NL An overview of Five Ways Coffee Roasters in Amsterdam, featuring information on its history, locations, coffee offerings, events, and public visibility.
About Five Ways Coffee Roasters
History and Concept
Five Ways Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee company in Amsterdam with a location at Kinkerstraat 186 in Amsterdam-West. The company website also lists a second café at Boerhaaveplein 3 in Amsterdam-Oost. The business presents itself as both a coffee roaster and a café operator, offering products for both the hospitality trade and private retail.
Public sources are not entirely consistent regarding the founding year. The official site states that Five Ways started in 2017. Other public mentions cite 2021 as the year of establishment, while reports from June 2022 describe the Kinkerstraat location as Ben O’Callaghan’s first Five Ways coffee bar. This suggests that the branding and café concept became publicly visible in several distinct phases.
Official communications do not name the founders. In external publications, Benjamin or Ben Kozica-O’Callaghan is mentioned as the founder, owner, or head roaster. Other reports also list Paul Jenner as a co-founder or partner. Publicly available information describes Ben Kozica-O’Callaghan as being from Australia, connected to the Melbourne coffee culture, and later settling in Amsterdam.
According to the company, the concept centers on specialty coffee, proprietary branding, and supply chain transparency. Five Ways states that it works with trusted green coffee importers while also trading directly with farmers. The same company description mentions training programs and machinery as part of their offering. For roasting, the company utilizes an S35 Loring roaster.
Coffee and Brewing
The cafés serve coffee from their own roastery. The official site has featured various coffees from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. These include a blend, washed coffees, natural lots, a sugarcane-based decaf, and a co-fermented coffee from Colombia. This assortment demonstrates that Five Ways focuses on both consistent classics and more experimental origins.
Public café listings mention several brewing methods. For the Kinkerstraat location, batch brew and hand brew are cited. For another Five Ways location, V60 and batch brew appear in public guides. The roastery’s product pages also list preparation options such as espresso, filter, Aeropress, French press, moka pot, and cold brew. This indicates a versatile use of the same coffee across different brewing profiles.
- Brazil & Colombia – Five Points Blend
- Colombia – Club Tropicana – 96H Co-Fermentation
- Colombia – San Sebastian – Washed
- Colombia – DECAF – Sugarcane
- Ethiopia – Dambi Uddo – Natural
- Ethiopia – Shakiso – Washed – Guji
- Kenya – Kii AA – Washed
Public descriptions of the drink menu feature both classic and cold-served beverages. Mentioned options include the flat white, cappuccino, cold brew, espresso tonic, and batch brew. This combination is typical for a business that operates simultaneously as a coffee bar and an extension of its own roastery. The emphasis here is on preparation and product knowledge, rather than just retail sales.
Community and Space Utilization
The location in Amsterdam-West has been described as more than just a café. A 2022 publication mentioned a hidden speakeasy or training space behind a bookshelf, giving the venue a role as a space for education and gatherings. This aligns with the mention of training programs found in the company’s public business information.
Public events surrounding Five Ways show a diverse program. There are reports of a pastry event with pastry chef Alexandre Scour and a coffee cupping with Felipe from Unuma.col. Additionally, there is an Eventbrite listing for “The Espresso Martini Sessions”, a collaboration with Ketel One and Shakerato. A Five Ways Skate Jam has also been documented, described as a day of skating, food, and music.
Transparency, logistics, and sourcing
In its own communications, Five Ways uses the concept of transparency “from bean to cup”. According to the company, this is achieved through partnerships with trusted importers and direct trade with farmers. At the same time, specific names of coffee farms or import partners remain unmentioned in the official materials reviewed. Thus, while the claim of transparency is stated, it is not detailed with a public overview of partners.
Regarding sustainability, the company states that it focuses on innovative packaging and more sustainable logistical techniques to reduce its carbon footprint. Product pages further mention that coffee is roasted weekly to order. For delivery, the company mentions Keen Delivery and carriers such as DPD, PostNL, and DHL. Regarding non-coffee offerings, it has been publicly reported that cakes came from Babycakes in Oud-West, and croissants and frangipane pastries came from Ulmus in De Baarsjes.
Media attention and public visibility
Five Ways frequently appears in coffee-focused media and city guides. The Coffeevine published a piece about the West location in 2022 and gave further attention to the company, the people behind it, and the roastery in 2023 and 2024. I amsterdam also included the café in a list of the city’s coffee shops in 2025. Furthermore, Five Ways appears in guides by European Coffee Trip and in Amsterdam overviews by Koffietje.
What is missing from the public documentation is equally relevant. No formal awards or competition titles are mentioned in the consulted sources. Consequently, the public profile of Five Ways is primarily based on its own narrative, the presence of two Amsterdam locations, the roastery’s offerings, and recurring visibility in coffee and city guides.