The Village Coffee & Music – Voorstraat 46

The Village Coffee & Music is located at Voorstraat 46 in the city center of Utrecht. The official contact details also list Voorstraat 44-46 as the address. The establishment is part of a broader business setup featuring an espresso bar, a shop, an own roastery, and a location on the Science Park.

The origins date back to 2011. Angelo van de Weerd and Lennaert Meijboom then opened their first espresso bar at number 46. De Buik van Utrecht later described that in 2019, The Village Coffee Store was added at number 44. This transformed the location on Voorstraat into a combination of coffee shop and retail space.

The founders' backgrounds explain a significant part of the concept. Van de Weerd had previously toured the United States with a former record label. Meijboom worked for a surf company in Hawaii, near coffee plantations. In later interviews, the idea behind the business was described as a place where coffee and music could coexist.

The word “Music” in the name refers not only to the atmosphere or background music. Meijboom described how the founders wanted a coffee bar where they could play their own, band-oriented music. They also wanted to organize in-store shows, often in collaboration with Utrecht venues. Among those mentioned are EKKO, Tivoli, De Helling, dB’s, and ACU.

The name “The Village” has multiple layers. In interviews, references were made to Greenwich Village in New York and to CBGB. Utrecht was also described as a “village” between Dutch cities. Furthermore, the name fits the idea of combining coffee, music, and merchandise within one recognizable concept.

The Village has been roasting its own specialty coffee in its own roastery since 2015. A Probat UG-15 from 1955 is mentioned for this purpose. The webshop categorizes coffee into groups such as All Coffee, Filter, and Espresso. Publicly listed product names include Burundi Kayanza Nemba Natural, Guatemala Cipresales La Esperanza, Colombia Acevedo Los Guaduales, Rwanda Hindiro Ngogorero, and Ethiopia Bensa Shantawene.

In addition, Decaf Colombia Tumbaga, Outsider, Renegade, and Slowzilla are mentioned. Product pages offer grind options for espresso, filter, French press, moka, and whole beans. The Decaf Colombia Tumbaga is described as an omni roast for espresso or filter. Origin, regions, harvest year, altitude, varieties, and processing methods are all documented.

Renegade is described as an espresso blend featuring Brazilian Fazenda Fronteira and coffee from the Colombian region of Huitaca. The product information also lists a base recipe: 21–22 grams input, 50 grams yield, 30–35 seconds extraction time, and 94 degrees Celsius. Slowzilla is identified as a traditional espresso roast with Brazil Fazenda Fronteira, farmer Ellen Fontana, harvest year, altitude, varieties, and natural processing.

Several examples of drinks at the bar are publicly described. These include espresso, cappuccino, latte macchiato, filter coffee of the week, Outsider, Renegade, and espresso of the week. A current official bar card for Voorstraat 46 listing all drinks and brewing methods is not publicly documented in the provided material.

The location on Voorstraat is described as a place for specialty coffee, conversations, reading the newspaper, seating, and live music. Discover Utrecht mentions regular live in-store performances at this location. The Village was also named in 2014 as a participating venue during Le Mini Who, part of Le Guess Who. Dutch acts performed at various locations at the time, including The Village on Voorstraat.

In addition to performances on Voorstraat, events at the roastery are also documented. Official event information mentions The Village Pitstop, a tattoo expo in September 2023, and a later tattoo edition in September 2024. A “13 Years TVC” event is also mentioned, featuring a planned coffee release and a music announcement.

The Village Fest is mentioned at the roastery for September 30, 2023. The program included coffee, wine, music, tattoos, screen-printing, craft beer, cocktails, brownies, and burgers. In 2023 reporting, this event was linked to the 12.5th anniversary of The Village Coffee & Music.

The available information on sustainability is concrete but limited. There is documentation regarding own branding, specific coffees, suppliers, and packaging. Decaf Colombia Tumbaga names Sucafina as a supplier. This includes a supplier note about whole-harvest supply chains and support for the resilience of producers.

Slowzilla lists This Side Up as a supplier and records details about Brazil Fazenda Fronteira, Ellen Fontana, the 2024 harvest, varietals, and natural processing. The Renegade product information specifies kraft paper bags with an internal plastic liner for freshness. The text advises consumers to dispose of this liner through local plastic waste collection.

A general sustainability statement for the bar on Voorstraat is not publicly documented in the provided materials. Additionally, no general carbon policy, waste management policy, or certification statement is mentioned beyond the described coffee origin, supplier information, and packaging notes.

The Village Coffee & Music has been featured in various media outlets. In 2013, Misset Horeca reported that the Utrecht establishment topped that year’s Koffie Top 100. DUIC confirmed this and noted that the business had been located on Voorstraat for approximately 2.5 years at the time.

Amsterdam Coffee Festival announced in 2023 that Max Weldam from The Village Coffee & Music won the Roast Masters 2023. That same year, 3voor12/VPRO published an article about the 12.5th anniversary and The Village Fest. Earlier and later publications covered topics such as the founders, the coffee-and-music concept, the Voorstraat locations, the roastery, and the expansion to Science Park.