Elevate Coffee Lab: Specialty Coffee in De Pijp, Amsterdam

Elevate Coffee Lab, De Pijp

There is a San Remo Racer behind the counter and an EK-43 next to it, and Ahmad Alshikh, former head roaster at Keen Coffee, knows exactly what both are capable of. Opened in October 2024, Elevate Coffee Lab is one of the more uncompromising coffee spaces to have arrived in Amsterdam in recent years.

The interior is sparse by design. Alshikh reportedly shaped much of it himself, and the restraint shows: clean lines, bar seating at the window, stools at the counter. No laptops. No sugar. The policy isn't a gimmick, it's a position. The idea is that you come here to drink coffee, and the environment is arranged to make that easier to do properly.

The menu rotates around microlots and competition-level lots sourced from Keen Coffee, DAK Coffee Roasters, and a changing cast of guest roasters. Recent offerings have included a Colombian Entre Montañas with orange, cranberry, and black tea in the cup, and a Keen Coffee Jaguara that lands somewhere between dark chocolate, cherry, and green olive, a combination that reads unusual on paper and makes complete sense in the glass. A Rwandan Mahembe has also featured on filter. The range shifts often enough that repeat visits rarely feel redundant.

Filter is where the programme earns most of its attention. Hand-brewed V60 on the EK-43 is the format that lets these lots show what they're doing, and Alshikh's background in roasting means the sourcing decisions are legible in the cup, you can taste the logic behind the choices. Espresso on the San Remo Racer is tightly controlled; milk drinks use Moma dairy or oat, kept simple.

Food runs to pastries and cakes, present but not the point. The back of the space is earmarked for a dedicated cupping lab and training room, with workshops and cupping sessions already part of the offering. If you want to talk through what's in your cup, Alshikh is usually there and worth engaging.

For visitors calibrating against the broader Amsterdam specialty scene, this sits at the more serious end, closer to a tasting room in its intent than a neighbourhood café. The 4.9 rating across 300 reviews suggests the regulars have clocked that too.