Montréal coffee roasters
Mayssam Samaha
This article was updated on February 10, 2023.
The proliferation of independent coffee shops in Montréal has been increasing in the past few years. Therefore, Montréal is now seeing an increase in micro and Nano coffee roasters. Most of these local roasters purchase their beans at the source by visiting producers or buying from private imports or cooperatives when it’s not possible. Below is a list of some of the roasters who are offering more depth and knowledge with every cup (and as a bonus, they sell their coffee online!).
Saint-Henri micro-torréfacteur
3662 Notre-Dame Street West (and other locations) | Website
Saint-Henri micro-torréfacteur is one of the first coffee roasters in Montréal. It roasts and serves coffee and sustenance to its legion of fans at its state-of-the-art headquarters in the Mile-Ex or at any of its 8 coffee shops. It also offers several courses, from home coffee making to more professional ones.
Le Brûloir
318 Fleury Street West and 8485 Saint-Laurent Blvd. | Website
Le Brûloir has been around for almost a decade now. Its Ahuntsic roasting “Labo” strives to roast the best beans, which it serves at its two charming cafés as well as at quite a few spots around town, such as Café Bloom, Pâtisserie Bicyclette, Arhoma and more. Keep an eye on its social media channels for its cupping events. You can purchase its coffee from its website. Le Brûloir delivers for free in Laval and certain Montréal neighbourhoods.
Dispatch
4021 Saint-Laurent Blvd. (and other locations) | Website
What started out as Montréal’s first coffee truck is now a brick-and-mortar business with three shops in Montréal and one in Toronto, a roaster and a coffee subscription program through its site. Dispatch is committed to building a sustainable future for coffee since the current demands and climate change are looking ominous for the plant and the people who harvest it.
Café Pista
500 Beaubien Street East (and other locations) | Website
Café Pista started out as a mobile bicycle coffee service powered by human stamina. It now counts a lab and three shops serving a sustainable cup and beautiful food. It started roasting its own sourced beans at the Canadian Roasting Society in November 2018 but has since moved to its own facilities. You can taste its beans at its café or purchase them online via its website.
Zab and Paquebot Café
Paquebot Café - 2010 Bélanger Street (and other locations) | Website
The partnership between micro-roaster Zab and independent Paquebot Café is a dreamy one resulting in one of the best cups of coffee in Montréal, and isn’t that what it’s all about? The passionate partners’ carefully selected beans are prepared with perfection at all the Paquebot locations. You can also purchase their coffee or a subscription on their website.
Barista
111A de Louvain Street | Website
If you’re a café aficionado in Montréal, you’ve probably already tasted Barista’s roasted beans. It specializes in white label, 100% custom made blends designed for specific cafés. Barista also has a café of its own in Ahuntsic. You can purchase Barista beans, coffee subscriptions or a coffee course at the National Barista Institute.
94 Celcius
94 Celcius started roasting in its Ahuntsic facility in 2017. They select growers that work with the same rigorous ethical philosophy. You can taste its coffees at Café Hélico, Mollo, or Saison des pluies, among others. You can purchase its coffees from its site, where it also sells cascara, the dried coffee cherry that is often discarded but makes an excellent tea or addition to drinks.
Kittel atelier de café
5500 Fullum Street, Suite 105 | Website
Named after founder Guillaume Kittel-Ouimet, Kittel atelier de café has been roasting carefully selected beans in its Rosemont workshop since 2011. You can find its coffee in many Montréal shops and cafés, including Café Rosé, Tunnel and the Bernice pastry shop. It delivers its coffee by bicycle and does free cupping events that are open to the public every first Friday of the month.
Café 8oz. Torréfacteur
57 rue St-Zotique East | Website
Café 8oz. started out as a café in Rosemont. The young team has since ventured roasting in small batches and grown to two coffee shops. All their coffees are ethically sourced.
Balance Torréfacteur
1100 Rue de l'Église | Website
Located in Verdun, Balance Torréfacteur has been around since 2017. This small batch roaster’s mission is to offer accessible quality coffee to everyone.
Binocle
5333 Avenue Casgrain, suite 603A | Website
Binocle is the “first 100% carbon neutral coffee in Quebec”. Their mission is to offer exceptional, fair trade, 100% carbon neutral coffees, sold in biodegradable bags and delivered by eco-friendly ways. And so far, they’re accomplishing all that and more!
Humble Lion
904 Sherbrooke Ouest and 1204 McGill College | Website
Humble Lion is another establishment that started as a café in the downtown core and has evolved into two cafés and a roasting business. Their beans are available online or at their coffeeshops.
Pigeon
Several locations | Website
The self-deprecating café started out at its first location downtown by proclaiming to serve the “world’s worse coffee”. Fast forward a few years and Pigeon now counts three coffeeshops and its own small batch beans.
Komma Rosta
5300 rue Wellington | Website
Located on Wellington Street in Verdun, Komma Rosta is micro roaster and a café all in one. The cozy and welcoming café is deploying many strategies to be as sustainable and responsible as possible. They also specialize in Japanese food.
Locomotive Torréfaction
The nice people behind Locomotive believe that “coffee should be a unique moment that we have the privilege to experience every day”. The beans they use come from small farms and are chosen carefully for their quality, their sustainability and the fairness of the work conditions.
Café Kujira
2210 De Lorimier Avenue and 4250 Rue Augustin-Frigon | Website
Café Kujira is an artisanal roasting company that combines Japan’s art of precision with Montréal’s relaxed attitude to create a unique work ethics. They choose the beans according to taste and terroir. You can try their coffees at their two shops, or you can purchase their beans online.
Narval
Narval is a new micro-roaster founded by a sister and brother team who were inspired by their father to start this project. They have exceptional coffee blends as well as single origin beans. Their beans come in beautifully designed cans.
Balam Sacred Coffee Roasters
Balam means “jaguar” in Mayan. The founder of Balam chose this symbol because of the Mayan’s belief that the jaguar is the kind of the jungle and protector of crops. Balam buys directly from the coffee producers for a more sustainable practice.
Trillium Coffee Roasters
Trilliun Coffee is a new Montréal-based micro roaster named their first espresso blend after Wellington Street’s Pavillon Snack bar, where you can taste these as well as other Trillium beans.
Café Larue et Fils
Several locations | Website
Café Larue et Fils started with one coffee shop in Villeray that grew to become a much-loved fixture in the neighbourhood. They opened a second Villeray location as well as one in La Petite Patrie before starting their own roasting. You can taste (and buy) their beans at their cafés as well as at Merci La Vie.
JUNGLE
JUNGLE’s mission is to make specialty coffee accessible to everyone. You can find Jungle coffee at Yo & Co Espresso Bar, Pastel Rita, Le Elsdale and many more shops. Orders placed on their website are delivered within 24 to 48 hours.
Za & Klo Les Torréfactrices
Founded by two women, Elizabeth and Chloé, whose “love language is coffee”, Za & Klo coffees are a reflection of their opposing tastes, fruity and acidic or more earthy. No matter what your preference is, you’ll find it among their blends.
Colorfull Coffee Corp
Colorfull sell limited-edition beans in very atractive bags and when they run out, they run out, until the next creation. You can pre-order their next beans on their website.
Ambros
Founded in 2020, Ambros is pasionalte about the ritual of coffee. They offer several blends as well as single origin beans. They also have a blend adapted for making Greek coffee and compatible Nespresso pods filled with their own coffee.
Shaughnessy Café
1455 Lambert-Closse | Website
Shaughnessy Café is located on the west side of the downtown core. It started out as a café, but it now also does small batch roasting. They sell their coffee in compostable bags, with compostable labels, and ship in compostable packaging. You can taste their beans at their café or buy some on their website.
Union Microlot
148 Jean-Talon Ouest | Website
Café Union is well-known by all coffee drinkers in Montréal. Union Microlot is their new specialty coffee branch where they explore the world of small batch roasting and the promotion of more sustainable growing practices.
Brûlerie Aux Quatre Vents
Marché Atwater & Marché Jean-Talon | Website
With one shop within the Atwater Market and another at the Jean-Talon Market, Brûlerie Aux Quatre Vents has been roasting coffee for the past 20 years. They sell a great variety of blends and have specific recipes that they’ve created.
The Canadian Roasting Society co-roasting facility
3780 Saint-Patrick Street | Website
The Canadian Roasting Society was founded by Andrew Kyres (Tunnel Espresso) and Scott Rao (consultant and founder of Myriade). The Verdun space counts state-of-the-art roasters that allow micro and nano roasters to roast their own beans without incurring the cost of buying the pricey equipment. It’s also a space to mingle, share and learn from like-minded individuals who are just as passionate about the business of producing the best cup of coffee in the most sustainable way possible. Kyres and Bao’s great reputations in the coffee industry have helped in ushering a few of Montréal’s cafés and micro-roasters to become members of the CRS.
CANAL ROASTERS and, of course, Tunnel Espresso Bar (co-founder Andrew Kyres’ café) are members of the CRS.
Traffic
Traffic roast micro and Nano lots and were the first roasters to commit to the Canadian Roasting Society right from the beginning. You can taste their coffee at Café Caron, Mano Cornuto, Chez Popo and more. You can also purchase its beans via their website.
Structure Coffee Roasters
460 McGill Street | Website
Structure Coffee Roasters started roasting at Kaito in Hudson in 2018 before eventually moving to the Canadian Roasting Society facilities. You can find their coffee at their own Old Montréal spot as well as at some of the city’s best cafés, such as Café In Gamba, DREAMY, Cordova and Café Chez Téta as well as on their website.
Escape
1420 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
Established in Montréal since August 2018, Escape has been present in New Zealand for the past 10 years (established by one of the founders’ brother). They’ve been roasting at the Canadian Roasting Society since its opening. Escape practices the green ways it preaches by sourcing sustainable beans, shipping them only locally within Québec (and delivering by bike on the island of Montréal) and packaging them in compostable bags.
Le Club
3801 St-Denis | Website
Le Club combines the passion for coffee with the passion for biking in their Plateau Mont-Royal shop. They create single origin roasts inspired by Montréal’s coffee world and named after some of its iconic bike path such as Camillien or Lachine.
Melk
5612 Monkland Avenue and 1206 Stanley Street | Website
What started out as a café a decade ago has now transformed into two shops and a roasting endeavour at the Canadian Roasting Society. Melk is committed to working with growers who share their commitment to the environment and to their workers. They use only organic beans that they pack up in compostable bags.
Sensory House
Sensory House’s founder's coffee journey started by volunteering with reforestation projects in Africa and South America where he learned about coffee farming and processing.
Micro Espresso
417 Rue Saint Pierre, Suite 102 | Website
Mostly known for their tiny shop serving exceptional coffee in Old Montréal, Micro Espresso roasts their coffees every week in small batches to ensure that every bag you buy is fresh.
Mayssam Samaha
Mayssam Samaha is a food and travel writer and blogger and the founder behind the blog Will Travel for Food. She travels the world in search of the next culinary discovery. From Iceland to South Africa, she’s already visited over 36 countries and there’s nothing she enjoys more than wandering around a farmers’ market in a foreign city. She is also the founder of the SAISONS intimate dinner series highlighting Québec products and chefs.