About Mok Specialty Coffee Roastery
MOK Specialty Coffee Roastery is a specialty coffee roaster founded in 2012 by Jens Crabbé in Leuven, Belgium. Operating under the ethos of 'honest, remarkable & uncompromising,' it has grown to multiple café locations and has been named 'Belgium's poster child of great specialty coffee' by The Coffeevine.
About
Founded in 2012 by Jens Crabbé in Leuven, Belgium, MOK Specialty Coffee Roastery operates under a self-declared ethos of being "honest, remarkable & uncompromising." From its origins as a single café in Crabbé's hometown, MOK has grown into one of Belgium's most recognized specialty roasters, built on long-term producer relationships and an insistence on full traceability at every step of the supply chain.
The Leuven café on Diestsestraat was MOK's starting point in 2012, establishing an early benchmark for specialty coffee in a city better known for beer. Four years later, MOK moved into a former art gallery on Brussels' Antoine Dansaertstraat — a neighborhood already synonymous with independent creative culture — and opened what became its flagship store. A third outpost, MOK Studio, has since opened in the lobby of Belgian record label PIAS, positioning itself explicitly as a listening and coffee bar.
MOK roasts on a Probat UG22 monitored via Cropster. Sourcing philosophy centers on working with the same farmers year after year, with a stated emphasis on growers who prioritize quality through sustainable practices rather than volume. The roster currently spans Ethiopian naturals and washed lots (including an espresso from Sukequto), Brazilian espresso blends calibrated for both manual and super-automatic machines, and washed Kenyan single origins such as the Kiamutuira AB. MOK collaborates on equipment-adjacent products as well, including an immersion coffee bag developed with Spanish filter paper specialist Sibarist. Wholesale accounts extend to independent cafés and restaurants across Europe.
In the Press
Third-party coverage of Mok Specialty Coffee Roastery.
- The Coffee Vinethecoffeevine.com/blog/mok-belgiums-poster-child-of-great-specialty-coffee
- World's 100 Best Coffee Shopstheworlds100bestcoffeeshops.com/locales/mok-coffee
- Kofiowww.kofio.co/mok-specialty-coffee-roastery/about-us
Coffee & Beans Review
The Coffeevine named MOK "Belgium's poster child of great specialty coffee" and has featured Jens Crabbé and his team across multiple subscription box editions — notable recognition in a newsletter that reaches a self-selecting audience of serious coffee buyers across the continent. MOK also appears in The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops, one of the more systematic attempts to rank specialty venues globally. Internally, the roastery has described itself as a "coffee microbrewery" — a framing that signals craft-scale production and an artisanal sensibility more than any literal brewing process.
The Brussels flagship at Antoine Dansaertstraat 196 is worth visiting for its atmosphere alone: an open-bar layout with a rear zone for laptop workers, house-baked pastries, and a seasonal vegetarian breakfast and lunch menu. Staff rotate coffee recommendations based on what's current, and guests can buy whole beans to take home with brewing guidance. The Leuven original at Diestsestraat 165 runs two rotating single origins on a La Marzocco PB alongside multiple hand brew options, with in-house pastries and a terrace that catches afternoon sun. For those outside Belgium, MOK ships filter and espresso subscriptions from its website starting around €18.50 with national shipping included.
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