LFGSS Coffee deal with Pact Coffee

Rave do an old school super dark roast called the Italian Job. Its very good.

I still haven't quite overcome my disappointment that this thread isn't called 'LFGSS Coffee Pact'.

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.

I'm not after "liquid plimsols" dark. My favourite is the Monmouth colombian medium roast. I'd get hooked up to a drip of that if I could.

If you want dark old school roast best to try geezer up in Camden, he roasts his beans hard!

Chap on Delancey St? Yeah, his santos dark and his continental roast will tickle your fancy. Daaaaaaaark. Only about £3 a bag too.

Good news re: Pact:

**Our sourcing Pact
**In roughly six months time, 95% of our coffee will be independently sourced by Will (our Head of Coffee). This means that we can make the journey from bean to cup more transparent than ever. For every coffee we buy direct from the farmer, we will publish how much over the Fairtrade rate we have paid and guarantee that this percentage will always be higher than 25%. These figures will be externally audited by KPMG, so you don’t just have to take our word for it. In addition, we will generally post more about the farms and our farmers (including a selfie or two from Will).

http://blog.pactcoffee.com/2014/08/01/the-pact-ethical-coffee-forum/

Bah, cancelled my account. Fourth bag was the fourth one that was far too lightly roasted for my tastes. Plus, totally not PACT's fault, but with the vaguaries of the mail system in this creaking behemoth of a building, stuff would get despatched on Monday but not turn up at my desk till Friday. That meant that it would often be over a week since it was ground before I got to make a pot the following Monday. Which, while not a disater does sort o fdefeat the object of the service doen't it? I tried getting it sent on a friday to try and have it ready for Monday but... nope. It's a good service and the quality of the coffee in undeniable. Just not to my tastes and the fact I couldn't make the delivery work for me either means I'm oot.

+1 this is where I get my beans too

Bah, cancelled my account. Fourth bag was the fourth one that was far too lightly roasted for my tastes.

Interesting blog post here.

What's most interesting in fact is the comments underneath and the response from Pact. To summarise, a bunch of (now ex-) customers say "But we like dark roast coffee" and Pact respond "We don't give a shit." (I'm paraphrasing)

Quite strange really as their approach to engaging with their customers otherwise has been very good. It seems that keeping customers is of secondary interest compared to retaining their credentials as third-wave coffee hipsters.

Obligatory 'hipster' comment. It's the new Godwin's law.
I respect them for sticking to their guns, it would seem disingenuous for them to start producing something they weren't into just to make more money. It's not like darker-roasted coffee isn't widely available, and places like Pact quite rightly don't mind people with different tastes shopping elsewhere.

Obligatory 'hipster' comment. It's the new Godwin's law.

Well I was going to go with "tosspots", but that would have been dishonest because I think they're, by and large, a great little company. I'm just surprised that their dedication to customer service doesn't extend to producing coffee that a large minority (at least) of their customers actually want. It's not as if anyone's demanding that they produce only dark-roast coffee, they just want the choice.

and places like Pact quite rightly don't mind people with different tastes shopping elsewhere.

Why don't they mind? Is non-hipster money of no value to them?

It is surprising.

Even in a chain restaurant you're frequently offered the choice. Carluccio's call it "smooth or rich", but basically they mean light or dark roasted.

It would be a no-brainer for Pact to offer the choice, even if they were to think that dark roasting takes longer and so costs more, they could add 50p and call it the connoisseurs blend or something.

BTW, criticising someone else's business is so much easier than the hard work on mine. I should make that my job.

BTW, criticising someone else's business is so much easier than the hard work on mine. I should make that my job.

If you pay me, I can criticise your business for you.

It is really odd that they don't seem to want to take on the challenge. I'm sure it's possible to find coffees that stand up well to dark roasting and don't end up tasting like charcoal, but they don't seem interested in finding them.

Fair play to them sticking to their guns. If you want dark roast you can get lavazza rossa in most cornershops. I have cancelled for now but only because the first coffe I made was great but it lost its flavour quickly. not worth getting ground imo, have to get the beans and grind yourself. I will probably restart once I buy a grinder.

Have only prev had espresso blend. Just switched next bag to be S.O. and to get different coffee each time, should be fun.

Dark roast = easy to brew, cheap coffee over developed flavours til all you can taste is chocolate/nuttiness

Light roast = hard to brew , nicer coffe with more complex flavours preserved by not over caramelising it in roaster.

...in general

Just had a cup of the Sidamo, brewed in a v60, and it was really really nice. Pondering getting some to bring back home

Dark roast = easy to brew, cheap coffee over developed flavours til all you can taste is chocolate/nuttiness

So use better coffee and don't roast it so dark that you lose all the other flavours.

Light roast = hard to brew , nicer coffe with more complex flavours preserved by not over caramelising it in roaster.

Not nicer for everyone obviously, since that's just personal taste.

They've sent me the Sidamo this week. Found the "Earl Grey" flavour description a bit off putting but first aeropress brew wasn't very Earl Grey at all.

V60 for a fiver code (new and existing customers):
http://journal.pactcoffee.com/v60offer?utm_source=js&utm_medium=FB-ACT-LOO-V60--3&utm_content=v60welcome&utm_campaign=v60welcome&yourcode=v60welcome

Anyone want an intro code, £1 for the first bag, earns me a keepcup ;)

Had good coffee from them, you just have to watch the billing after you've changed a shipping date as sometimes they slip through.
I'm bean form It keeps as expected, a bag lasts me about 3 weeks as I obviously don't drink enough lol

^ I never check billing on statement vs orders, job for tonight I think.

Bit of a tangent, but for anyone wanting to match their bike to their coffee:

http://pactbikes.com

cancelled, too lightly roasted - and also compared with Has Bean blends, I didn't really notice much difference :/