Bagels & Beans

Back in the days i was starting up a juice and espresso bar in Amsterdam, i'm talking 7 years ago, i sometimes went to Bagels & Beans.
My own company had a bit of the same image, a mixture of feelgood, low profile, big city buzz at the same time and juices, coffee and a bit of food on the menu.

Later on they were starting up a big chain of B&B shops and i lost interest.

A couple of months ago i met this young Barista at Caffènation. His name is Sietse Van Den Berg, he was 4th on the Dutch Barista Championship a couple of years ago and manager of a Bagels & Beans shop. Because of him and his enthusiasm about their great Panama coffee beans i planned to visit Bagels & Beans on my next trip to Holland.

On Sunday i went to visit friends in Breda and combined this with the B&B shop at the Coothplein in the city center.
Rocky and i ordered a bagel, juice, espresso, ristretto and muffin. I recall really well the first time i drank a Panama Bouquete espresso from the La Tarcoza Estate and liked the sweetness and body, but in Breda there was no sweetness and there was little body. I can't believe the girls, who were really friendly and welcoming, ever had a proper Barista training. It was even hard to spot some crema on the ristretto! A shame for these wonderful Panama coffee they import, if i don't get wrong, with the collaboration of the Golden Coffee Box.
All the rest was very tasty and also very cheap. So i definitely visit them again, but first after making an appointment with Sietse in Den Bosch.