It's been a dark few months... Cafe Eureka closed up shop due to lack of interest in exotic coffees in the surrounding area, and I haven't been able to find a really great local bean since. Any of the local retailers in Sackville sell some of the more locally available goodies - Just Us, Laughing Whale, Full Steam, etc. None of it features a roast date however, and none of it is really roasted to my liking. The end of January rolled around and I hadn't used any of my coffee gear since December, and I was really disappointed. A few slow evenings at work lead to some researching and reviews, and suddenly I was subscribed to two wonderful Canadian coffee subscriptions. Both very different, but both offering exactly what I wanted: A consistently fresh and good cup of coffee, with monthly variety.
First up, The Roasters Pack. The Roasters Pack curates three exceptional coffees every month, packs them in wonderful resealable bags, bundles them with some nice information on each coffee, and ships them express to your mailbox for $29.95. Now, The Roasters Pack is definitely more expensive than Parachute, however it gives me one of the major things I want: variety. You get three four ounce bags of coffee from a variety of roasters across Canada. The examples this month were fantastic: A Costa Rican roasted by Phil & Sebastian out of Calgary, a Colombian roasted by Bows and Arrows out of Victoria, and a Kenyan roasted by Anchored in Dartmouth! Each bag is good for about 5 cups of coffee (I use a 17:1 water:coffee ratio, and generally use about 20g of beans in a cup) which gives you lots of time to play with different brew methods or just dial in a great cup. I can safely say the tasting notes on each bag are pretty spot on! It's not overblown or outrageous, just well documented notes that come out in a proper brew. The included info cards are awesome too, and there are included discounts for each bag of coffee, which is shipped direct from roaster when ordered. For variety and quality, The Roasters Pack should definitely be considered.
Parachute Coffee is similar to The Roasters Pack, except they curate a single coffee each month and ship a 12oz bag directly to you for $25.00 flat. Parachute gives me 12oz of good coffee that I can reliably brew 15 cups out of. This month's coffee was a Costa Rican from Detour Coffee! Notes are smooth, buttery, tangerine, and I definitely get that in the V60. There's some nice brown-sugar, nougat-y flavors in there too. Parachute also includes some really well done info cards inside, giving you some basic brew tips, and the roaster's thoughts on the coffee. For something different every month at a reasonable price, Parachute is a good choice!