Excursion S.a.l.t. coffee : le havre’s black gold tour at Honfleur

Mix history and awakening of the senses in Le Havre, city who’s trade history has been linked to the Coffee industry for decades. Le Havre’s Coffee Exchange was once worldly renowned alongside New-York and London. Whether you are a curious novice or a true coffee enthusiast, this experience is an opportunity to (re)discover the art and taste of this famous bean: Coffee.

Spend the day with Bruno Michaut, grandson of the founder of the “Café Charles Danican” brand. You will learn to understand coffee, its history, its link with the city of Le Havre and how to truly savor and appreciate its famous nectar.

Les Jardins Suspendus

Start at the beginning, by visiting a coffee greenhouse at Le Havre’s Jardin Suspendus. There, you will enter a greenhouse where real coffee plants of more than 3 meters high have been implanted (a rather uncommon thing in France) while learning how the coffee beans are grown and produced.

Visit of the « Brûlerie Le Havre de Grâce »

Your experience continues with the next step in the coffee making process: roasting. As you arrive at the family owned Brûlerie “Le Havre de Grâce”, founded back in 1967, your senses will immediately be awakened by the smell of roasted coffee beans. You will have the privilege to visit the factory and see the behind the scenes of roasting coffee.

You will even step into the shoes of a coffee roaster as you create your own coffee blend, package it to have you own personalized packet of coffee to bring back with you.

Coffee Tasting  

Then discover the last step: the preparation and tasting. You will be taken through a coffee tasting harnessing all your olfactory and gustatory senses. After visualizing the beans and smelling the various smells a coffee can hold, you will taste different types of coffee, including one of the most prestigious coffees, prized worldwide: the Blue Mountain. Similar to a great vintage, the Blue Mountain is that type of coffee you might only have the opportunity to taste once in your life.

Take advantage of some free time in the shop to purchase some of the Danican coffee to bring with you.

On your way back to the pier, catch sight of the “Docks Vauban”. A shopping center nowadays, these long brick warehouse built between 1846 and 1884, used to store coffee. Today, if those docks are not directly linked to the coffee trade anymore, the memory of this era is reminded every two years, in the basin behind those docks, when the boats competing for Transat Jacques Vabre, are stationed before the start of the race that retraces the coffee route from Le Havre to Brazil.

Points of interests

Points of interest seen on this excursion include: Le Havre, Les Jardins Suspendus, Visit of the « Brûlerie Le Havre de Grâce », Coffee Tasting

Note

Please Note: This tour involve a moderate amount of walking of approximately 1 kilometre at times over uneven ground, therefore it is not recommended to guests with mobility difficulties or wheelchair users.