Contact Coffee Co. Have you heard of them before? Possibly not; either way, you’re about to find out. I recently wrote a post for CoffeeBlog, and the managing director reached out to me and asked if he could send me some of their coffee to try and write about, as their brand is based on coffee and the outdoors. Which I have already established goes hand in hand with the outdoors.
This won’t be biased, and if I don’t like it, ill tell you, and if I do like it, I will tell you. I just wanted to put that out there; they have asked me to be honest with my opinion of their coffee and brand. I will also give you some information about the brand and what I think.
Contact Coffee Co – The Brand
The story of Contact Coffee Co. starts in the British Royal Marines. The two founders, Luke and Si, were often on operation/ deployment worldwide with minimal time and limited resupply resulting in the two coffee lovers having to drink instant or no coffee. You choose what’s worse, crappy instant coffee or no coffee.
Of this lack of time and access to good coffee. They wanted to create a coffee that was easy to enjoy with minimal fuss. This means their coffee can be enjoyed, however they like and with minimal equipment.
Contact Coffee Co-Products Review
Contact Coffee Co sell many products to make your coffee accessible outdoors. They sell coffee bags which are the easiest way to enjoy coffee. Just boil water and the bag into a cup. Add the water, and you’re done. If you have more space, they sell bundles where you can get coffee and an Aeropress to enjoy your coffee differently.
They sell loads, and I won’t list it all, so check out their store. Anyway, let’s get into it and review what they sent me. That’s probably why you are here. Is it worth getting? Is it any good…
Contact Coffee sent me a few different things. There is a branded enamel camping mug and two types of coffee: “Red On!” high-intensity coffee, and “Battle Prep”, softer coffee. The coffee was in the form of coffee bags, as their brand is about quick and good quality coffee. I may buy beans in the future, and I’ll add what I think to this post.
Before I get into the coffee, I want to add that they have a perfect packaging design, and the quality of what the bags are made of feels sturdy. Also, one coffee bag could easily make two coffees if you are with someone or want to have two for yourself.
Red On!
At first look, the packaging says strength 5/5, so you know whatever the flavour will be intense, with a strong caffeine hit. The “Red On!” coffee bag strategically comes in a red packet, which helps distinguish between the other types of coffee.
This coffee is also 100% Robusta from the Badra Estate in South-West India. This tells you that it will have a robust and intense flavour. Robusta coffee beans contain more caffeine and less natural sugar than arabica beans and taste stronger and harsher than arabica.
For me, the coffee’s flavour is earthy/ woody flavour. It is a well-roasted bean as it’s not overly acidic. The flavour is very intense, which may not be to your liking if you’re a fan of lighter roasts.
I tried this with and without milk, and both had intense flavours. If you find it a little much, adding a bit of milk will soften the coffee, but for me, it didn’t have any impact on the coffee’s flavour. I think it’s a solid and well-roasted coffee; it’s just not to my taste.
Battle Prep
For Battle Prep, the strength rating is only 3/5. I believe that this bean is robust as well. What I do know for sure is I’d. It’s from Brazil with flavour notes of cocoa and liquorice with a smokey body being robusta; this is also an intense high, caffeine coffee. However, with a more excellent flavour than “Red On!” In my opinion.
The taste I get is less intense, making it a more enjoyable roast. Suppose you are new to speciality coffee or like a lighter roast. This would be my recommendation (of the two I was gifted).
I didn’t have this with milk as the flavour wasn’t so intense that I needed to mellow it. Overall, I like the “Battle Prep” roast more than the red one as it’s a less intense flavour.
The Mug
Not much to say; at the end of the day, it’s a mug. It is made from quite a sturdy enamel. This is ideal for camping and hiking as you don’t want to take a ceramic as that could smash. At the same time, an enamel mug won’t.
