The House Coffee & Sanctuary

I came in for the coffee, and came back for the community.
The coffee is tasty and the space is comfortable, but it’s the feeling of community at The House that really sets it apart.
Any aspiring musicians out there should definitely look up The House Coffee Sanctuary. Their open mic night was the first stage I set foot upon when I moved back to Calgary, and it introduced me to a whole assortment of music lovers and performers whom I still keep in touch with today!
They proudly showcase local art, both adding to the community feel of the place, and giving local artists an opportunity to sell their work.
It’s got a relaxed vibe throughout the day, and is a great space to read a book or get some work done. When there’s music, however, be prepared for standing room only. There’s a huge turnout to a lot of the shows!
I stopped by for a Red Latte today on Sabahat N.‘s recommendation, and she’s right. SO GOOD!

The house is one of my favorite coffee shops in all of Calgary. They have great staff and a relaxing atmostphere as well. My favorite drink is their chai latte. Everytime I go by the café I crave one. So delicious and the best one I’ve ever had!

The House Sanctuary is another great café in Kensington, one that sets itself apart as being a more community oriented café. I had the pleasure of speaking with these folks when I planned an event and they were very welcoming and pleasant. Their venue is a great spot for any speaking/​reading events given you abide by their respectable terms, seeing as most non-​profit orgs like sell liquor to expand their fundraising profits, the House won’t let that stuff near their place. The have a stage with an available sound system and projector.
Their coffee is great, done quite well without the use of dingy equipment or sloppy effort. I personally love their green tea matcha and have made this place a resting spot during my Kensington strolls. Though I hadn’t tried their food yet. Their window seating is one of the perfect people watching spots in Kensington :)

I’m surprised that the Kensington area doesn’t have more Third Wave Coffee shops like The House but it’s certainly a great start.
I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area so I’m spoiled by having incredible coffee like Blue Bottle, Ritual, Barefoot etc so when I visit the in-​laws here in Calgary I’m always on the hunt for good coffee.
While The House doesn’t quite stack up to my personal Calgary favorite — Phil & Sebastian it’s definitely in the Third Wave Coffee ilk.
Let’s do the technical details run down:
— Locally roasted coffee beans:
Check. They source from Fratello Coffee Roasters in Calgary
— Baristas with proper training on pulling espresso
Check
— Microfoam quality and Latte Art:
The barista who made our drinks poured a decent rosette. See picture of the cappuccino I uploaded.
Next time I’m in the Kensington area I would definitely go back to The House.

«Authority» keeps guard here, so this must be a fun one to review.
A friend was kicked out of this place for practicing ‘pagan’ rituals — she pulled out a deck of tarot cards and began ‘divining’. Whatever, the owner can do what he wants. Interesting point number two — when this business first opened, the permit in the window indicated that a Church Organization was going to be built. Hmmm, so this is what you can do if you only pay ‘church’ taxes…
…O.K. enough of the shenanigans. How is the business? Nice. For instance, they are very allowing of unusual behaviour, dress, et cetera. If you are young and can’t hang out anywhere, the House wants you to go there and hopefully become a member of the flock, so called. That’s cool. I am all for ‘false family’ organizations, secret societies, and the like.
But what do I think of the product? For food, passably edible. But the business name includes the excitingly debatable notion ‘Coffee’. So what is coffee like at the House? I will be honest and direct, for those of you who are not trained roasters. It’s Fratello coffee, so it’s ‘Fauxcal’ — meaning that the company’s marketing and advertising emphasizes the fact that it is a local company (in this case roasting the coffee), yet their secondary/​tertiary production is of a scale and order of magnitude operationally comparable to multinational corporate food production. Fratello’s are now Calgary’s coffee equivalent of Lakeside packers, or Cargill meats — geographically they are local, true. Yet operationally and gastrointestinally there seems to be nothing in common between the product Fratello’s produces and the product that specialty roasters such as Roasterie (10^th st. n.w. Calgary), or La Vieille (Rue Y. Laurent, Montréal) produces.
All one has to do is a taste comparison. Having done so a number of times, I congratulate Fratello on making a product nearly indistinguishable from Phil and Sebastian. In fact, Fratello’s espresso is more palatable than P&S’s. But to compare either businesses product to an actual micro-​roasted, local coffee is similar to comparing Black Diamond’s Hickory Smoked Processed Cheese to a farm-​sourced cold smoked Wensleydale. Different milks, even…
…on that note I conclude my humble analysis of The House Coffee & Sanctuary. I was going to give it two stars, because Jesus seemed like a pretty good example of how to live — then I realized that I’m reviewing a coffee shop, not a way of life. And they get their coffee from a manufacturer of ‘coffee pods’. Right up there with Nestle, Maxwell House and Kraft. Keep expanding, boys.

It has been a while since I wrote a review on The House, with the exception of the e-​zine that I am the editor of, but that review was not about their amazing comestibles.
Recently they have added some new single origin gems, all from local Fratello Coffee Roasters, that tickle the palate like little that I have cupped in a long time. In particular the Ethiopian Sidamo Ardi and the Nicaraguan Finca Limoncillo, Direct Trade, Micro-​Lot, Red Pacamara.
The Sidamo is a dry-​processed medium to full bodied light roated highly aromatic delight. When being ground the room fills with a nose of cocoa bean and that flavour profile follows through on the palate. Starting first with an espresso, without even having been dialed in properly, a sweet chocolately taste draped my tongue without even a hint of bitterness. It was as if it was impossible to ruin no matter how off the grind or extraction was. Once correct, it was a delight that produced a finish of peach and cocoa that lingered for some time. No bitterness whatsoever.
When cupped as a cappuccino, the milk supplanted the peachy profile with one of butterscotch on the front palate that evolved into a cocoa/​caramel on the finish. This is one of the best caps I have tried ever.
Pacamara is a hybrid bean developed by the Salvadorean Coffee Research Institute. It is a cross between Maragogype (the bean is the size of an elephant) and Pacas which is a mutation of the heirloom varietal known as Bourbon. It is a sturdy bean and HUGE. On the palate one is impressed with a citrusy sweetness accompanied with hints of caramelized brown sugar. Fratello claims maple syrup but my personal view is brown sugar. Regardless, this is fabulous coffee.
Unfortunately, both these coffees are very expensive and The House will only be serving this occasionally. If either happens to be in the hopper, then insist that this is what you be served.
The House has come a long way in the last year. Most of their staff are now properly trained in making great coffee and the ones who need training are not there alone. The sandwiches and soups are easy to take and the service is as good as one can expect.
Derrick, you listen to your customers and their needs and it shows in the improvements, considerable improvements, you have made. This one of my favourite places for coffee in the city.

I hadn’t been to the house in a LONG time but stepped in today (after an amazing lunch at Brasserie Kensington) and was thrilled to see Fratello beans in use– three vac pots with different varietals and what I assumed was Godfather or Black Jack for espresso. I didn’t see bagged beans so I asked if I could buy some; yes, says that very polite, friendly barista, and he bags me a pound of Fratello’s absolutely stunning CR Tarrazu for just $ 16. We get to chatting and I ask what they use for espresso– turns out it’s Competition Blend, absolute top-​shelf, so I get an espresso as well, made on an Elektra that’s seen better days but made professionally, beans ground to order, a very good shot indeed.
To say that Kensington is underserved in the coffee realm is an understatment. Higher Ground is a coffee disaster and so is Peppino’s; the chains are, well, chains. Right now The House is a shining beacon there and hope residents of Hillhurst and Sunnyside can appreciate what they have in this little gem. And for the record– yes, it’s a church-​affiliated coffeehouse, but no, they won’t proselytize and they absolutely welcome anybody of any faith tradition there.

Why I like the Sanctuary:
— The atmosphere
— Patrons who play their guitars and thus keep you entertained
— Their Red Latte (try it. you will LOVE it)
Great place to relax and meet up with friends!

This place is all about the atmosphere. It is relaxed, and they are pretty plugged into the calgary music scene.

First, let me just say that I love the whole philosophy of the House.
I forgot that I liked the House, until the other day I stopped in with a friend for lunch. Recently undergoing a pumpkin obsession, I jumped at the chance to try the Pumpkin Chai Latte that was on special.
Upon expressing that I was vegan to the gentleman assisting us, I was able to make alterations to the veggie sandwich to meet my needs, and luckily for me, the soup that day happened to be their only vegan as well. I did not assume there would be many options for me, but it seems I stepped in on a lucky day!
Chill atmosphere to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee or a quick lunch. Eclectic group of customers too, I would recommend going with a friend if you’d like company, but the amount of people coming in and out and the constant buzz would lend itself well to people watching if one came solo.

The name of this coffee house says it all, it is a complete sanctuary.
Since I was a kid I dreamed of having my very own Central Perk to hang out in and The House Coffee & Santuary is definitely the place to hang out with your friends and have a really great time.
In the morning it is a quiet place to sip coffee and check your email with their free wifi. By the time lunch rolls around, it becomes the local hang out for the college students and trendy business-​types who love their paninis.
And before you know it, it is night time and you would think HCS was a bar with its bustling clientel and loud conversations. If you get the chance, make sure you go on Thursday night for Open Mic night. I’ve always found it has a great way to discover new talent.
This place is the total package.

The House Coffee & Sanctuary definitely has character. With a host of events posted on their wall (like open mic nights on Thursdays), I prefer this spot to other coffee houses in Kensington because they’re attempting to be more than a coffee house.
The three star rating is because of my lunch experience there yesterday. A colleague and I stopped in while in the neighborhood on our lunch break. It was a mediocre experience at best. We had ordered paninis to go, and it was a solid 20 minutes from the time we walked in the door until we had our sandwiches in hand to head back out. For getting something ‘to-​go’, that was a bit too long. (I might add that there were only 2 other people ahead of us in the lineup and it wasn’t busy).
The paninis themselves were ok. I had the Mediterranean panini, but they forgot to include the tomatoes in my colleague’s tuna melt. The reason for the delay, it seemed, was that the paninis were being made from scratch (including the maker referencing an ingredients list to know what was supposed to go into the panini). Having some paninis prepared ahead of time that they can just stick right onto the grill could have helped.
Perhaps it was just an off day for The House Coffee & Sanctuary, they certainly still have my business for coffee with friends and I’ll be back to check out some of their events, but I think I’ll steer clear on a weekday during prime time lunch hour.

House Coffee Sanctuary proved to be much more of a haven for me than I had ever thought it would be. While I just had a matcha smoothie here, it’s a really comfy coffeehouse with pretty solid wifi. Nice place to cool down after walking around Kensington area. How the coffeehouse «saved» me was in my having to wait for a washroom. For you see, in my wait, I was spared walking in a sudden summer Alberta storm last Monday, in which pretty large hailstones pounded the streets, the buildings, and afterward, much rain. The barista thought his music was on much too loudly, but in fact, after seeing other coffeehouse patrons gathering by the windows, he realized this was something much bigger. So for my «saving», extended stay, I had a really good berry scone, much more moist than I expected; a great accompaniment to surfing the web while waiting out the inclement weather. Perhaps at some point, I’ll get to try more of the offerings of The House Coffee Sanctuary, bad weather or not.

In many ways The House is a typical café, with standard café fare, but relative to other places I’ve been to in town it stands out for the following:
— Excellent soup and sandwich! The ham-​and-​cheese was basic but super-​fresh, with quality ham, cheese, and bread. The soup, a nine-​vegetable Moroccan the night I was there, was delicious and as substantial as the sandwich. The combo was a good deal at under $ 8 with tax.
— Community events, which include an open mic on Thursday nights that I’ll be checking out sooner rather than later. There may also be a board game night (if anyone reading this wants to play Scrabble sometime, let me know!), and on weekends there is live music.
Unfortunately, the decaf Americano I had was unimpressive. I’m hoping this was an aberration, and will return to find out.

I’m definitely feeling this place.
I stopped in earlier this week after a long day at work. What I LOVED about this place is that when I walked in, pretty much everyone smiled at me. Plus it wasn’t packed, unlike the Second Cup around the corner.
I ordered a coffee and a square and both were DELICIOUS. I was pretty surprised at how reasonable the prices were. A lot cheaper than a number of the big coffee chains in the city.
The service was friendly, efficient and helpful, and the atmosphere of the place made me want to stick around for a little longer than expected.
This place has got a super cool vibe and I’m super glad I’ve discovered it. Do yourself a favour and stop on by!

I was attracted to House simply because of its design graphic, I am funny that way.
I went to meet our web designer there for a meeting and he was a little late, so I decided to have something to eat while waiting. I decided on a cup of soup and a sandwich for 7.95 which was what I had spent on a small sandwich down the street at Higher Ground.
All in all service was good, the food was very nice, not too pricey and my coffee was under two dollars and delicious. The House sells and serves fair-​trade & organic coffee as well as a great variety of organic loose leaf teas, fresh baking, soup & sandwiches and specialty cold beverages including smoothies!
I guess House is a non-​profit coffee house run by the First Alliance Church in Calgary to bring people together in the community of Kensington. For this reason at House you will find certain events happening on certain nights, Monday nights are for classic board games, on Thursday nights expect an open mike night, Friday and Saturday come down for live music and on Sundays get in on some Bridge talk.
The House also sponsors on Wednesday a community night offering bowls of chilli at the Hillshurst/​Sunnyside Community Centre. Have I sold you yet? If so come over to my HOUSE in Kensington