A Dutch flair for Italian espresso

Strange but true: although you'll never find a coffee tree growing in the Netherlands, this country is still a major player in the coffee industry. Here, it's not about plantations but roasting facilities. The Netherlands has been roasting coffee since the 16th century when the ships of the Dutch East India Company brought the first coffee from 'the East'. But coffee roasting seldom reaches such heights of perfection as it does with Royal Taste Coffee where Frederique Thiessens is a coffee tasting professional as well as a coffee connoisseur whose opinion counts in the Netherlands. And she has a very high opinion of a certain leading brand: Fioresso.

It’s no accident that the Netherlands enjoys such a prominent position in the European world of coffee. Similar to the Port of Antwerp, the Port of Rotterdam is one of our continent’s largest ports of landing. All of the coffee sold in Europe once entered the continent at the Port of Rotterdam or came ashore just a few dozen kilometres to the south of it in Belgium. From these two ports, the coffee in its traditional jute bales is transported to the large warehouses specialised in coffee. Here, it’s ready to be sold to specialised coffee roasting companies.

Master coffee taster
No, Royal Taste Coffee isn’t one of the largest coffee roasting companies in the Netherlands. But this is exactly what this company in the town of Soest doesn’t want to be: a company that roasts coffee for the general public. Instead, Royal Taste Company together with Frederique Thiessens is looking only for the epitome in coffee. For the ultimate taste sensation of sitting in a sidewalk café in Umbria where the espresso seems to come from heaven itself. It was there that Jack, Fioresso’s founder, was looking for the perfect coffee roasting company for providing this kind of experience. A company that is impassioned, small-scaled, and not easily satisfied.

Coffee for the better hospitality establishments
All of this has lead to making Royal Taste Coffee a company which is primarily specialised in coffee for the better hospitality establishments. Royal Taste has assembled people who, like Frederique Thiessens, appreciate an exclusive product. These are coffee connoisseurs with years of experience.

Although the ability to really appreciate an espresso requires a bit of tasting aptitude to begin with, coffee tasting can also be learned. This is why potential professional coffee tasters participate in sensory training activities.

Panels of experts taste Fioresso
As you might expect, judging the flavour of coffee always involves a certain amount of subjectivity. This is why this important step is never left up to just one person. At Royal Taste Coffee, the staff regards the opinions of several colleagues in ‘panels of experts’ who also judge Fioresso’s products. Some think that all professional coffee tasters are men. Not true! Actually, researchers have known for years that women often have a better developed ability to ‘dissect’ the flavours in coffee.

This makes Royal Taste Coffee an important link in the Fioresso concept – one that’s responsible for the steady flow of new flavours that will start being introduced in the near future.

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