# Pact coffee



## Kyle T (Jan 6, 2016)

Hi everyone,

Just curious to read your thoughts on Pact Coffee. They are currently doing a deal where the first £6.95 bag of coffee you order you will also receive a Hario V60 for free (enter a code to get the free gift). Being as the Hario V60 is normally £5 from Amazon you basically get a bag of Pact coffee for £2. I was about to order a V60 for work so figured this is a good deal if the coffee is good.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Sounds like Pact have doubled the price of their intro bag to me - it used to be "first bag for a pound". You will be on their marketing database forever though. They may even send someone round to knock on your door while you're in the bath. Okay maybe not the last bit.

Personally I'd just buy a V60 and order beans from one of the roasters on the forum. I've not tried Pact but that's because I'm deeply suspicious of any organisation that resorts to aggressive marketing (well documented on the forum) - it usually tells you something about the quality of their offering.

In the interest of balance, here's another thread discussing the exact same thing, including the free V60, whether the coffee was ok, and whether the marketing was considered excessive. Opinions differ so have a read and make your own decision. http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=25332


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## paul whu (Sep 25, 2014)

Go for it. You can unsubscribe easily enough. I've done it. I had about 3 bags of beans from them and all were pretty decent. My experience was about a year ago and now and again I see another email to delete. No bother.

They send you out a poncey magazine with each bag of beans which irritates me. Still, if you can take advantage.......


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

I dont see why people get fed up of the mails, with junk filters these days you dont need to see them.

I note Pact made some changes a while ago, they have a chap sourcing beans for them now who used to run a pop up in south wales, think he roasts also.

Not sure though if they are roasting themselves yet though?


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## LondonDynaslow (Jan 7, 2016)

I got half way through signing up for a £1 bag via a British Cycling offer and was required to subscribe and give credit card details. This annoyed me so I've never tasted their product. By the time I pulled out they had already grabbed my email address, so they are on my spam list. Great marketing strategy guys :facepalm:

Edit: what, there's no facepalm emoticon


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## risky (May 11, 2015)

The aggressive marketing put me off ever trying.


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## Threeracers (Nov 13, 2015)

Stories of aggressive marketing had put me off a bit but recently I received a gift voucher for Pact and am half way through my first bag. I have to say first impressions are good.

Their model is obviously aiming for subscription users and I have entered my credit card details to pick up where the gift finishes in three bags time but reading the blurb it quite clearly is easily cancelled or paused if you need to. I have logged on this morning to view the next bag cued up for deliver and have pressed the ship now button as I am impatient to try it!

It's early days but if the quality continues at the same level as the first bag I could easily see this one continuing.

Mark


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

froggystyle said:


> Not sure though if they are roasting themselves yet though?


Pretty sure they are roasting themselves now? Recall approximately one year ago them mentioning it in their newsletter booklet which accompanied a bag of beans.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

I saw an article about pact on the news a few months back,, was surprised how big they are.

never had their coffee yet and doubt i ever will, preferring the price structure of Rave


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

They're definitely roasting themselves. I cancelled after a few bags you can do it on the website - which is very easy to use, order extra beans from etc and the customer service is good.

Didn't quite find the coffee to my taste but nothing wildly wrong just fancied other avenues more


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## big dan (Apr 11, 2012)

hmm interesting. I have just cancelled by PACT subscription but i would not call their marketing aggressive, they are just socially savvy. This is based around a subscription service so you can't buy a single bag from them, but in terms of ease of use they have the best website and system and other roasters could learn a thing or 2 from them.

I get an email a few days before each shipment to tell me what they are sending and giving me a chance to cancel or change the coffee they send me. I also get the occasional email when they have a special edition coffee, but other than that nothing else that i would call spam.

They are very friendly and have great service. What sets them apart is that you can log into your account and change when you receive your beans, what beans they are going to send you, take a break if you are going on holiday etc. These are really nice options that mean you can have coffee delivered at regular intervals but totally tweak it if you need less or more.

The coffee is reasonably good and roasted slightly lighter which i personally like. However the big crux for me was compared to Hasbean and other big names the coffees never really stood out to me. I don't know if it's the roast or the actual beans they are using but i have never had any beans that have WOWed me. I liked fruit and nut espresso for my Rocket but recently i have been drinking pour over methods and felt the coffees weren't delivering in the cup. My recent HasBean bags have all been interesting, not necessarily great but they have matched the flavour descriptions which might not have been to my taste, but at least i can taste them!

Overall not bad coffee and only £6.95 a bag including postage is decent value but i have a Hasbean sub that is only £6 a month and a Squaremile sub now too which for me offers a better variety in flavours.

One other thing worth noting they used to get the beans roasted by another company (whose name escapes me, James Gourmet maybe?) but they have their own roaster and hired a roaster although she had no prior experience as a roaster. Glen seems very knowledgeable and i imagine as their roaster gets more experienced the quality will only get better.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

big dan said:


> One other thing worth noting they used to get the beans roasted by another company (whose name escapes me, James Gourmet maybe?) but they have their own roaster and hired a roaster although she had no prior experience as a roaster. Glen seems very knowledgeable and i imagine as their roaster gets more experienced the quality will only get better.


Really...it's sounds a bit like a restaurant hiring a chef who has no cooking experience. Well McDonalds do that I guess.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Aissa must have had some training prior to being taken on as the in house roaster. And with her being a stickler for doing things properly Im sure she will go from strength to strength.

Plus, just how hard can roasting beans be.


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Buy a roaster and try it.


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## abraxas69 (Jan 7, 2016)

big dan has nailed it - great website in all respects, good friendly service (sent out a replacement bag same day when one didn't arrive on time without any quibble whatsoever), and unlike some (non-coffee) subscription services it's easy to cancel online. But the coffee just doesn't stand out. It's not bad, there's just never been a "I'm ordering this again!" moment for me.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Jumbo Ratty said:


> Aissa must have had some training prior to being taken on as the in house roaster. And with her being a stickler for doing things properly Im sure she will go from strength to strength.
> 
> Plus, just how hard can roasting beans be.


Roasting hard...hmm I guess it must seem easy, with so many new online roasters setting up over the last few years. Stick the coffee in switch on and wait till they go brown eh


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

If your good at something it always makes it look easy to onlookers.

But in all fairness there are a load of difficult jobs out there that people do, why would being a coffee bean roaster be any more difficult to running an offset printing machine


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

It probably isn't harder than running a 4c litho press but heaven knows that's not easy either if you're looking to produce high quality results. It's not an ink jet 'paper in and CTRL-P'. Anyone can make paper 'not white' and beans 'brown' but the devil's in the detail.


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## LondonDynaslow (Jan 7, 2016)

Kyle T said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Just curious to read your thoughts on Pact Coffee. They are currently doing a deal where the first £6.95 bag of coffee you order you will also receive a Hario V60 for free (enter a code to get the free gift). Being as the Hario V60 is normally £5 from Amazon you basically get a bag of Pact coffee for £2. I was about to order a V60 for work so figured this is a good deal if the coffee is good.


My spam folder... and that's without ever signing up!


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

LondonDynaslow said:


> My spam folder... and that's without ever signing up!


And you still didnt succumb to the pressure and sign up !


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

LondonDynaslow said:


> My spam folder... and that's without ever signing up!


Looks like you made a forever friend there...jeez, that would annoy the crap outta me.


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## Threeracers (Nov 13, 2015)

I agree with the earlier comments and just see them as a marketing savvy coffee roaster trying to expand their business. Perhaps they may appear a little enthusiastic I am sure they would just take you off their email list if you asked to unsubscribe.

I have only had one bag from them and I have received an email with a point of contact for any questions from someone who helpfully offered to be my coffee wingman (bit cheesey perhaps) and a few days after the bag was delivered I had a telephone call to check that I had received the coffee and was happy. A bit keen possibly but they seem to trying.


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## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Threeracers said:


> I have only had one bag from them and I have received an email with a point of contact for any questions from someone who helpfully offered to be my coffee wingman (bit cheesey perhaps) and a few days
> 
> after the bag was delivered I had a telephone call to check that I had received the coffee and was happy. A bit keen possibly but they seem to trying.


"Coffee Wingman"...chuckle....still I suppose they could have offered to be your "Tail end Charlie"

Nah, this all proves I'm getting old...even so it's still bloody funny....in the same way I suppose flares were funny to my parents.


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## Threeracers (Nov 13, 2015)

My coffee wingman was called Anna so I think that should at least call her my coffee wingwoman. And I know you all want one too.......


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## Django Taylor (Dec 14, 2015)

haha. That is amazing. I am glad I didn't give them my main email address now as that really is too much.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

I actually subscribed with Pact for a few bags and unsubscribed both from emails and the service and haven't heard from them for at least 6 months.


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## Jumbo Ratty (Jan 12, 2015)

Pact are going all out , they're launching pods now

As we near the launch of our very own Nespresso-compatible pods, we wanted to know...


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## Kyle T (Jan 6, 2016)

Jumbo Ratty said:


> Pact are going all out , they're launching pods now
> 
> As we near the launch of our very own Nespresso-compatible pods, we wanted to know...


Just created a separate thread for this! I found it quite interesting, at least a step in the right direction for pod coffee. I chose to subscribe with pact to get my free Hario V60 (which I love btw) and then cancelled my sub shortly after. I think the coffee was ok but not a scratch on the coffee from my local roaster 200 Degrees.


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## oursus (Jun 5, 2015)

Jumbo Ratty said:


> Pact are going all out , they're launching pods now
> 
> As we near the launch of our very own Nespresso-compatible pods, we wanted to know...


Just got that one too Ratty, to be fair, if they get it right (I'd like to see how they replicate that particle distribution) for people like the BIL, who spend a shed load on nespresso, but will never make the leap to espresso, could be a good thing, maybe?


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## paul whu (Sep 25, 2014)

Very strange. I've just randomly received a bag of their beans I haven't ordered. I'll be pretty pissed off if they have been dipping into my bank account. The marketing from this lot is both aggressive and corny. Wingman!!!! How shite is that!! As for the poxy magazine.....


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## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

paul whu said:


> Very strange. I've just randomly received a bag of their beans I haven't ordered. I'll be pretty pissed off if they have been dipping into my bank account. The marketing from this lot is both aggressive and corny. Wingman!!!! How shite is that!! As for the poxy magazine.....


I received an email saying my order was being dispatched!? I've been through the motions but never finalised an order.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Just a heads-up

Pact are changing their subscription site shortly.

I have been trialling their new site over the past month the messages are fewer than previous also.

The pause and resume features are working as they should, and the coffee I received last week is one of the better ones I have had in the past 6 months (their Fruit and Nut espresso)

You can get a bag for £1 by entering GLENN-833C6B on pactcoffee.com


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

If you have any suggestions or feedback about Pact they are certainly listening and trying to make the experience better for all.

Aggressive marketing? Yes - currently.

The quality is improving and their team are looking into ways of being more subtle for existing customers.

The challenge that all roasters face is getting repeat orders - as there are now hundreds of roasters to choose from.


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## paul whu (Sep 25, 2014)

They sent me a polite email saying that the coffee they sent me was their error and I can have it on them. They have changed their computer software or something. Guess I just had a bonus. I love this company all of a sudden!!


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Some people have had to pay as much as a whole pound for a bag of coffee from pact ?


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## vwjones (Feb 15, 2016)

I've just ordered my £1 bag of El Eden Espresso. Looking forward to giving it a go.


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## owain (Dec 26, 2015)

I really like the fruit and nut espresso, and the La Florida espresso


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## Schmy (Apr 7, 2016)

Surprised to see so much ire towards Pact. I've used them on and off for a couple of years and was one of the first Kickstarters for their pod project. We have a Nespresso machine and it was a big improvement over George Clooney's pods (not that that says much!).

Their beans seem perfectly fine on the whole and their website is very convenient. When I'm running low or have a glut I can easily change the delivery with a few clicks on my phone. Plus it's easy to take off a few months to try other roasters.

They do send a lot of e-mails but like all spam it goes in my spam folder so it's not something that could remotely bother me. Aggressive marketing makes it sound far worse than it is. How hard is it to ignore or scroll to the bottom of the e-mail and click "unsubscribe"?


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## Jacko112 (Oct 29, 2015)

Quite agree. I tried & the coffee wasn't to my taste so I cancelled the subscription, had a few emails which I unsubscribed from. Don't get them anymore.


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## hippy_dude (Sep 22, 2015)

Gotta agree with the few on here, I am an avid pact fan and have been using them on and off for the last year, but only just started to get the best out of them with my grinder. You have to try a few before you find what you like, only downside being that they do change so regularly. Their customer service can't be faulted though, there's been a number of times that is had coffee that wasnt to my taste and after emailing them telling them this they have happily sent me a new bag of something else (my own choice!) Free of charge! Don't think that can be beaten, although thanks to you guys am now on my rave coffee which I hear lives up to my experiences with pact.


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## jhambleton (Apr 14, 2016)

Similar to others I got a bit frustrated with all of the marketing - particularly their remarketing/sponsored posts on facebook. A colleague at work uses them for his espresso machine and says good things about them.

They recently started doing coffee pods for Nespresso machines too, they seemed to get slated because of the recent news about coffee pods (forum post here - http://coffeeforums.co.uk/showthread.php?29858-Is-there-a-serious-problem-with-coffee-capsules) but I dont really want a subscription so never tried it - plus there "offer" on them seemed just as expensive as Nespresso themselves.

I currently get my pods from http://mugpods.com as they seemed cheap and had no issues with my machine. Just wondered if anyone has tested the pact ones?


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## DomSheridan (Jul 12, 2015)

I get a bit worried when true super low volume etc produce pods it seems to go against espresso really! Hey ho!


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## UncleJake (Mar 20, 2016)

I have to echo the positives that many have said... A totally no-fuss subscription. I really liked the 'we're shipping on Monday - are you sure you're ready?' style reminders - because I usually wasn't, so could just postpone a week or two, or change the coffee I wanted in a couple of clicks. All good. Packaging decent - yes - a little too eager.. Wingman etc - but made up for by a genuinely good service. The one thing for me is that it was only 'good' coffee. As somebody said earlier - nothing to blow your socks off.

For me they're the Nespresso of fresh beans. As Nespresso is a step up from instant, Pact is a step up from supermarket beans.

They'll do VERY well in that market with no help from us.


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## Isc5000 (May 6, 2016)

I have been buying from pact for about 5 months and can say I have enjoyed the coffee. Can anyone recommend an alternative?


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## scottgough (Feb 9, 2016)

Rave or Hasbeen are probably two of the most popular on here, both excellent.


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

scottgough said:


> Rave or Hasbeen are probably two of the most popular on here, both excellent.


Plus one for had bean IMM sub you get to try different beans every week.


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## hippy_dude (Sep 22, 2015)

MarkT said:


> Plus one for had bean IMM sub you get to try different beans every week.


How much does the weekly subscription cost?


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

It's £6.50 direct debit minimum 12 week sub. Or £71 upfront for 12 weeks. Works out as £5.92 per week. If you take up yearly it's £250 comes to about £4.80 per week. If you are going to get it £71 for 12 weeks to start will be good as you need minimum 12 weeks for subscription anyway.

Go to Inmymug.com there are weekly videos. Have a look at them before you buy it. The videos is posted each week for each weekly sub. It's very informative and quite funny sometime. Lol


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## hippy_dude (Sep 22, 2015)

MarkT said:


> It's £6.50 direct debit minimum 12 week sub. Or £71 upfront for 12 weeks. Works out as £5.92 per week. If you take up yearly it's £250 comes to about £4.80 per week. If you are going to get it £71 for 12 weeks to start will be good as you need minimum 12 weeks for subscription anyway.
> 
> Go to Inmymug.com there are weekly videos. Have a look at them before you buy it. The videos is posted each week for each weekly sub. It's very informative and quite funny sometime. Lol


I've been watching his videos a lot recently (maybe as a welcome distraction from revision!) And do find it amusing. Never had anything from them yet so might a few I fancy before I go the imm route. Didn't realise how much cheaper than pact it was, although I've long given up on pact tbh. Any beans you can recommend? Getting more into more adventurous flavour profiles ATM, more sweet fruity flavours like mango/papaya which is why I gave up on pact as most are too chocolatey.


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## Kyle T (Jan 6, 2016)

I thoroughly recommend my local roaster. You can buy from their website and they will deliver. Slightly pricey (£22 per kilo) but the coffee is fantastic, by far the best I have had. The Brazilian Love Affair blend is brilliant.

http://200degs.com/online-coffee-order/


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

Has bean does do a variety of beans. How do you like you coffee? I.e what do you drink most? I do flat white mostly, brews and occasionally espresso. When I don't have time for brews it's an Americano. Lol

Bean wise my favourite so far is from Rave's Colombia San Pascual, which was in LSOL sub from the forum. Tastes of jammy berries.

At the moment I'm on Hasbean Bolivia Finca Loayza. Only tried it in espresso and was too sharp for me. If you look it up on hasbean you will see a description of cherry cola and key lime pie. Yes it sounds wired. Lol. But have a double shot flat white it taste like key lime pie in a blender but sweet. Close your eyes and you can taste the biscuit base, creamy lime zesty, sugary. Lol

It's weird but somehow it's nice.


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## hippy_dude (Sep 22, 2015)

MarkT said:


> Has bean does do a variety of beans. How do you like you coffee? I.e what do you drink most? I do flat white mostly, brews and occasionally espresso. When I don't have time for brews it's an Americano. Lol
> 
> Bean wise my favourite so far is from Rave's Colombia San Pascual, which was in LSOL sub from the forum. Tastes of jammy berries.
> 
> ...


I do flat whites almost exclusively, with occasional French press. Yeah someone on the Facebook has been taking to be about that today and I'm super tempted by it, as well as the guat that's supposed to taste like apples and mango. How accurate are the descriptions for has bean as I've had terrible problems getting the flavours rave claim out of theirs.


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## hippy_dude (Sep 22, 2015)

Kyle T said:


> I thoroughly recommend my local roaster. You can buy from their website and they will deliver. Slightly pricey (£22 per kilo) but the coffee is fantastic, by far the best I have had. The Brazilian Love Affair blend is brilliant.
> 
> http://200degs.com/online-coffee-order/


That's not too bad at all, was only looking at their site this morning actually. Will give them a look next month as next week I'm up in Leeds and plan on buying a bulk load from north star, love their coffee.


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

hippy_dude said:


> I do flat whites almost exclusively, with occasional French press. Yeah someone on the Facebook has been taking to be about that today and I'm super tempted by it, as well as the guat that's supposed to taste like apples and mango. How accurate are the descriptions for has bean as I've had terrible problems getting the flavours rave claim out of theirs.


Taste wise it's pretty accurate, although having said that every one tastes buds are different. Lol

You may not agree with what the descriptions says but it will be pretty close. Sometimes it's difficult to judge a flavour, some just close my eyes and think about what the coffee reminds me off.

I'm currently using an app called Libations on iPhone so you can keep a record of coffees and make notes with it. Also gives you a guide of tastes too.


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

hippy_dude said:


> That's not too bad at all, was only looking at their site this morning actually. Will give them a look next month as next week I'm up in Leeds and plan on buying a bulk load from north star, love their coffee.


I find buying a kilo of beans I have not tired doesn't work for me as I may not like the coffee. I will recommend buying 250 g or so to test the beans first. Then If you like it but a kilo.

That's my personal experience though.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

MarkT said:


> I find buying a kilo of beans I have not tired doesn't work for me as I may not like the coffee.


Have experienced that twice now!


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## MarkT (Nov 21, 2015)

Yep very painful lesson for me. Lol


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## Kyle T (Jan 6, 2016)

hippy_dude said:


> That's not too bad at all, was only looking at their site this morning actually. Will give them a look next month as next week I'm up in Leeds and plan on buying a bulk load from north star, love their coffee.


Really do recommend the Brazilian Love Affair. I've not tried anything else from them but the BLA is their house blend they serve in the coffee shop in Nottingham and to be able to make an Americano similar to their coffee shop on my Gaggia is great. Their coffee is almost thicker than other blends and has a great crema too.


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