Amsterdam… and my friend texted me, “So, which are the coolest coffee shops?”

After around three years of living in Germany, I am now accustomed to the coffee flavors here. Coming from Vietnam – a country famous for its strong and dark coffee, it takes some time for me to really appreciate the European taste of coffee. There is a huge difference between Arabica beans and Robusta beans and where I am from, we drink most of the time Robusta beans. But finally, now I can say that I am as happy with a cup of café latte as with one of Café Sữa Đá. But wait…nothing can beat a cup of Café Sữa Đá in the summer!

The appreciation is the result of hundreds of cups of coffee around Europe – I had a chance to taste, compare, and finally conclude some cities where I have tasted the best coffee. And some places are so cute and hospitable that I completely forgot the taste of the coffee and still can give it a ten! The one in Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam is one of them.

It was our last day in Amsterdam, and we decided to visit a local market – yes, I love local markets, but who doesn’t??? They are full of good stuff and by visiting local markets, we know a lot about people in the country we visit right? The materials there are simply RAW.

We were just wandering around, seeing things, and of course, inhaling as much as possible the smell of waffles and fresh produces – one of the very few places in Amsterdam without particles of cannabis in the air hahaha… So, we continued walking and walking until a small stand caught our attention. The barista was just looking around as there were no clients then and he greeted us with a warm smile (for one second, I had a simple yet luxurious thought “If only I saw this more often in Germany” hahaha). We looked at the lovely menu which was painted on a small board that stood in front of us. The barista responded to our orders always with “a great choice!” “of course!” “SURE!” and just by looking at him making our coffees, we were already happy. Why? Because he really enjoyed doing his work! People say we are what we eat (or drink :P) and I think that is true because we were very happy after drinking our lattes that morning; I guess mainly because the barista did sprinkle some joy and happiness into it.

After getting our coffees, we were standing for a while watching him talking with potential clients – who were still considering (I almost screamed “you won’t disappoint!!!! Just go ahead!” hahaha).

While making coffee for his clients, he talked to people who were still discussing if they should order a coffee here “Follow your eyes” “That’s a good idea!” – very gently. I can never do that. If I were him, I would pour coffee and tea all over the place. How can I look at people gently and advise them what they should select while performing a Chai Latte??? Impossible. But he was doing that. The smiles were genuine, and the skills were impressive!

After five minutes, we were……………still THERE… in front of that little coffee stand. He did have us as FANS! Definitely! He looked at us and asked if we needed something…and I said “We have not….paid yet.” As he was so busy right after handing us our coffees (after us, many clients came) and he completely forgot to charge us. Also, we did not want to disturb him while he was so occupied (and watching him working was also a nice experience :P) so we just waited there. Then we paid and left.

So, it was a GOOD WRAP for Amsterdam and we could not be happier.
The name of the coffee stand is Darras Albertcuyp (Instagram: darras_albertcuyp) and our barista of the day is Fadi!!!!!!

P.s we did visit other good cafes in Amsterdam, I will write about them in a more focused post about our trip to Amsterdam. See you again soon!

Of course here are some photos ❤