Take Five Espressobar has two coffee bars in Ghent, one by De Krook and one in the city centre, with jazz playing in the background. It serves espresso and pour-over, specialty tea, homemade cold drinks, and breakfast in both bars; the bar by De Krook adds lunch. Neither takes reservations.
The coffee comes from De Witte Zwaan, a family roastery founded in 1902 by Pieter-Jan’s great-great-grandfather and based in Eeklo since 1928. Pieter-Jan, the fifth generation, runs it with Nele. Take Five chooses the origins with its roaster by harvest season, and the chalkboard gives the origin and brew method of the pour-over. The espresso is served as an espresso, doppio or long black, or in milk drinks such as the macchiato and cortado; the bar by De Krook adds batch brew and a nitro cold brew. The cold brew is a single-origin Kenya, steeped for at least twelve hours.
Breakfast runs from croissants and bread baskets to boiled eggs and yoghurt with granola and fruit, and the tea list covers white, green, oolong, black and pu’er teas, with organic infusions.
Coffee on the shelf
- De Witte Zwaan family roastery in Eeklo, founded in 1902
Photograph: Take Five Espressobar