Avocado toast and coffee: that is the standard lunch at Mok in Brussels’ Dansaertstraat. Willem Styfhals (35) combines his cup of black coffee with a rather dry standard work by the German sociologist Theodor Adorno. “Hence the caffeine,” he says, laughing. “I buy all my beans here. Quality coffee is like a good bottle of wine: you are willing to pay more for it. It is an investment in enjoyment.”
At home he swears by filter coffee, with freshly ground beans. “I also take my own thermos of coffee to work because I don’t like the coffee in the office.” He hesitates to say it, he doesn’t want to seem like a snob.
Owner Jens Crabbé, who started coffee roasting company Mok eleven years ago, also guards against coffee elitism. “When people ask for a ‘regular coffee’, we really don’t look at them askance.” Crabbé also has a coffee bar in Leuven. “My coffee roaster is the heart of my business, the bars are there so people can get to know our coffee beans,” says Crabbé.
Coffee and tea shops are flourishing, according to a study by Buurtsuper.be, the Unizo organization that represents the interests of supermarkets and specialty stores. While bakers and butchers are increasingly disappearing from the streets, no less than 88 percent more coffee and tea shops have been added in sixteen years.
Amaury Benitoz (32), who is sipping his coffee on a bench, calls himself a coffee lover, but not an expert. Yet he has a clear idea of what good coffee is. “I like strong coffee with animal and floral notes and then you quickly end up with coffee of African origin. My favorite is the Rwandan one.”
No coffee from the supermarket for Benitoz, he buys all his beans from specialty coffee shops – he doesn’t use pre-ground coffee either. “And if I have to make a detour to drink better coffee, I certainly will. Bad coffee can easily cost 3 euros, so why wouldn’t I pay a little more for coffee that is tasty?”
Pepijn Gyssels (32), musician and member of the nightlife collective Dauwtrip, is on his second cup of coffee – and his last. “As an artist I don’t have a lot of money. I actually think coffee from a specialty coffee shop is too expensive, but good quality coffee is about the only luxury I allow myself. At the beginning of the month I dare to order a more expensive hand brew.”
Even at home he only wants quality. “Tap water is not ideal for making coffee, so I only use tap water that has been descaled first. I prefer to use a V60 filter. I grind my beans by hand. That can easily take ten minutes, but it’s worth it.”
Gyssels shares his love for coffee with a good friend with whom he is in a band. “When we rehearse with our band, we always have a coffee break. Making coffee together and drinking it at our leisure: we have made it a ritual.”
Mok also supplies to around 400 companies and catering establishments. “Since the corona crisis, sales in our webshop have increased significantly,” says Crabbé. “We have customers all over the world, as far away as China and the US.”
Things are more local and on a smaller scale at Stijn Vandenberghe, owner of coffee roasting company Agostini in Dendermonde. Anyone who wants to buy and taste his coffee can only go to his store on Wednesday afternoon, or must order via the webshop. “I supply coffee to catering establishments, but also to SMEs in Groot-Dendermonde,” says Vandenberghe. “That is where the big growth lies: people no longer accept that they drink better coffee at home than at the office.”
Vandenberghe has no regrets about trading his job as a sales manager at Honda in 2019 for a life as a coffee roaster. “Last year I had a very good year. The coffee price had risen enormously over the past two years, but it is now stable,” says Vandenberghe. “On average, I roast 150 to 200 kilos of beans per week. I could expand, but I want a coffee shop that is locally anchored and financially healthy, and that is not necessarily large.”
Just like Crabbé, Vandenberghe has also seen many more private individuals willing to pay for quality coffee since the corona crisis. “Many people are tired of Senseos and espresso capsules, they have bought a fully automatic coffee machine that grinds beans fresh or opt for freshly brewed filter coffee. Taste and ecology have become more important. People want to know that their coffee comes from coffee farmers who are paid fairly. Then you quickly end up with locally roasted coffee beans, which you will not find in the supermarket. Moreover, even if you opt for specialty coffee, coffee remains a fairly cheap product.”
