Master of Coffee for 100 Years
The story begins with our Master Roaster and his passion for bringing coffee to life.
BEAN SELECTIONS
For the best coffee, you must use the finest beans. At Van Houtte®, we have sourced the finest Arabica beans from the same producers for decades - some haven’t changed since the time of Albert-Louis Van Houtte. Mutually trusting relationships such as this ensure that we always have access to the highest quality products. Our Master Roaster tastes each batch of beans to ensure they meet our quality standards. Upon arriving in Canada, the beans are subjected to a series of tests to assess their quality. And then they’re tested again. Only the best beans are roasted and end up in your cup.
THE ART OF ROASTING
Roasting is the most delicate stage in crafting a rich, flavorful cup of coffee. Done with expertise, it gets the most out of each bean. During roasting, the beans change colour, lose weight, and gain volume. The heat also helps bring out flavours and aromas. The darker the roast, the more the sugars and proteins caramelize, resulting in more bitterness and less acidity. We roast our coffee with traditional European small batch roasters, even though it’s more time-consuming than the industrial method. The result is a much more flavourful coffee. Albert-Louis Van Houtte’s expertise is still central to our process, and put to use through advanced equipment that offer absolute control of roasting temperature, cooling time, and humidity for each batch. Whether light, medium or dark, our beans can be roasted to the exact flavour we have in mind. A lighter bean will release a more pronounced acidity, while a darker bean offers a strong and bitter taste.
BLENDED TO PERFECTION
Our most famous blend dates back nearly a century. Blends combine beans of different origins and flavours to create a unique taste for each recipe. At Van Houtte®, we also create our blends after roasting, allowing full control of the flavour. This innovation, developed by Albert-Louis Van Houtte, also allows us to blend several types of roasts in one product. The Original House Blend, marketed for the first time in 1919, consists of three quarters light beans and one quarter dark.
A UNIQUELY RICH EXPERIENCE
All this attention to detail gives each coffee a unique flavour and character of its own. One sip and the passion and enthusiasm behind every bean inspires you. So we humbly invite you to brew yourself a cup. We think you’ll taste the difference. And you’ll agree that the Van Houtte® Master Roaster brings coffee to life.