Rum Baba Coffeeroasters

More About Rum Baba Coffeeroasters

Rum Baba Coffeeroasters has clearly become one of the established names in the Amsterdam specialty coffee scene. According to their own brand history, the company has been sourcing, roasting, and serving coffee for 15 years. With this, Rum Baba positions itself not as a young challenger, but as a brand that has grown alongside the early third wave in the city.

The roots lie with Coffee Bru in Amsterdam-Oost, founded by Joris Kobussen, Marielusan Drost, and Jeroen Keyzer. From that foundation, Rum Baba emerged as a logical progression. Jeroen Keyzer and Marielusan, often called Lusan, originally wanted to open an espresso bar that centered on coffee origin, something they felt was still missing in Amsterdam at the time.

In the early stages, roasting was primarily for internal use at Rum Baba and Coffee Bru. It was only when external demand increased that the roasting side grew into a more independent pillar. The original concept also included a bakery. That branch grew strongly but was later scaled back so the focus could return fully to coffee.

From recognizable classics to experimental lots

Rum Baba’s roasting philosophy is remarkably practical. Light roasts are recommended for filter, and medium roasts for espresso. At the same time, the brand leaves room for personal taste and experimentation. On their own site, the team summarizes this approach as carefully roasting and refining to bring out the best flavors from every batch.

That philosophy translates into an assortment that is broader than a classic division of light and dark. In April 2026, there were 27 coffees in the webshop, spanning countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Rwanda, Kenya, and Honduras. The filters in the shop range from Light and Medium to Classic, Decaf, Capsules, Experimental, and Liquid Diamond.

For professionals, the layering of the offering is particularly interesting. The stable line provides daily coffees with clear flavor profiles, while the experimental line makes room for striking processing methods and expressive cups. In 2026, the filter collection featured fourteen products, including washed experimental, honey experimental, natural experimental, co-ferment, and anaerobic.

A few products clearly demonstrate how Rum Baba builds its flavor portfolio:

Yellow Blend: 70% Guatemala and 30% Ethiopia Natural, with notes of toffee, chocolate, and berries.
Marafiki: a Kenyan daily coffee with dark chocolate, red berries, and caramel.
Kokobe: a natural from Aricha, Yirgacheffe, with blueberry, chocolate, and caramel.
Rwanda Urugori: a lot with rosehip, panela, and redcurrant.
Kaleidoscope 3.0: a bold blend from Pitalito, Huila, suitable for complex espresso and fruity filter coffee.

Origin, traceability, and sustainability as a common thread

Where Rum Baba distinguishes itself most strongly in substance is the combination of the origin story and traceability. Jeroen Keyzer previously indicated that the company wants to spend less time on novelty for novelty’s sake, and instead focus more on deepening relationships with producers. Accordingly, Rum Baba sources many of its coffees directly from farmers or via exporters at origin.

Some coffees are described with striking specificity. According to the brand, Marafiki comes from five single farms in Meru County in Kenya: Ayub, Kathendu, Mumu, Rhino, and Thangatha. Kokobe comes from Aricha in Yirgacheffe, connecting approximately 1,500 growers around a washing station into one lot. For Rwanda Urugori, the emphasis is on Gasharu Coffee in Nyamasheke, a lot produced entirely by women, while more than 70% of the team there consists of women.

Sustainability runs through several product categories. Rum Baba consistently describes its coffee as sustainably sourced and explicitly linked the purchase of a new IMF roaster in 2022 to further sustainability goals. This machine was described as comparable to a Loring. Exact capacity or annual volume have not been made public.

Sustainable choices also appear outside the roastery. The decaf line is decaffeinated locally at origin without synthetic chemicals. The Colombia decaf uses the Sugar Cane process with fermented molasses as a solvent. Additionally, Yellow Blend capsules are presented as one of the most sustainable options the team could find, utilizing 100% renewable energy, plant-based materials, and compostability via municipal compost streams.

Retail, wholesale, and education reinforce each other

Rum Baba operates from two Amsterdam locations and a separate roastery. The location at Pretoriusstraat 15 is the largest, combining a shop, brewbar, and bakery. At Elandsgracht 134 lies a smaller brewbar with an open and cozy atmosphere. The roastery at Moezelhavenweg 45–47 operates by appointment and is referred to by the brand as the “mothership”.

These physical spaces serve more than just a retail function. According to Jeroen, the shops help show customers how coffee is properly prepared. At the same time, they serve as a tangible tasting point for potential B2B clients. This aligns with a growth model that does not rely on a single channel, but on wholesale, direct-to-consumer, and sales in their own shops.

The wholesale offering starts at 5kg per order and caters to everything from small cafes and offices to established coffee businesses. For offices, a subscription model is available starting from 5kg, with weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly delivery and up to a 10% discount. Home consumers can turn to Daily Drinkers on Repeat, where eight coffees were featured in the subscription collection as of April 2026.

Education is an integral part of the brand. Workshops primarily focus on cuppings, where participants taste coffees side-by-side to compare origin, processing, and roasting. These sessions are designed for both professionals and curious beginners. Additionally, Rum Baba supports home brewers with brew guides and their own YouTube channel offering practical dial-in advice.

Strong visibility in a mature market

Rum Baba’s market position now rests on more than just local fame. The brand ranked in the Top 10 Specialty Cafés in the Netherlands by European Coffee Trip in both 2024 and 2025. Beyond its own channels, the company has gained attention as a striking and forward-thinking Amsterdam roaster.

This visibility is actively maintained. For Amsterdam Coffee Festival 2025, Rum Baba presented six new coffees and built a cupping area with sixteen seats. A return to the festival at NDSM has already been announced for April 16 through 18, 2026. Meanwhile, collaborations like the Brooks x Rum Baba Nitro Cold Brew show that the brand seeks partnerships outside the coffee niche. All profits from the Diamond Rush charity cans go to Project Fearless.

All in all, Rum Baba presents itself as a mature specialty company that cleverly intertwines classics, experimentation, education, and retail. For Dutch coffee professionals, this is particularly relevant as the brand demonstrates how a roaster can operate while being simultaneously recognizable, innovative, and commercially broad.

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