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Part of enjoying coffee is also knowing where it comes from. This video shows the numerous steps the coffee cherry goes through in its country of origin before reaching us. A fantastic journey! 

Everyone loves the unique aroma of freshly roasted coffee. And there is a singular beauty to a roasted coffee bean – glossy and brown as mahogany, its curves as smooth and perfectly proportioned as any sculpture by Brancusi.

But how does it get that way?

And what exactly happens to change a dull, inert green coffee bean into something so sensual and so richly aromatic?

Roasting a coffee bean creates an immensely complex metamorphosis, and the skills of the roaster include the timing of an artist as well as a scientist’s precise appreciation of the process.

Imagine you were a green coffee bean, freshly arrived in Montreal, cozy in a burlap sack with some tens of thousands of your brethren. Into the roaster you go…

The first thing that happens is that you lose your moisture, sweating down to less than three percent water. As you dry out, you expand, expressing this first, unexpected change with a crackle of appreciation. You lose your green pallor and turn a handsome yellow-brown colour. As your core temperature rises to 200^oC, strange chemical reactions begin inside you. Molecular structures break down and reform into volatile compounds. Suddenly you realize that at last you have started to smell like coffee.

It doesn’t end there. The heat rises and your carbohydrates start to oxidize producing carbon dioxide. Some of the gas is lost but some is retained, a useful natural protection for any roasted bean against the dangers of degradation from oxygen. A glance in the mirror… Wow! By now you have nearly doubled in size. Your surface is smooth but inside you are porous and brittle. Your natural sugars are caramelizing; new carbohydrates are forming, completely different from those you knew in your green youth. Your fats are changing too, eking out as a glossy oil that coats your skin. The longer you stay in the roaster, the more weight you lose and the deeper and darker your personality becomes.

Then the roaster decides that enough is enough. You emerge from the heat a new bean, tanned and beautiful, strong in your aromatic glory, desirable… Your past is not totally lost. There are still hints and nuances of the plantation where you grew up, on some hillside half way around the world. You are still you, but transformed and empowered by the elemental fire, like a child turned into a mighty athlete. Our eyes close with pleasure as we sniff you, imagining the pleasure you will give when we have released all that potential into a cup.

You who are about to be brewed, we salute you!

In 1919, Albert-Louis Van Houtte purchased a gourmet store in which he was selling fine products. In 1929, he purchased a specialty roaster from New York City and brought it back to his shop in Montreal. From selling fine products to fine coffees, Van Houtte packaging and advertisements have evolved throughout the years. Here are some of our most exclusive souvenir pieces. 

Here is the original menu from Albert-Louis Van Houtte’s first store in Montreal. You can see the variety of products available on his shelves: Marseille soap, Vichy water, coffees, teas, Peugeot coffee grinders, four different types of coffee makers, Dijon mustard, olive oil, etc.

Albert-Louis’ first store in Montreal featured imported tea, coffee and spices. The name Hussenot is the former owner from whom Albert-Louis purchased the business. This picture was taken on December 18th, 1919, the day Albert-Louis proudly became the owner of the store. 

One of our very first coffee ads promoting Van Houtte coffee and the two stores we had at the time: one in Montreal and one in Quebec City. The ad states “To get a delicious coffee every time, use Van Houtte coffees”. This statement is still true today!

The old Van Houtte delivery truck

The launch of one of our very first Van Houtte Café-Bistros in Montreal in the early 1980’s. 

What our packaging used to look like.

Van Houtte’s House Blend is one of our most popular coffees and a key reason for our success today. But how did it come about? What are the distinctive qualities that make it unique?

Albert-Louis Van Houtte had purchased a gourmet grocery store in 1919, which sold fine European products and a large quantity of French imports in Montreal. Coffee beans, which were roasted by an external roaster, were also sold in the store.

The coffee was acceptable but nowhere near the European taste that he loved so much. Albert-Louis then asked the roasting company to roast the coffee darker to achieve the taste of European black coffee. However, the coffee was never dark enough – or good enough! – and Albert-Louis concluded that he had no choice but to roast it himself.

In 1929, Albert-Louis travelled from Montreal to New York by bus to buy a roaster from Jabez-Burns , who had invented and patented a new type of coffee roaster. Once Albert-Louis returned to Canada, he began to roast his own coffee at the back of his shop and started to sell this coffee to his customers.

Unfortunately, it didn’t go over as well as he had hoped. His customers were not pleased with the intense flavour of his dark coffee as many were used to drinking lighter coffee. It was Albert-Louis’ persistence, which led him to try adding light roast coffee to his dark roast (something that had never been done before) to please his customers’ palate and get them slowly used to more intense flavours. After lots of trial and error and customer input, Albert-Louis achieved the perfect flavour and taste that would make his customers happy: ¾ of light roast coffee with ¼ of dark roast coffee. The “Blend of the House” was born, later known as the Van Houtte House Blend!

The Van Houtte House Blend went on to become so famous that people began to line-up out the door for this delicious coffee. Some even travelled from as far away as Quebec City by horse and buggy just to purchase this unique blend of coffee. From this success, Albert-Louis goes on to open a second store in Quebec City just to keep up with the demand.

 Is the Original House Blend  one of your favourite?