Discovering the amazing Antwerp Specialty Coffee Community
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For the HOC Living community, coliving in Antwerp is also about getting to know the city one cup at a time. Over the past twenty years, Antwerp has learned to drink coffee with more attention. What started with one distinctive coffee bar on Hopland grew into a city of roasters, baristas and places where an espresso, filter coffee or cortado is discussed as naturally as a good glass of wine. For expats and curious locals alike, that is wonderful news: today, Antwerp can also be discovered one cup at a time.
In 2003, Rob Berghmans opened the first Caffènation on Hopland. It was not an ordinary coffee bar. Rob brought a different perspective: beans had an origin, a season and a character; coffee could be fruity, bright, complex and surprising. Not simply dark, bitter and “strong”.
That may sound self-evident today. At the time, it certainly was not. Caffènation helped Antwerp get used to the idea that coffee, much like wine, tells a story: about soil, climate, processing and the people who grow, roast and prepare the bean. The small bar on Hopland became a starting point for what would later become a lively specialty coffee culture.
Specialty coffee is not about making things complicated. It is about attention: better sourcing, careful roasting, precise brewing — and, above all, inviting people to taste something new.
It happened gradually. Antwerp became a city where you no longer simply ordered “a coffee”, but could choose between espresso, filter coffee, a flat white or a cortado. Where baristas explained why one coffee tasted different from the last. And where coffee bars became places to work, meet friends, sit alone or simply watch the city go by.
This culture did not grow out of one formula. That is exactly what makes it so appealing. Every place has its own voice.
Koffie Dealers is a wonderful example. Dimitrios Kafkas and David Pavlović opened their bar on Paardenmarkt out of a shared love for quality coffee and a warm, accessible atmosphere. Here, specialty coffee does not have to be a serious affair: you walk in, order something good and immediately feel welcome.
The space is bright, spacious and social. Students, neighbours, visitors and people with laptops naturally find a place alongside one another. Coffee receives the attention it deserves, without becoming a lecture.
With Koffie Dealers 2, the story gained another lovely chapter. Its collaboration with Bakker Aldo makes the second location even more tempting: excellent coffee and artisanal pastries remain a very convincing combination.
Steamy feels as though a small piece of Greece has settled in Antwerp. The bar was founded by two Greek friends who have known each other since school and decided to create their own coffee place together.
You can feel that friendship in the space. Steamy is colourful, lively and unforced. There is coffee, there is food, there is sunny energy — and, above all, an atmosphere that almost automatically keeps you at the table longer than planned. Not because you have to, but because it feels good to stay.
Perhaps that is one of the loveliest developments in Antwerp’s specialty coffee scene: quality and warmth do not exclude each other. Quite the opposite.
Phil, the project of Sofie Vonckx, deliberately takes a different approach. While arabica usually gets all the attention, Phil Roast works with robusta and explores what this bean can become when it is selected and roasted with care.
That is what makes Phil interesting: not because it wants to be different for the sake of it, but because curiosity is at its heart. Specialty coffee is not a rigid set of rules; it is an invitation to look beyond familiar flavours and habits.
Habibis Coffee Club has a very different energy. The space is simple, warm and subtly Moroccan in atmosphere. At the back, you can even take off your shoes and sit on a carpet. That one detail says a great deal: this is a place where you are allowed to slow down.
Its young owner knows Antwerp’s coffee world well and has gained experience at places including Rush Rush. At Habibis, there is no excess and no big talk — simply good coffee, matcha, mint tea and a lovely attention to how people feel in a space. It may be small in scale, but it is generous in character.
RoSa also shows how broad Antwerp’s coffee scene has become. With people from the world of, among others, Andy Roasters and HUMM behind the concept, RoSa brings another distinct rhythm and style to the city.
That is the beauty of the current generation: it builds on what came before without copying it. New places bring knowledge, experience and love for the craft — then give all of that their own colour.
And then there is Caffènation Zuid, one of the newest chapters in Rob Berghmans’ story. It feels like a beautiful circle: more than twenty years after helping to lay the foundations of specialty coffee in Antwerp on Hopland, he continues to create new places where coffee takes centre stage.
Caffènation Zuid is not only for connoisseurs. It is a place where you can drink an excellent cortado, take a breath and still be right in the heart of city life. That is exactly the strength of Antwerp’s coffee culture today: it has become knowledgeable without becoming distant.
From Hopland to Zuid, from Paardenmarkt to Scheldestraat, Antwerp now has a coffee map as diverse as its residents. You can taste, learn, work, meet people or simply sit outside with a warm cup in your hands.
For anyone living with HOC Living, that may be one of the nicest ways to get to know the city. Get on your bike, choose a neighbourhood and let coffee be your guide. Antwerp may still move fast — but thankfully, there are more and more places where you are welcome to stay a little longer.
Ready to explore for yourself? These are HOC’s personally selected Antwerp favourites:
Follow them for new coffees, seasonal specials and even more reasons to explore Antwerp by bike.
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Anyone who experiences coliving with HOC Living soon discovers that Antwerp is much more than handsome façades and convenient cycling routes. It is a city that has attracted people for centuries: traders, adventurers, artists, fortune-seekers and, let’s be honest, people with rather less respectable plans too. Our community is part of a long Antwerp tradition: living together in a place where the world has always arrived via the River Scheldt.
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