Wide Awake Coffee

Twelve series, roasted in Brussels

The counter runs on house-roasted coffees across 12 series, with Strada X espresso on the bar and a retail shelf built for brewing at home. The coffee programme is the reason to walk here. Wide Awake sources, roasts and brews in Brussels, and the menu draws from a broader roastery system rather than a single café shelf, moving between blends, single origins and office-friendly WA.essentials. The named coffees give a useful map of the style: Duchess brings Brazil and Colombia together with Fazenda Nunes; Duke also works Brazil and Colombia, tied to Santa Hedwirges; Moon Safari is Colombia Finca Bethel; Anemone is Ethiopia Aricha Adorsi Station; Easy Rider is Peru Jhon Silva. That spread matters at the bar, because the choice is not only dark or light, milk or black. It is a roaster showing several ideas of sweetness, structure and clarity, then backing them with brew education through V60, espresso and AeroPress. The house was recognised in the 2025 European Coffee Trip Awards.

A flagship counter with roastery habits

The St Catherine shop is the flagship café and shop, so it feels more complete than a quick espresso hatch without turning into a restaurant. The room is built around counter service, coffee retail and a food case, with an extensive coffee menu paired with freshly prepared pastries and lunch options. Across the wider Wide Awake family the branches each keep a different pace: Flagey is the fast espresso bar, Dansaert is the slower brew bar in the original roastery, and the Atelier holds the roastery, quality control lab, warehouse, training space and office. That roastery background shows up in the way the café sells equipment, filters and brew bags, not as decoration but as part of the daily work. Come for the pull, then look at the beans before leaving. The shop is made for that second decision.

Order Duchess first, then look at the filter shelf

Start with Duchess if the choice feels too wide. It is a named Wide Awake coffee built from Brazil and Colombia with Fazenda Nunes in the mix, and it makes sense as a first order because it sits near the house centre rather than at the edge of the menu. Duke is the sibling route, also Brazil and Colombia, tied to Santa Hedwirges. For a cleaner single-origin direction, ask after Moon Safari from Colombia Finca Bethel, Anemone from Ethiopia Aricha Adorsi Station, or Easy Rider from Peru Jhon Silva. The bar also works in V60 and AeroPress, so those names can become a brewed cup rather than only a bag on the shelf. Pastries and lunch are part of the flagship rhythm, but the order here is coffee-led: choose the lot first, then add whatever has just reached the case.