LFGSS Coffee deal with Pact Coffee

I'm going to have to eat my word ^^^^^ and agree with you 8ball.

I've REALLY enjoyed the bag Branwen kindly donated to me (said something about his arm being too tired to grind at the moment I think), which is sort of annoying as now I want to buy more...:/

Happily I'm still slurping my way through these Cuban bad boys...

IMG_1073 by alexecrawford, on Flickr

ooh! cuban!

yeah def gonna order more espresso

^ Enjoy!

Question for everyone: What are the best Christmas blends out there this year?

Or is that a contradiction in terms?

I'm not a coffee person but keep getting told I should as I eat coffee ice cream and chocolate things often but still order hot chocolates instead when friends go for coffee lol where should I start? Seems worth while giving "decent coffee" a try for £1 or at worst a friend ends up with a part used extra present at christmas lol

I cycle lots(weird I know) so collecting would be better than posting. Happy to fill the stuff in on the site then just cycle by before it goes in the post box.

It's nice working next door to the Pact coffee people
http://blog.pactcoffee.com/2014/01/19/the-ramifications-of-smelling-really-good/

Pact are now doing the first bag for free.

I just signed up with Pact, £1 for first bag using the voucher code. Trying out the Colombia La Joyeria.

Finally got round to trying this out, first bag being shipped tomorrow.

Yup, on my second bag.

First at a pound (discount code 'hello' works as well?) second at the regular rate. First was 'Indian Bibi', really liked it, second is a central american sounding bag (normally my thing) but not quite enjoying it the same.

Don't know about anyone else, maybe I don't drink ENOUGH coffee, but had to delay the second bag to approx 20/22 days after the first and I still had a few cup's worth of beans left. But their delivery scheduling page works really well with a nice concise email to follow it up and confirm before despatch, exactly how it should be done.

just signed up. better late than never.

You'll be their billionth customer then. They've grown hugely. Occupy almost a whole block at the biscuit factory and have upped their staff from 4 people to around 30 thus year. What a success..

^ good to hear they're doing well, a bag dropped through my door with this mornings post.

I'm still subscribed but I feel a bit guilty as there is a roaster/specialty beans place local to me, it's just that it's a destination shop (they don't deliver). And I'm lazy.

THANK FUUUUUUCK! Stuck in the flat working from home and waiting for a UPS delivery with not a scrap of coffee in the house. Postman knocks...bag of Pact. I swear I nearly shed a tear.

I think I have a coffee problem.

I would say that might be a problem you have there.

Its when you are down to your last handful of beans and you try to work out which coffee shop's brew you can stand until you can get more gold, I mean coffee

So.. Anyone who knows better than me able to make sense of this?

http://blog.pactcoffee.com/2014/07/03/not-fairtrade-and-proud/

I get what they're trying to say, but I'm not convinced. Should I be? There looks to be a bit of obfuscation there. Why did they say "average" at first, and then say, not, not average, always? Why do they discuss the relationship they have with their farmers and then say they will receive the first batch of independently sources beans in the next few months? They have questions, and simply say they'll answer them in the future... I'm not sure.

I was a bit confused by that post too.

Fair Trade creates inequalities within farming communities and the set prices don't fluctuate with the market. It's much better to just pay a fair wage.

Hasbean did a good blog about that I think?

Edit: Here's the end point of Hasbeans Direct Trade experiment

http://www.hasblog.co.uk/direct-trade-sucks

Its not the fairtrade bit that confused me. Its the fact that they have always claimed to independently source their beans and pay fairly whilst also getting to know the farmers. Sounds like they are just doing what they have always claimed to have done.

Awaiting my third bag. First two were pleasant enough although I generally prefer a much darker roast than either of them.

A side effect of this is that I end up using loads of coffee to try and replicate the strength of flavour I want and it runs out before the next delivery.

Can anyone recommend a good dark-ish roast so I can ask for it by name?

I've just suspended my next order. Partially because I don't think I'll be in the country in a few days, and also because I want to see how this fair trade thing plays out tomorrow. For 6 or 7 quid per 250g bag, I want some guarantees a chunk of that is being ethically used to support the farmers. Otherwise I'll go back to buying elsewhere in person (although I love having it delivered!).

Awaiting my third bag. First two were pleasant enough although I generally prefer a much darker roast than either of them.

A side effect of this is that I end up using loads of coffee to try and replicate the strength of flavour I want and it runs out befor ethe next delivery.

Can anyone reccomenf a good dark-ish roast so I can ask for it by name?

This seems to be a pretty standard complaint with third-wave coffee. Jay Rayner made the point with regard to espresso. I've found that I'm using loads of Pact coffee too (the other downside is that you find yourself vibrating from caffeine). To be honest I've not found that any of the Pact coffees are roasted dark enough to satisfy that craving and because they only have a small selection and they change their coffees so frequently, if you do find one you like you won't be able to get it the next month. I had some awesome dark roasts from Kopi and I'm considering giving them a try or exploring some of the hasbean coffees.

This seems to be a pretty standard complaint with third-wave coffee. Jay Rayner made the point with regard to espresso. I've found that I'm using loads of Pact coffee too (the other downside is that you find yourself vibrating from caffeine). To be honest I've not found that any of the Pact coffees are roasted dark enough to satisfy that craving and because they only have a small selection and they change their coffees so frequently, if you do find one you like you won't be able to get it the next month. I had some awesome dark roasts from Kopi and I'm considering giving them a try or exploring some of the hasbean coffees.

Hmmm thanks man. I think I'll give them one last go and maybe suspend and try one of those hasbean deals.

Hasbean roasts pretty light too. Darker roasts really don't happen much in speciality coffee because it kind of defeats the object, but there are some roasters that seem to roast a little less lightly, like Monmouth, Climpson, Volcano, Dark Fluid, Coleman, probably a bunch more. Generally though if you want dark roasts I'd avoid anything speciality/"third-wave" etc and stick to traditional stuff.