Keen Coffee in Utrecht

It’s always interesting to see what wholesale roasters do when they open their first flag ship café. For many people in the business, it usually starts the other way around. They open a café first and then they start roasting. But not always, of course. When DAK opened its showroom in Amsterdam last year, it raised the bar high and instead of serving pastries, it decided to focus on coffee and merchandise. During my recent visit to Utrecht, I was curious to see what Keen Coffee had done.

Housed in a beautiful old building overlooking the Ganzenmarkt with Utrecht town hall on the far end, this café is right in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. For the longest time, Keen focused only on its wholesale business and making its annual appearance at the Amsterdam Coffee Festivals. Now, with the arrival of its first outlet, all of its energy is being directed towards perfecting the operation of its first customer facing bricks and mortar outlet.

The space is dominated by a large U-shaped bar. On the bar, you’ll find the latest gadgetry to brew filter coffee with and a stunning La Marzocco Leva espresso machine. Filter and espresso based drinks are prepared at opposite ends. Customers can sit around the bar like at an omakase and get a full view of the procedings. In the back, there is also a space with proper tables that feels a bit more secluded.

I took a seat at the bar and got a chance to observe the action from this excellent vantage point. Keen Coffee is known for sourcing some pretty epic coffees and it was one of the first Dutch brands to have a Loring roaster. Its coffees are always bright and clean. The menu offers a variety of beverages and combinations. I went for the espresso flight that consisted of a shot of espresso and a cortado. Admittedly, my order took a very long time to arrive but it was also quite busy.

My espresso was from Los Nogales in Colombia while the cortado had a natural Ethiopia from Hambela as its base. Both coffees were really tasty and it was nice to simply sit at the bar and chat to Roderijk Schouten, the head roaster, who was in the café and spotted me as I walked in earlier. I think Utrecht was in need of a few more places that offer a really elevated coffee experience and Keen Coffee is doing a fantastic job at that. Highly recommended!