There is no country in the world like the Netherlands, which protects its land from the water, this is due to the fact that a large part of the Netherlands is located below sea level. Dykes were developed back in the 13th century, and after the construction of the Zeedijk, Amsterdam was no longer at risk to the potential floods that had threatened them for many years. Amsterdam was then developed into a thriving port and trading centre, the Zeedijk area is one of the oldest parts of Amsterdam and with its old cafes and shops, was later to become the entertainment area for sailors, and a storage area for many different cereals.

The unique recipe dates back to 1867, and was first discovered in archaeological excavations on the Zeedijk, the finest Dutch cereals with it advanced combustion process and pure Dutch recipe, makes the product VanDyck, ( from the dyck ) a unique and premium product. VanDyck either to drink pure, mixed, or on the rocks.

Café In ‘t Aepjen

The unique recipe dates back to 1867, and was first discovered in archaeological excavations on the Zeedijk Amsterdam, Café in the Aepjen (In ‘t Aepjen), Zeedijk 1 Amsterdam

In the Aepjen had two floors above the pub, there hung hammocks on large nails to the rafters of the floors. The wooden staircase upstairs is still present but no longer runs through. The spaces are occupied now through a hotel.

Why “in the Aepjen?”

The people who had visited the city in the 19th century, mostly sailors, had been months at sea to pick up trade. They drank, ate and slept in lodgements directly to the waterline.

Skippers and sailors who drank more than they were supposed to do good to settle their bill, they promised to bring the owners of the Café an animal. That could be any animal, but Café in ‘t Aepjen the monkeys were very popular.

The owner of the Café gave his establishment the name “In the Aepjen” because he had a lot of customers who are not paid in cash but with a monkey. Who sat in cages to entertain the visitors? Because many of these animals had fleas, which jumps on people, guests scratching like madness.At one point when people scratched they said, “you probably stayed in Café in the Aepjen”. The phrase ‘stayed in the monkey “comes from here. It basically means, “you have bad luck”.

The owner of the café in the Aepjen gave in 1838 the animals to his friend with a large garden in Amsterdam, this garden would later evolve into what we now know as Artis Zoo Amsterdam.

Café in ‘t Aepjen has still the same place and name, it has miraculously managed to survive several city fires, so who knows, this pilgrimage brings you luck, at least you can consume a wonderful VanDyck VODKA or VanDyck GIN.