Popular beers in Holland include Heineken, Grolsch and Amstel while wines from the Apostelhoeve and Slavante vineyards have gained some notoriety. A traditional Dutch spirit is Jenever – it is a straight gin that has a fiery taste.
There are many drinks that can be described as typically Dutch, the best-known being beer and jenever, hugely popular both in the Netherlands and abroad. In bars across the country, and at events and festivals, beer is a popular choice and if you ask, you are likely to find jenever too!
Jenever - the alcoholic beverage flavoured with juniper berries - is a traditional drink from the Netherlands. Jenever (also commonly spelled as genever) has a long history in the Netherlands.
Jenever / Genever
47% of alcohol. It is very typical for the Netherlands. There are two varieties of Jenever: Young – Jonge Jenever and Old – Oude Jenever. They differ not than much in aging, as in the distillation process, the use of infusion and the proportion of malt-wine.
Almost half of the Dutch drink alcohol every week. This makes the Netherlands one of the countries with the most regular drinkers. Although we are the most regular drinkers, we are not known as binge drinkers.
As of 2022, beer consumption accounted for the largest share of the total consumption of alcohol by consumers in the Netherlands.
It's safe to say Dutch people love their cup of tea, they drink about three cups a day on average and 90% of the population are tea drinkers. Wherever you go, you will hear the phrase “coffee or tea?”
There are 60 types of drinks within this section. The most well-known spirits and liquors from Holland are Jenever, Oranje Bitter, Corenwijn, Advocaat en Juttertje. Many of the Dutch spirits and liquors are quite strong, so we recommend trying these slowly over the course over a longer time period responsibly.
Dutch people drink about 74 litres of beer annually and are far exceeded by the Czechs at 132 litres pp. The Dutch drink beer in small glasses.
The consumption of alcohol is prohibited in the majority of public places in the city centre, but you are of course welcome to visit one Amsterdam's many bars. Never combine alcohol and drugs. For more information about health matters in the city, contact the Public Health Service of Amsterdam.
Well, as it turns out, they've taken a similar approach in the Netherlands. A broodje haring – herring, onions and pickles in a burger bun – is the quintessential Dutch hangover food.
Typical Dutch dishes are stamppot boerenkool (mashed kale), Hutspot (stew of potatoes and carrots), erwtensoep (split pea soup) and bruine bonensoep (brown bean soup). Food which isn't typically Dutch, but which is 'seen' as Dutch are dishes like nasi (Indonesian dish) and bami (Chinese dish).
The Dutch drink a lot of tea and coffee, which is served at more or less fixed times (eleven o'clock in the morning and three o'clock in the afternoon).
Another traditional Dutch liqueur is Advocaat, an alcohol made from eggs, sugar and brandy to create drinks like this charming effort. The word Advocaat means 'lawyer' in Dutch, and the name derived from the fact that is was popular with attorneys preparing for trials back in the 1800s.
Pale lager (pils)
Pale lager, in Dutch called pils, is without a doubt one of the most popular beers amongst Dutch people. Pale lager is a very pale-to-golden-coloured, bottom-fermented lager beer, developed in the mid-19th century. Heineken and Grolsch especially are well-known Dutch pale lager brands.
The British have their thee (tea), the Germans have their bier (beer) and the French have their wijn (wine). And the Dutch? The Dutch, they have their koffie (coffee). With an average of about 4 cups a day, the Dutch are one of the biggest coffee drinkers in the world.
On average, the Dutch drink 2.414 cups of coffee daily, or roughly equivalent to the amount of times you have to repeat your order for that barista to get it right during the morning rush. That's a lot of caffeine, and maybe more than you actually need.
The Dutch drink a lot of milk, eat a lot of cheese, and are now the tallest people in the world. Could there be a connection? The author of a new book on the Netherlands, Ben Coates, explains how the Dutch became not only voracious but also very discerning cheese eaters.
You'll have no problem finding a bar that has a nice selection of nice gins behind the counter. The Dutch prefer their gin with tonic and often there quite a few flavors of tonic one can choose from. In liquor stores, one can find some very exotic tonics of the likes of watermelon and strawberry.
The government runs awareness campaigns and passes laws to protect them. It is a criminal offence for anyone under 18 to have alcohol in their possession in public and selling alcohol to minors is illegal.
The summer vibes continue at Dutch Bros with its newest featured drink! The Blended Orangesicle Rebel is now available at all of its more than 600 locations. The Blended Orangesicle Rebel is Dutch Bros' exclusive energy drink infused with orange and vanilla flavors finished with Soft Top.
The Dutch drink tea without milk and the tea is quite a lot weaker than typical English or Irish types of tea which are stronger and are usually taken with milk. In Dutch bars, tea with freshly chopped ginger (verse gemberthee) or with fresh mint leaves (verse muntthee) or very popular.
In other countries where Dutch Coffee is gaining popularity rapidly, the method is sometimes referred to as ice drip coffee of cold drip coffee. In the Kyoto region in Japan the method is also known as Kyoto drip coffee.
1. Finland – 12 kg/26.4 lbs per capita. Fins consume a whopping 12 kilograms (about 26 pounds) of coffee per capita annually, making Finland the biggest consumer of coffee on earth.