Friedhats Coffee is a micro roastery based in the Bos en Lommer quarter of Amsterdam. It is run by two professionals who are among the top world leaders in the coffee scene- however, you wouldn't have been able to guess that a couple of years back.
Lex Wennekler wanted to be either a lawyer or a professional climber. But then around 2010 he started making espresso at home on his manual lever coffee machine, and before he knew it, he founded De Espressobus in 2011- a Citroen HY food truck which he drove around festivals - and finally he started roasting himself. He opened an espresso bar and his own roastery- Headfirst Coffee Roasters.
Let's leave Lex to his coffee roasting at Headfirst for now, and tell you the story of the second founder: Dylan Sedgwick. Dylan comes from a small island near Australia. His original dream was to make a name for himself in music and sound production, but in 2007 he started working in Australia as a repairman for coffee machines. He moved to London, where he continued his work until 2014 when he moved to Amsterdam and started working - you wouldn't guess - at Headfirst Coffee Roasters!
Even G. R. R. Martin would have been proud to have imagined such an intertwining of life paths! Lex and Dylan worked together for two years, but then Headfirst had to be closed down, and so they both embarked on the opening of their Friedhats micro-roastery. Lex was meanwhile also succeeding nationally and globally: in 2015, 2016 and 2018 he became the Dutch Barista Championship, in 2016 he even won the World Barista Championship and in 2018 scored second. But he still really likes rock climbing and does so at any opportunity.
Together, they continue to grow and develop their roastery and strive to bring people the highest possible quality- in all aspects. They seek to fairly compensate farmers, to do their best at achieving sustainability. Their crazy coloured bottles, in which they sell their beans, are available to be reused, following their motto: "reuse, refill and at very last recycle". And all under their slogan: "Less marketing, more coffee."
