When I think of Dutch coffee I recall my recent trip, a family venture with our first day in Amsterdam.
That time in the Spring, my parents very first time to Europe in fact, we booked a boat trip for the afternoon, so waking up late mixed in with being completely unfamiliar with the city layout is a terrible combination.
In any case, before heading over to our boat trip along the canals, I read great reviews about Cafe Americain so I thought it would be a good spot for a quick coffee break. Once I saw the beautiful canal on the side of the cafe, it was hard not to spend a minute to appreciate it but I rushed them along as they paused to take it in, and I said “we don’t have time! We can admire the canals later!”. We continued on entering into a Berlage style building, the building the cafe was in itself, was an architectural beauty. We entered through a grand archway, straight into a 17th century old, art Nouveau cafe, complete with decorated arches, stained glass windows, and a grand piano in the center.
It was Easter Day so with our coffee the waiter gave us Free Easter chocolate eggs, a little local tradition that was being done in several cafes accross the city. We were all served black coffee with sugar. I don’t drink black coffee at all, but with one spoon of sugar and I couldn’t believe how flavorful the coffee was! Even my dad, self-proclaimed coffee critic, with one sip was sold.
NOTE: although there is not a huge distinction from coffeeshops and cafes in America, in Amsterdam they are two different things. While coffeeshops is where you can get your usual coffee and pastry, cafes tend to be where you can legally purchase majiuana. Don’t make the mistake one interesting morning on our vacation!
The more we experienced Amsterdam, and all its city-life charms of ornamented townhouses and glimmering canals, every time we had a coffee in a cafe along our visit, the coffee was always absolutely delicious, a moment within itself to appreciate the Dutch style coffee. The taste brought me back to times of exceptional coffee from Italian cafes in Bologna and the Almafi Coast.
So I wondered to myself along the way: why in particular does Dutch coffee remind me of coffee in italy? Why in particular does the Netherlands have superb coffee? There may be some interesting reasons why….
Dutch Coffee History
The Dutch played an integral part in spreading coffee around the world during the 17th century. The Dutch brought coffee to various regions including Indonesia and within their colonies. During this time, Yemen the place where the coffee originated from, banned coffee beans to be shipped to other countries. To work their way around this obstacle, the Dutch started shipping coffee plants instead. Unlike the rest of the world that looked more to enjoying coffee as a beverage, the Dutch were more interested as treating coffee in use of trade. Eventually, Coffee shops would begin to pop up around the Netherlands around the 1660s.
To make coffee, the Dutch still use an unique, traditional method, with the key word for their special process being Slowwww
Dutch Coffee Brewing Method
The Dutch Coffee Brewing Process dates all the way back to the 1700s. Dutch coffee is made by slowly dripping ice cold water on fresh coffee grounds. The dripping process can take anywhere between 3.5-12 hours! A Dutch coffee machine is needed to perform this process. The Dutch coffee cold brewing process is considered more efficient and is considered to result in a more flavorful coffee than when using the heating process as in America and elsewhere. Unlike the Dutch brewing process when using hot water brewing process, the heat causes the coffee to oxidize. Through oxidation we lose delicate flavors of the coffee, and oxidization produces bitter and acidic tones. Since Dutch coffee does not involve the heating step, they are able to retain the more subtle tones of the coffee taste, such as chocolate and fruity tones which otherwise would have been lost in oxdization. These flavorful tones creates a more rich and overall more tasteful coffee is what we were experiencing in coffee shops when in Amsterdam.
So on your next trip to the Netherlands, you can expect a quality cup of coffee at a local cafe.
Aromasthetics 