Giraffe Coffee Bar & Academy

Giraffe Coffee Bar & Academy is located at Hoogstraat 46A in the center of Rotterdam. The location is publicly listed by Giraffe Coffee Roasters and combines a coffee bar, shop, and academy. The training space of the Giraffe Academy is located in the basement of the bar. This gives the venue a dual function: consumption at street level and education at the same location.

Giraffe Coffee Roasters was co-founded by Maarten van der Jagt and Mark Jordaan. Van der Jagt has a background in food journalism and was previously a jury member at the World Barista Championship. Jordaan previously worked as a barista at Lebkov. In 2024, Mark Jordaan and Leslie Vreugdenhil were named as owners of Giraffe Coffee Roasters.

The exact first trading day of the coffee bar is not publicly documented in the available material. However, there is a public mention of a soft opening on Hoogstraat on June 17, 2021. Another description refers to the bar on Hoogstraat as a location that had been in existence for approximately two years at that time.

The concept on Hoogstraat consists of coffee, retail for home use, and education. The bar is also described as a place where filter methods, barista tools, tea, and gifts are available. Additionally, the cycling boutique Bomba Bomba is located in the same building. Both activities have their own audience and their own programs.

The menu from May 2026 lists practical house rules. The bar operates on a card-payment-only basis. The location is also laptop- and tablet-free. This information is relevant to how the space is used. It positions the coffee bar more in the context of short stays, meeting, and coffee consumption than remote work.

The coffee bar serves coffee from Giraffe Coffee Roasters. No other roaster for the bar is documented in the available material. The espresso-based menu includes familiar drinks such as espresso, double espresso, americano, cortado, cappuccino, flat white, and café latte. WOEI coffee is also on the menu.

For filter coffee, the menu lists batch brew, V60, and Aeropress. For hand brews, guests can choose from the filter selection available at the bar. The menu also notes that visitors can ask the baristas which coffees are currently on the grinder. For milk-based drinks, whole milk and Oatly oat milk are listed as options.

The menu also features cold coffee drinks, including iced americano, iced latte, cold brew, and espresso tonic. Beyond coffee, tea, chocolate, kombucha, lemonades, and small food items are mentioned. Notable partners and suppliers include JING Tea, Heinde & Verre, BAIN, Roze Bunker, Hoeve Biesland, and Koekela.

The academy is a permanent fixture of the location. The offerings include workshops, SCA training, and training for the hospitality industry. The workshop list features sessions such as Thuisbarista, Latte Art, Filter Coffee, Espresso Masterclass, and Open Cupping. This educational side caters to home users, professionals, and those interested in cupping methods.

The Open Cupping takes place at Giraffe Coffee Bar & Academy on Hoogstraat. The session uses the cupping method, starts at 5:00 PM, and lasts approximately one to one and a half hours. Capacity is limited, and participation is free of charge. The SCA training falls under the Coffee Skills Program of the Specialty Coffee Association and covers Barista Skills, Brewing, and Sensory.

Training is also offered for hospitality clients, including basic training, latte art training, and grinder training. These courses are tailored to the use of coffee in professional environments. The combination of bar and academy makes the location both a place to enjoy coffee and a training hub within Rotterdam’s coffee sector.

Giraffe Coffee Roasters describes its beans as originating from regions in Central and South America, Africa, and Indonesia. In its public stance, the roaster emphasizes terms such as sustainability, fair trade, transparency, attention to the farmer, and traceability. Leslie Vreugdenhil linked traceability to quality and sustainability, and highlighted long-term partnerships with producers as a growing trend.

Product information provides several concrete examples. The DECAF Condor lists Tolima in Colombia, Forest Coffee as the importer, Elias and Shady Bayter as the producers, and sugarcane decaf as the processing method. Fazenda Guardabaxo lists Brazil, Morgiana, natural process, and the context of Marco Guardabaxo’s farm. This includes mentions of a living wage, safe working conditions, and the use of biofuel for operations on the fazenda.

Giraffe Coffee Roasters and the bar on Hoogstraat appear in various publications about specialty coffee in Rotterdam and the Netherlands. The focus is on the roastery, the bar, the academy, the founders, and market developments within specialty coffee. The collaboration with WOEI on a honey-processed coffee from Yunnan, China, is also documented. No public award specifically won by Giraffe Coffee Bar & Academy is recorded in the available material.