# Union



## Big_Fat_Dan (Aug 21, 2014)

Anyone tried these guys before? http://www.unionroasted.com/

I sometimes work around the corner from them, might try and pick some goods up


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

They're pretty big in the world of speciality roasters!

They roast a bit too dark for me, but I did have a nice coffee made from their beans at New Row Coffee on New Year's Day.

Definitely worth a try.


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## ronsil (Mar 8, 2012)

Union are good if you like a darker roast. I've had some very good beans from them.

Waitrose seem to stock them in some of their shops. Need to be careful about roast date if you buy from there.


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## marcuswar (Aug 19, 2013)

Union were some of the very first freshly roasted beans I tried. The beans arrived in bags packaged in a cardboard box and wrapped in purple tissue paper, all very "up market". The beans were very nice and I'd recommend the "Revelation", "Foundation" and "Equinox" blends. If I worked around the corner from them (so no postage costs) I would definitely be using them as my supplier!


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## Big_Fat_Dan (Aug 21, 2014)

Sounds like I should give them a whirl, thanks for your input guys


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## Charliej (Feb 25, 2012)

They are also offering beans with a much much lighter roast these days as well if you look at the SO beans anyway, the Yemeni beans I had from them a while ago couldn't even be described as medium roast, in fact I've had darker beans from Has Bean.


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## hedning (Sep 11, 2014)

Cheers, ordered some "Revelation" and asked them what their seasonal Equinox was. Changing three times a year. Decent priced as well.


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

I like Union. I've had a lot of luck ordering from them... really enjoy the beans. I'm currently doing a subscription with Hasbean, which is also great but very different, and I fancied something different to have on the side. Once every 6 months or so we order from Ocado, and they had Revelation listed, so I ordered a small bag of it which arrived yesterday, and the roast date is about 3 weeks ago (assuming the 9 months back from best before date still applies). Not tooo bad, but obviously not as good as ordering direct.

So, I'm sitting here drinking some Revelation myself whilst typing this. Wonderful. It has been an instant hit with my wife. It is dark and chocolatey, and incredible in milk. I'd only ever ordered SO from Union before, but will be going back for more of this for sure.


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## 2971 (May 7, 2012)

Well we tore through that bag of Revelation in no time. As I said, we don't normally order from Ocado, but I made another excuse to order some more (my daughter's birthday party this weekend, so we needed party food delivered), and this time I ordered a kilogram bag of Revelation. This arrived today and the roast date is printed this time! 17th September, so just 2 weeks ago. Really not bad for a supermarket, and the price was £14.80 which is cheaper than buying it direct too.


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## dwalsh1 (Mar 3, 2010)

hedning said:


> Cheers, ordered some "Revelation" and asked them what their seasonal Equinox was. Changing three times a year. Decent priced as well.


Forget Union they are well over priced. Checkout Raves Signature blend instead of Unions Revelation, it's £6 cheaper and it's excellent as a flat white/cappuccino


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## aaronb (Nov 16, 2012)

Had a really nice taster of a Union Rwanda coffee a few weeks back, worked very well as espresso. Very light and fruity.


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

I thought £18.95 was reasonable for a kilo of revelation. I like it as a cappuccino, but the barista plays a big part cos 1 café made the best cappuccino i've ever bought and i had the same beans in another café and it was 1 of the worst.


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## Chris_on_caffeine (Jul 21, 2012)

El Cabron said:


> 1 café made the best cappuccino i've ever bought and i had the same beans in another café and it was 1 of the worst.


This.


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## JakeBarnes (Nov 23, 2013)

dwalsh1 said:


> Forget Union they are well over priced. Checkout Raves Signature blend instead of Unions Revelation, it's £6 cheaper and it's excellent as a flat white/cappuccino


Sorry, D, but for me Union's Revelation blows away Rave's Signature, which I couldn't get not to taste a little sour. Maybe that's just me and my basic equipment, but I'll gladly pay more to get the taste I want.

I like Rave's Italian Job but I also find Revelation shows up IJ's shortcomings.


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

Union make one of the best decaf coffees that I have tried, along with Rave's sparkling water decaf.

Not tried any of the rest of their range yet. Decent stock of Rave and Coffee Compass at the moment so I will add it to the list for future reference.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

NickdeBug said:


> Union make one of the best decaf coffees that I have tried


What's the name of the Union decaf you're referring to please?


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

Just their standard decaf blend.

I was was less keen on the Guatemalan.

A bit pricey, especially compared to Rave, but very good flavour.

I'm working through a bag of Coffee Compass Finca decaf at the moment, which I prefer to the Union Guatemala decaf.

Lots of solvent free options these days.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

A couple of family members won't drink coffee, late afternoon onwards unless it's decaf. Was considering having a small quantity in stock. Plenty of strong opinions around here on how pointless decaf coffee is so I'm glad I stumbled across your post on this thread.


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## JoeFromWales (Jan 24, 2015)

What sort of effect does decaffeinating a bean have on the espresso it produces? Apart from not having caffeine in it, obviously!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

They tend to blond a bit earlier/need pulled slightly shorter but no idea why


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