Around the world in 80 coffees: Antwerp welcomes chill new cafe
In a former butcher’s, two Flemish baristas have set up shop, aiming to educate the city about the best coffee the world has to offer
Anything but regular
The pair have transformed an old butcher’s shop just off Antwerp’s Leien into a not-so-regular coffee Mecca. The founders met at Caffènation, Antwerp’s original coffee hotspot. Before working there, each had travelled the globe in search of the perfect brew.
Guffens’ passport includes entries for New Zealand, Canada and the UK. “I would just email and ask for a job wherever there was advanced speciality coffee to be found,” he explains, “Sometimes I stayed weeks, sometimes months or even a year.”
It was a time when barista culture in Belgium was close to non-existent. This is also what led Haesen abroad. “I learned from the best in Melbourne, coffee capital of the world, and took this experience with me,” he says. “I think that’s our strength – that we gathered our knowledge in so many places.”
Back in Belgium, the duo had to adapt to local tastes. “Belgians like to keep it simple,” Haesen says. “A long black coffee with milk and sugar, nothing fancy.”
Both snicker at the concept of a “regular” coffee. Haesen: “Ordering a regular coffee is like asking for a regular bread at the baker’s. You like your coffee black? Then there’s Americano, espresso or filter coffee. You prefer milk? Have a cappuccino. We’re keen on educating people. The only problem might be getting us to shut up about it!”
The baristas use Caffènation coffee and have just bought 60 kilograms of green beans to be roasted as the first Butchers blend. Customers planning a trip abroad receive plenty of tips and in return are asked to bring home a souvenir coffee bag, which serves as a weekly guest blend. “The custom has become so popular that at one point we had 13 guest blends,” Guffens says.
With all this talk about brews and beans, one almost forgets the interior: a clean space full of elements that reveal its former use. The coldroom has been repurposed as a chill spot – no pun intended – and the wooden chopping block doubles as a bar. Fittingly so, because when it comes to coffee, these boys are killing it.
Kasteelstraat 57, Antwerp
Photo: Jens Mollenvanger
