Single origin Sumatra coffee – a deep, dark and velvety coffee with a taste that lingers.

This time, instead of waiting for someone to send us some coffee, I actually went out and bought some.

Why? Because I wanted to write a little about Van Houtte, and review one of their coffees.

Van Houtte has been roasting coffee in my home town of Montreal for almost 100 years now.

In 1919 a French immigrant called Albert-Louis Van Houtte came to Montreal and opened a specialty food store. Over time the specialty food left the shelves and the focus zeroed in on coffee. Why? Probably because the coffee available in Montreal at that time left a little to be desired.

Anyway, over the decades Van Houtte grew and prospered, as did its reputation for fine, gourmet coffee.

Fortunately for me, I can now take my pick of their various coffees in all my local supermarkets, and most corner stores.

For today’s review, I chose their dark roast Sumatra coffee.

As always, I ground the beans immediately before brewing, and then left the coffee for two or three minutes to cool a little.

Generally, we like Sumatra coffees, and were eager to try this one.

As expected, it delivers a dark, deep taste profile. A touch of bitterness spreads out through your mouth, but without any unpleasant spikes.

It’s that evenness of taste that gives this Sumatra a very distinct, smooth feel. The bitterness fills your mouth, but softly. It’s like dark velvet.

My co-taster discerned a touch of citrus, which I couldn’t find. And then I tasted a hint of burned wood, which she couldn’t find.

But for both of us, this was a great coffee. It’s not terribly complex in its taste profile, but that single, velvety note lingers in your mouth and make for a great coffee experience.

You can learn more about this single origin Sumatra at Van Houtte Coffee.

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About the author: Nick Usborne, aka Coffee Detective, is a writer and long-time coffee enthusiast. Read more…