Back to Black

Back to Black is an Amsterdam specialty coffee business built around a roastery, bakery, and two coffee bars. Its Weteringstraat branch opened in July 2014 as a coffee bar and concept store. Sprudge identifies co-founders and co-owners Inge Bulthuis and Noortje Vlutters, and notes a Giesen W6 roaster arrived in the basement in November 2015, with Bulthuis as roaster. The result is a compact canalside Amsterdam-Center operation where retail beans, changing espresso, manual brews, and in-house baked sweets and savoury snacks share one room.

Coffee at the center

The strongest reason to visit Back to Black is coffee from its own Amsterdam roastery. The official retail range names Colombia Excelso EP Washed, Peru Sugarcane Decaf from Aprocassi Cooperativa, Kenya Gichathaini Washed, Ethiopia Queen of Sheba Washed, and Brazil Diamond Natural, giving the bar a single-origin frame across washed, natural, and decaffeinated coffees. Brian’s Coffee Spot says espresso rotates when the current coffee runs out, with two choices: one conventional and one “a bit different.” Filter coffee is also flexible, made from retail-shelf coffees rather than treated as a fixed afterthought. Weteringstraat brew methods include V60, Aeropress, Cafetiere, Chemex, and Syphon. A two-group Kees van der Westen Spirit handles espresso service. The Chef’s Table espresso is the most distinctive named drink: a shot of each espresso, making the order a side-by-side tasting of the two current coffees.

A casual Amsterdam stop

Weteringstraat works as a casual Amsterdam coffee stop because the space feels more like a sitting room than a formal dining room. Brian’s Coffee Spot places it by the canal where Weteringstraat meets the Lijnbaansgracht, near the Rijksmuseum and the Heineken Experience, and describes a long, thin room with a narrow street-facing side and broader canal-facing side. Seating includes a short window bar with three seats, an eight-person communal table, a small sofa with two armchairs around a coffee table, eight chairs at broad windowsills, and three high chairs at a raised street-side counter. Cakes and the till sit toward Weteringstraat; the espresso machine is on the canal side, so counter seats can view the barista working. Power points under the windowsills help longer sits. The specialist review describes an intimate, slightly cluttered, domestic atmosphere with a canal view, useful for neighborhood coffee or a sightseeing pause.

Order the Chef's Table espresso first

For the most specific order, start with the Chef’s Table espresso: it captures Back to Black’s comparative, barista-led approach and rotating espresso menu. A simpler espresso directly shows the current roast, especially with the two-option setup. For a slower cup, choose V60, Aeropress, Cafetiere, Chemex, or Syphon, then pick from the shelf coffees. Food is narrower but part of the brand’s structure. The emphasis stays on single-origin coffee roasted by the business and served in multiple formats.