Black & Bloom

Black & Bloom was founded by Gerben Engelkes on August 2, 2012, after several years running two locations of a coffee franchise in Groningen starting in 2008. Two SCAE (Speciality Coffee Association of Europe) courses pushed him toward an independent operation with full creative control over sourcing and roasting rather than a franchise format. The shop buys specialty-grade, single-origin coffee bought in season from producers worldwide, with a stated goal of becoming a leading specialty-coffee source within Groningen's coffee culture. Espresso runs through a Synesso machine, and filter coffee is served through Hario, Kalita, and Aeropress methods, giving the bar several ways to show the same beans. Freshly roasted bags of coffee and tea ship nationally through the webshop, with free delivery over fifty euros, and the beans themselves have placed in Dutch national roasting and brewing competitions. The result is a small-city roaster built around one person's move from franchise management to hands-on sourcing and roasting — a bar in Groningen city center where the equipment and the season-driven bean list are as much the point as the espresso and filter drinks themselves.