Pact Coffee - Offer for Edinburgh Coffee Lovers

Like many bloggers, I get regular requests to try coffee-related products and services of all kinds. I always check them out, although most aren't quite in line the objectives of this blog so I politely decline.

Ed from Pact Coffee contacted me recently to let me know about his company and to see if I'd be up for trying out their service. In short (more detail below), Pact deliver freshly roasted coffee to your home, whole bean or ground, at a time frame that suits you - you can specify how many days between deliveries depending on how fast you consume your coffee. 

I'm now on to my fourth bag of beans and would like to share an offer from Pact Coffee with all our Edinburgh Coffee Loving folks.

The offer: If you'd like to try Pact Coffee's service and have a UK address, you'll receive your first bag for £1 (including postage & packaging). Just jump on to www.pactcoffee.com and use 'edinburghcoffee' as the offer code. This offer is available for first time customers only.

Now a bit more about my experience with Pact Coffee:

• Pact buy their green beans directly from growers they've selected and are committed to ethical sourcing. They then roast the beans in small batches in the UK and ship them to their customers within the optimal time frame so they're fresh and yummy.
• Being 'small batch' their beans change regularly so you get plenty of variety and they're very keen to give you background on the coffee you're receiving so you can gain knowledge and understanding about all things coffee
• The customer experience is nothing short of delightful. Pact have put some serious investment into their whole operation and certainly haven't scrimped on making it as easy and useful as possible for their customers.
• If you sign up to try out Pact Coffee you'll effortlessly glide through a series of questions about your coffee preferences - brew method and frequency being key
• Coffee delivered can be whole bean or ground for your preferred brew method including stove top, cafetiere, espresso, drip and aeropress
• You do have to sign up to an ongoing service but can adjust the frequency of deliveries, or cease using the service, at any time. This means you need to enter your banking details as you would for any direct debit subscription service
• The packaging is letter-box friendly (why didn't I think of that) which makes delivery hassle-free - the first picture below shows the outer packaging and the second photo the inner, resealable bag
• You can continually adjust your coffee delivery frequency via their website or their app - pause, reschedule or cancel
• They drop you an email whenever your coffee 'has left the building' and is winging its way to you and are very keen to have an ongoing relationship with you to keep you happy

I swithered....I have to admit I gave this considerable thought before writing this article. I'm fiercely committed to independent coffee businesses and am protective of Edinburgh's local coffee community who, while going from strength to strength, are still in their early days in many cases.

I love that I can visit our own roasters Mr Eion and Artisan to buy my beans. I also love that so many of our better coffee shops now also sell bags of beans giving us easy access to Monmouth, Workshop, Allpress, Dear Green, Green Lyon, Steampunk, Northern Edge, Roast Central and many more. And some of our best, Machina Espresso springs to mind, sell small batches of beans that change nearly every week. I want these businesses to continue to succeed and I want to continue to buy from them.

Pact Coffee provides me, as a consumer, a convenient option to supplement my local purchasing. Because I travel often and don't work close to any roasters, I don't always get to buy my beans locally every weekend so coming home to have my coffee waiting for me has great appeal. This coupled with high quality beans and being able to effortlessly adjust my delivery schedule is what led me to give Pact Coffee the thumbs up. 

Heaps of further info on www.pactcoffee.com

Printworks Coffee

42 Constitution St EH6 6RS »Map«

Open every day Espresso Coffee: Monmouth Coffee Also: Soups, cakes, beans

Coolness: Edinburgh by the seaside meets great coffee

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Printworks Coffee (4♥) is totally committed to high quality ingredients - locally sourced where it makes good sense.

They use Monmouth coffee, an ethically sound and independent outfit from London, with great skill. Their flat whites have rich, robust, caramely flavours without a hint of bitterness. Lovely textured milk, jam-packed with micro bubbles - positively luxuriant.

The space is light-filled with simple low-fuss furnishing, resulting in an open uncluttered feeling. The staff are attentive while remaining equally low-fuss.

Printworks is open seven days and provide incredible looking cakes and other goods from local bakers extraordinaire (Dough Re Mi and Love Pure Cakes), creative and hearty soups (from Union of Genius) and chocolate (from Coco).

If we lived closer, we'd be in here every day. Until then we'll just have to settle for weekends!

More: facebook.com/PrintworksCoffee 

Peter's Yard Quartermile

27 Simpson Loan EH3 9GG »Map«

Open every day Espresso and filter Coffee: Johan & Nyström Also: Cakes and tarts to order

Coolness: Amazing breads and buns a stone's throw from the Meadows

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Peter's Yard - Quartermile (3♥) is part of the Quartermile development and specialises in artisan crispbreads and breads, eat in or take home. They've got lots to choose from including sticky buns, cakes, tortes, crisp breads and very yummy looking pizza among others. They use Swedish roaster Johan & Nyström and do a good job with it, offering espresso based and filter coffees.

To say they 'specialise' in artisan crispbreads and breads is really an understatement. Peter's Yard is owned by the same folk as Soderberg and they've got depthless skill and experience in this field and offer baked goods you pretty much can't get anywhere else in Edinburgh. So coming here for their food is definitely the way to go!

This is a big modern space with high ceilings and virtually all the walls are glass so light pours in. It has a mix of communal and smaller tables with a Scandinavian feel to the timber flooring and furnishings. There's also a large outdoor area with tables and chairs that looks on to the walkway that, within a minute takes you either up to the Old Town's George IV Bridge or along to The Meadows. Understandably, it's a favourite for cyclists, walkers and families with kids who've got lots of energy to burn off.

You order and pay at the counter with friendly staff who then bring your food and drink to you.

More: www.petersyard.com

Press Coffee

30 Buccleuch St EH8 9LS »Map«

Open every day Espresso Coffee: Square Mile & guests Also: Meals and beans

Coolness: Tucked away and calm

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Press Coffee (5♥) is a chilled out, light space with wooden floor boards, yellow walls, a high ceiling and round tables and chairs.

It's in the vicinity of the rambling Edinburgh University and, in the way of food, they stock soups, panini, scones, salads, breakfast and brunch options along with cakes and other sweet things.

Press has the same owners as Kilimanjaro, which is closeby on Nicholson Street, and Wellington, Project Coffee and Blackwood. All use Square Mile coffee and have consistent and passionate baristas.

Square Mile rotate their coffee seasonally and Press sometimes have guest beans.

Press gets the thumbs up (am also rather fond of the blue cups)

Edinburgh Coffee Festival - 6 months to go!

Six months today, our very first Coffee Festival will take place on 3 October in the Mansfield Traquair. I caught up with Annie Wheeler, one of the event organisers, to find out what’s happening and how plans are progressing.

Having been sustained in Edinburgh by a handful of high quality coffee shops for nearly seven years, I'm very happy to see the recent dramatic growth of interest and investment in great coffee. Our best coffee shops are on a par with those in coffee havens like Melbourne, Portland and London – they've just got a lot more of them! I believe having our very own Coffee Festival is another important step in recognising the excellent quality we already have as well as continuing to educate and foster coffee appreciation within Edinburgh and Scotland. I've no doubt that Edinburgh can become a coffee destination, as we are for so many other amazing events and experiences.

What is it?

On 3 October the Edinburgh Coffee Festival will take over the Mansfield Traquair to celebrate coffee in Edinburgh and Scotland. A range of coffee-related providers, artisans and suppliers will come together to share their knowledge via demonstrations and workshops and their wares via tasting and purchase. There’ll also be some tea and chocolate purveyors for those whose taste buds need something different.

The focus is on the great quality and expertise in Scotland and Edinburgh’s independent coffee world - roasters, baristi, equipment, competitions and industry knowledge. No major coffee chains will be anywhere near this event (thankfully as that would totally undermine the quality in my opinion).

Who’s organising it?

Project R Events are the team behind the event (Annie, Martin and Jennifer). They’re a sister company of Scottish event managers Rural Projects, so organising is core to their being.

According to Annie they came up with the idea of the Edinburgh Coffee Festival because they’re passionate about coffee and thought Scotland, and specifically Edinburgh, have a lot to offer. As event organisers by trade, they have all the skills needed to pull together, run and publicise an event and aim to combine their skills with local coffee experts to create a great experience.

Annie was clear that “they’re not coffee experts. They love coffee and are passionate about the independent expertise we have in Edinburgh and Scotland and want to show case that”. So they’re facilitating the process by taking the event idea and making it happen in partnership with local coffee experts.

Who from our coffee scene will be involved? 

Annie and the team are currently meeting with folk from our coffee community to shape up the event. They’re aiming to balance high quality and variety so visitors have a great experience. As more stall-holders, speakers and demonstrators come on board, they’ll publicise them.

So far Cairngorm Coffee (Edinburgh), Home Ground Coffee (Cardross) and Roast Central (Falkirk - and you can sample this now at Cobolt Coffee) are involved. And Roast Den (East Kilbride) will sponsor a Lever Espresso Machine Barista Championship at the Festival.

In addition, the event will partner with Mercy Corps, Edinburgh’s international charity, to highlight the work they do with coffee growers around the world.

Want to get involved? 

They’re a friendly bunch so anyone interested in getting involved should make contact soon ‘to avoid disappointment’. There’s finite space, and plenty of great talent and expertise to showcase, so drop Annie, Martin and Jennifer a line for a chat. You can find out more from www.edinburghcoffeefestival.co.uk or on twitter: @edincoffeefest.

Artisan Roast Stockbridge

100A Raeburn Pl EH4 1HH »Map«

Open: Every day Brew: Espresso, V-60, Chemex, Aeropress Coffee: Artisan Roast Also: Beans, coffee-making kit, cakes, flowers

Coolness: The Stockbridge village feel

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Artisan Roast Stockbridge (5♥) is one of three Artisan Roast coffee shops in Edinburgh - the others are in Broughton Street and Bruntsfield.

The Stockbridge shop is glass-fronted shop and warmly light industrial - mixing wooden floors and counters with grey walls and a black and chrome theme. Customers have a choice of high stools and tables at the front or a softer lounge feel toward the back.

The coffee itself is exceptionally made and they offer espresso-based, v60, aeropress and chemex coffees using their own bean selection for the brew method accordingly. Shoppers can buy beans to take home from their range and also buy from a small selection of coffee making kit.

Artisan Roast is one of Edinburgh's longest standing roasters and operates in Glasgow and supplies many a coffee shop with top notch wholesale beans. They're a passionate bunch and are active in the local coffee community with tastings, education events and have 'sharing of the coffee love' core to their being.

More: artisanroast.co.uk

Kilimanjaro

104 Nicholson St EH8 9EJ Map«

Open every day Espresso Coffee: Square Mile & guests Also: Meals, cakes, beans

Coolness: Laid back student vibe

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Kilimanjaro Coffee (5♥) is in the Edinburgh University heartland just South of the Old Town and is run by the same folk as Press, Blackwood, Wellington and Project Coffee.

They use the London's 'Square Mile' beans and serve great coffee.

Kilimanjaro is on busy Nicholson Street and their food is varied, tasty and affordable including soups, sandwiches, paninis and all-day breakfast options. This shop packs in a mix of tables and chairs and a couch to slouch into, and its pretty much always teeming with people. If you can't get a seat when you arrive, it's not usually long before one becomes available.

We've sampled Kilimanjaro's brews regularly since 2009 and they always serve mouth-watering coffee.

More: Facebook