White Label Coffee, Amsterdam

Coffee is an identity.

White label coffee is usually a term of anonymity – coffee suppliers who supply retail-appropriate roasted beans to cafés and companies to be packaged with the logos of these clients – but White Label Coffee is certainly known for roasting their own beans.

Started by Franscesco Grassotti (formerly a barista at Amsterdam coffee landmarks Espressofabriek and Quartier Putain) and Elmer Oomkens (who was Grassotti’s colleague at Brandmeesters), White Label Coffee does have an aura of anonymity, situated as it is in the Jan Evertsenstraat neighborhood. This is not a café that screams for attention.

With high ceilings, white walls and blonde wood floors, White Label Coffee is minimalist in décor but not without character – Oriental rugs and a sketched map of the world with origins of beans they carry tagged on it ensure that.

The no-nonsense layout is accentuated by coffee equipment everywhere: a Kees van der Westen Spirit shares precious bar space with a Mahlkönig EK 43 grinder and freshly baked pastries and cakes. Deeper inside the café, old sofas coddle up next to a Giesen W6 roaster and bags of coffee beans ready for roasting.

For espresso, no blends are used; instead single origin beans such from Ethiopia, Brazil and Indonesia are preferred. Here, the espresso shots are pulled “double naked”, meaning only the double shot filter basket and a bottomless “naked” portafilter without any spouts are used.

Similarly for filter coffee, whatever is seasonal and fresh is offered. They certainly know their way around coffee. Earlier this year, one of their baristas, Floris van der Burg, won the 2015 Dutch AeroPress Championship. There’s no doubt about it: while quiet and unassuming, White Label Coffee is the home of coffee champions and champion cuppas.

選了一個週末的大清早去拜訪White Label Coffee。
天色灰灰的，天氣微涼，路上的行人也不多，
一個人走在異鄉的街道上，氣氛有點蕭瑟。
不過這落寞的感覺只維持至踏入咖啡館門口的瞬間。。。。。。
濃濃的咖啡香，老闆爽朗的笑聲，
加上溫暖明亮的裝潢，讓人心情為之一振。
由於才剛打開門做生意，顧客不多，老闆正愉快的和熟客們在聊天。
想喝手沖咖啡的我在點了一份糕點后，便請老闆推薦豆子，
最後由老闆幫我選了三支豆子，做成Tasting Menu。
趁著老闆在沖泡咖啡的當兒，
我一邊打量咖啡館的裝潢，一邊拍照。
長形的咖啡館分為三部份，前段放置了桌椅供客人享用咖啡，
中間部分是沖泡咖啡和放置糕點的地方，
至於後段則放了烘豆機和幾張沙發，是他們的工作兼烘焙室。
白色是咖啡館的基色，加上木質地板和墻上的一些畫，給人簡單隨性的感覺。
咖啡送上后，老闆把自己的那份也一起端來，和我邊喝邊聊。
聊了我從哪裡來，聊了手中的咖啡，也聊了阿姆斯特丹的咖啡館，
聊著聊著，早些時候那些傷春悲秋的情緒頓時被一掃而空。

由於才剛打開門做生意，顧客不多，老闆正愉快的和熟客們在聊天。
想喝手沖咖啡的我在點了一份糕點后，便請老闆推薦豆子，
最後由老闆幫我選了三支豆子，做成Tasting Menu。
趁著老闆在沖泡咖啡的當兒，
我一邊打量咖啡館的裝潢，一邊拍照。
長形的咖啡館分為三部份，前段放置了桌椅供客人享用咖啡，
中間部分是沖泡咖啡和放置糕點的地方，
至於後段則放了烘豆機和幾張沙發，是他們的工作兼烘焙室。
白色是咖啡館的基色，加上木質地板和墻上的一些畫，給人簡單隨性的感覺。
咖啡送上后，老闆把自己的那份也一起端來，和我邊喝邊聊。
聊了我從哪裡來，聊了手中的咖啡，也聊了阿姆斯特丹的咖啡館，
聊著聊著，早些時候那些傷春悲秋的情緒頓時被一掃而空。