Evermore

Evermore Coffee Roasters from Rotterdam shows how a family business can grow into a national name in specialty coffee. Since 2008 the team has focused on pure origin, fresh branding, and sustainable practices. Not mass production, but small steps and a lot of care. That makes Evermore compelling for anyone wanting to better understand the coffee supply chain.

The story begins in 2008, when Eline Sandberg and her thirteen-year-old son Lowik Pieters sell loose tea. The name Evermore comes from Poe's poem The Raven and refers to endless enjoyment. A year later husband Ian and son Aito add coffee to the offering, roasted in a garden shed.

Demand grows quickly. After a period in shared spaces the family opens its own roastery in two old garages at Coolhaven 158A. There is now a coffee bar, a tea house and a shop. Evermore thus becomes Rotterdam's first specialty roaster and remains a true family business to this day.

Evermore believes in single-origin coffee, so no blends are produced; every bean comes from a single farm or cooperative. That preserves the character of the terroir, much like wine from a single château.

Every Wednesday the Giesen roaster runs small batches. The freshly roasted beans go straight into bags and are often delivered by bike to customers as early as Friday. A medium-dark roast brings out balance and sweetness without a bitter edge.

The menu changes with the seasons and includes both familiar and rare varieties. Three highlights stand out:

- Nicaragua Cerro de Jesús (Catuaí, honey-processed), caramel, honey, soft apple
- India Monsooned Malabar, smoky, spicy, earthy
- Yemen Haraaz Sana’a Special Reserve, raspberry, cinnamon, marzipan, double anaerobic fermentation

Each pack displays a color code that visually represents the main flavors. That makes choosing easy for novice connoisseurs.

To keep the menu exciting, Evermore regularly releases micro-lots in limited runs. Think honey- or natural-process beans, double fermentations, or the rare Yemeni Yemenia variety. Test batches determine the optimal roast schedule before customers order the coffee. For enthusiasts there are tasting packs with three or five origins, ideal for testing processes side by side.

Each coffee scores at least 80 points on the SCA scale; many lots are organic or Rainforest Alliance certified. Evermore pays farmers a premium and prefers to work through direct relationships. Thus a Yemeni farmer receives, via partner Qima, on average twice the market price, while Qima invests ten percent of the profit in local villages.

Close to home the company opts for recyclable bags, loose-leaf tea without tea bags, and bicycle delivery within Rotterdam. This keeps the ecological footprint small.

The café-roastery functions as a living room for the neighbourhood, baristas, and travelling coffee fans. Guests taste rotating single-origin coffees and receive explanations about grind, extraction, and origin. Live branding at local markets, blogs with brewing tips, and collaborations with cooking studios reinforce the educational character.

Evermore wants to grow step by step in the coming years. More and more specialty shops in Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Middelburg already serve Evermore's coffee. Further expansion remains possible, but the family opts for a controlled pace so that quality and origin traceability remain guaranteed.

New exotic beans and direct projects with farms are planned. In addition, more in-house tastings and meet-the-farmer evenings will likely be added. This way not only the reach grows, but also the experience surrounding a cup of freshly roasted coffee.

Evermore Coffee Roasters demonstrates that passion, transparency, and familial warmth can go hand in hand with top quality. The result is a cup of coffee that not only tastes good, but also tells an honest and clear story.