity here. So tasty. On an earlier visit, the iced coffee was refreshing and subtly aromatic. Outside yogis and yoginis practice on the open green until the rain comes. We watch as they scatter and run, picking up their mats, limbs flinging out of pose.

They should come have some coffee at Espressofabriek. There’s nothing more calming.

Espressofabriek是一家坐落於公園裡頭的咖啡館。
雖然不在阿姆斯特丹市中心，但從中央車站前搭一趟巴士，
再走幾步路也不過十五分鐘左右的時間。
咖啡館共兩層樓高，二樓作為烘焙室，
一樓吧檯前有張大公用桌，窗戶設置了一些高腳椅，
在加上戶外幾張木桌和墻上一些黑白照，
沒有多餘的裝潢和佈置，有的只是滿室的咖啡香。
我點了一杯手沖的Ethiopia Konga；
充滿野性的果香，恰到好處的酸度，是當天的第一杯咖啡，
也讓我對接下來的咖啡館行程充滿期待。
我在那呆了大半個早晨，臨走前忽然想來杯冷飲，
便去向咖啡師詢問并請她介紹。

在鏡頭前嚴肅的咖啡師其實非常友善，
知道我的喜好后，用同樣的豆子做了一杯冰咖啡給我，
並且還向我推薦了其他幾家不錯的咖啡館。
比起之前的熱咖啡，
冰咖啡少了一股野性，多了一份清新的口感，香味依然，
是我喜歡的一杯冰咖啡。
不過別喝太久，當所有的冰塊溶化后會有點淡。
馬少來探班時，我也帶他到這來坐坐。
當天的咖啡師是另外兩位，
手沖的Konga依然好喝，
不過馬少點的卡布的奶泡卻不夠綿密，
但底下那獨特咖啡香味卻讓他留下了非常深刻的印象。