Inside | Amsterdam: Coffee vs. Tea

At the moment nothing seems to be more hip than cups of coffee. At least in Amsterdam, coffee (and I do mean coffee) places are blooming all over town, they are booming businesses (Lot Sixty One, Headfirst Coffee Roasters, White Label Coffee, Six and Sons, Two For Joy, Coffee Bru, Coffee Concepts, Filter, Casa Brazuca, Handsome Jack's, Quartier Putain, Espressofabriek, de Koffie Salon, Screaming Beans, Koko Coffee, Sweet Cup, The Coffee Virus, Stadsbranderij Noord and last May we had The Amsterdam Coffee Festival... need I continue?).

But what if you are a tea fanatic like me? Good cups of tea are difficult to find. In cafe's and restaurants they'll serve you Pickwick, Lipton or Mr. Jones. Which I do not like, at all, the tastes are bland and unimaginative.

These are the places where I prefer to go to for a good cup of tea:

CiTea, on the Prinsengracht, serves a wide selection of quality blends. Pick up some iced tea or a smoking hot cup.

Van Stapele, a cookie shop (owner Vera specializes in one sort of chocolate cookie) at the Heisteeg, is where you can get a cup of Kusmi Tea to go. My tea brand of preference (more blends are for sale at Het Hanze Huis on the Staalstraat) because they use of whole tea leaves and have a delicious smell.

Tea Bar, on the Haarlemmerdijk, where you can mix your own blend or choose from the more than 100 melanges they have ready for you. Green teas like Champagne Cassis and Icy Mojito, but also black tea (including their Amsterdam blend), white, oolong, herbal and rooibos of course.

Tea ya there! (Sorry, terrible joke, but I like it and will leave it in)

#coffee #tea #amsterdam #city #food #current