NYC: Island Hopping

We got in to New York on Friday afternoon after a cheeky upgrade (thanks, BA) and after a slow drive over to the Lower East Side, via the Manhattan Bridge, we headed straight out for a quick dinner at Ruby's on Mulberry Street, before the jetlag set in. Ruby's is a tiny, friendly, Aussie neighbourhood restaurant, which serves a range of pastas, burgers and salads.

On Saturday morning, we rose relatively early for a run in the glorious sunshine. We headed over the Manhattan Bridge to Brooklyn and then came back via Brooklyn Bridge, and back up to Houston Street via the park and running path that hugs the Hudson River. 

By this point, we had worked up enough appetite for brunch and we made a beeline for Lafayette, a French bakery and all-day dining establishment on Lafayette Street in NoHo. My lemon pancakes with berries were delicious, though my kale-heavy juice was rather more worthy than tasty. But it was great to be sitting outside in the sunshine, watching New York go by.

We started walking downtown, via a series of art sculptures called Lightness of Being in City Hall Park. I couldn't resist leaping, of course, but I also liked the colourful pagoda that added some pretty tints to the Lower Manhattan skyline.

In the afternoon, we caught the ferry over to Governors Island, which was open for one last hurrah before the end of the season. There was a 1920s French fairground, art for sale in the former colonels' houses, which were great fun to explore, and great views of the Statue of Liberty. It was so hot that it was great to be out of the city for the afternoon.

Because we had been eating far too healthily thus far, for dinner, we went to Georgia's East Side BBQ, a tiny, 16-sweater restaurant in the Lower East Side. I had fried chicken with baked beans and fries and it all tasted amazing. The chicken was so juicy and the fries far too more-ish. It was pretty reasonably priced too and more fun than many of the more formal BBQ restaurants I've been to in the city.

In need of burning off our dinner, yesterday morning we took the subway to Central Park and made a brisk circuit of the 10k loop. The leaves are just starting to turn and the park was beautiful — the peaks of the gorgeous skyline definitely keep you motivated as you tread the hillier parts of the route. Ten, of course, it was brunch o'clock. We decided to go Mexican and I inhaled a plate of huevos rancheros Benedict at a place on the Bowery called Hecho en Dumbo.

Then it was time for another New York first for me: we caught the D train all the way to Coney Island and spent the afternoon strolling along the boardwalk, sauntering along the sand to Brighton Beach, people-watching and taking in the faded charms of the amusement park.

Disneyland it ain't, but that's a good thing, even if we couldn't find any freshly spun candyfloss.

When we got back to Manhattan, we headed up to the East Village for some excellent Neapolitan pizza at Motorino. It was a cool place and the huge pizzas were really tasty. The only surprise is that I've been here over two days and haven't had a burger yet. This can't last.

Sci by Night

Once a month, the Science Museum in London opens up to adults on a Wednesday evening. The night always has a loosely scientific theme. After a few tough weeks at work, we needed a team outing and when we heard that this month's Science Museum Lates had a photography theme, we were sold. There aren't too many good freebies for people working within science communication, but we do have good contacts, which meant we got to skip the huge queue and go straight into the museum.

If you've never been to the Science Museum, you should check it out, as they have a lot of very cool stuff. First on our list, though, was the build-your-own-macro-lens workshop. Once our iPhones had been suitably converted, we snapped away. The best shots were of the bubbles on a cider bottle and of holographic bank notes, but of course I spent quite a while taking a series of somewhat out-of-focus photos of my eye.

The next activity was screen printing. You could pick whether you wanted a slightly faded black and white photographic print of a betting shop or of a dilapidated building — I love my urban wastelands so I chose the latter — and then choose to screen print one of two different colourful patterns on top. I always like taking away souvenirs, so we joined the short queue and produced our own prints, which we toted round for the rest of the evening.

We had signed up for tickets for a conversation in the IMAX between Roger Highfield (who is the director of external affairs at the Science Museum Group) and Lily Cole (model, actress and now social entrepreneur), partly about evolution and cooperation, but mainly about their respective projects: his book Supercooperators and her website, impossible, which encourages people to do things for other people in the hope that others might do things for them. Certainly a very interesting idea — I'm sure the game theorists will be very interested in the results.

Downstairs, there were some trees onto which you could hang your wishes, as part of impossible. I thought I was being shallow considering writing Clive Owen on one of the wooden tags, but there were plenty of suggestions that were closer to that thought than to the world-peace-type suggestions. I did at least get some free cheese straws when they ran out of whole portions.

We then had a bit more time to explore some of the other galleries, playing various science-themed games. I lost at most of them, but it was still a fun night. There are various bars throughout the venue, as well as eating options of various levels of formality. Given that it's free to go to Lates, it makes for a pretty cheap night out. I would definitely go back – ideally during a less hectic work night — the next time I like the sound of the theme. It's just going to be a shock to the system to join the queue.

Science Museum Lates (last Wednesday of the month). Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD (Tube: South Kensington). Website.

Bex's Guide to NYC: Mapping My Favourite New York Places

Throughout September, I've been putting together a series of blog posts highlighting my favourite espresso bars, burgers, cocktails and things to do in New York. As promised, I've now put everything together in a Google Map. It works best if you click through to the Google Map here, as the embedded version is somewhat petite.

Google has recently updated its "My Maps" functionality, which meant a snazzier design than I was used to. You can now choose different symbols for different types of place and you can also add places to up to three different layers, which you can turn on or off depending on what you would like to show. In this case: coffee, food and drink, and things to do.

I hope you find my NYC map useful and if you're interested in this kind of thing, you will probably be pleased to know you can create map points directly from a Google spreadsheet.

I'll probably be adding to this map pretty soon as I will be back in New York later this week. At last.

"Who Do I Have To Sleep with around Here to Get a Stoli Martini with a Twist of Lemon?"

I have had mixed experiences with the most recent clutch of Woody Allen films — I'm sure I'm not the only one — and of the recent clutch, my favourites are Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris. As such, I was pleased to see such great early reviews of his latest film, Blue Jasmine, and even more pleased when I got a ticket to a free preview screening last night. But did the film live up to its promise? And is Cate Blanchett's performance really so outstanding?

Essentially, yes. Jasmine (Blanchett), a former New York socialite, is flying to San Francisco to stay with her estranged sister — first class, of course, although she has no money. On the plane, she chatters away, mostly to herself, sips martinis and pops the odd Xanax. 

Arriving in the taxi with her piles of Louis Vuitton luggage at her sister's apartment doesn't exactly involve any streetcars, regardless of their name, but there is more than a hint of Tennessee Williams both in the setting of the apartment (it looks like the Mission) and in the nuances in Blanchett's lilting drawl.

We soon meet Jasmine's sister Ginger (an excellent Sally Hawkins) and her two young sons, and we watch as Jasmine tries to get her feet in the new city, and in her new lifestyle. She ain't in Park Avenue any more, Toto. She hopes to be an interior designer but as she's never had a job before, let alone any relevant experience, she decides to take a computing course that will give her the skills to take an online design course. 

It makes perfect sense to Jasmine, who is post-nervous-breakdown and in a state of both depression and denial. Meanwhile, she turns her nose up at and openly criticises Ginger's boyfriend Chili (Bobby Cannavale), whom she thinks is beneath her sister.

Throughout all of this, Jasmine keeps drifting in and out of flashbacks of her past life in New York, where she was married to Hal (Alec Baldwin playing the character he always plays), a financier in the Bernie Madoff School of Investments. 

The story of their relationship and Jasmine's relationship with their now-estranged adoptive son (Alden Ehrenreich) is told only gradually, with a number of good twists and turns along the way. But just as Jasmine finally thinks she might have found the answer to all of her problems in the form of a handsome, kind billionaire with political ambitions (Peter Sarsgaard), she can't help but wonder what will happen if or when her past catches up on her.

Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, Blue Jasmine is tightly scripted and well plotted. I wanted to know more about Jasmine's past, but I was also interested in watching her try — and fail — to be a "normal" working woman in San Francisco. 

The beauty of Blanchett's performance is that Jasmine is so utterly unlikeable — her character is selfish, thoughtless and shallow and has done, and will continue to do terrible things — and yet you find yourself almost rooting for her. When she meets her new love interest, you almost want things to work out for her, even though she needs help. A slap around the face wouldn't go amiss either.

The relationship between the two sisters works very well too: Ginger always jokes that Jasmine got the better genes (although they are adopted), but Ginger seems to be the happy one with her "shabby" (i.e. gorgeous) San Francisco apartment and the fun, if déclassé, boyfriend. The joke is really on Jasmine who still can't quite see that quitting her university degree to become Hal's trophy wife and achieving nothing apart from a great designer wardrobe for several decades doesn't maker her better than her sister.

Blue Jasmine is, perhaps, funnier than it ought to be given the subject matter, and it's a highly engrossing and entertaining film about a woman in crisis. If you're like me and were hoping for the Midnight in Paris treatment of the City by the Bay, you may be disappointed; save a view gorgeous views from Marin, the film isn't exactly a walking advert from the San Francisco tourist board. That's my only real complaint, though.

Bex's Guide to NYC: Things To Do

I promised three parts to my 2013 guide to New York — coffee, burgers and cocktails — but there were still quite a few of my favourite experiences in the city missing from the equation. Hence this bonus fourth list. I am lucky enough to visit New York fairly often, so this isn't a round-up of the biggest and best tourist attractions, but I find that the activities on the list are all very New Yorky experiences. I will also be posting a Google Map with all of my NYC highlights on the blog on Wednesday.

1. Get high. You can go up the Empire State Building if you want to get a great view of the city, but I prefer the Top of the Rock experience at Rockefeller Center. It isn't as tall as the Empire State Building, but I think the skyline view is better — you get to see the Empire State, for example — and you get to look out on the city without any glass or railings in the way. There is, of course, a wall, but you can look out over the top. 

I like to go at sunset, but it can get busy, especially if you like to leap. 30 Rockefeller Plaza bet. 5th & 6th Ave and 49th & 50th St (Midtown). 

The view from the Top of the Rock at sunset.

2. Pick a museum. My favourite is the Frick, a sort of best-of collection of the Old Masters, which has enough history to get around the fact that I'm not into art. The American Museum of Natural History is great too, especially the planetarium; I love the MOMA design store; the Tenement Museum tour is fascinating; and I've also enjoyed wandering through the grand rooms of the Morgan Library. 1 East 70th St bet. 5th & Madison Ave (Midtown).

3. NYC's worst-kept-secret freebie. You can get some of the best views of New York from the Staten Island Ferry, which runs from Whitehall (South Ferry) in Lower Manhattan to Staten Island. The bright orange ferries run 24/7 and the journey takes about 25 minutes and is completely free. Don't forget your camera. 4 South Street (Lower Manhattan).

4. Parks and recreation. When I'm staying in Midtown, I try to run in Central Park every day, looping around the reservoir if I don't have time to do the full circuit. It's gorgeous in autumn, but the park is beautiful at any time of the year. If you're there in the summer, take a picnic and relax under the trees. If it's winter, try the skating rink, with its superb skyline views and warming hot chocolate. 59th Street to 110th Street (Midtown / Upper Manhattan).

5. A view from the bridge. I love to get up early and take the subway to High Street Brooklyn (the blue A and C trains), cross the park and then run back to Manhattan over the bridge, which brings you out near City Hall. You can do it the other way round, but it's much more exciting to watch the Manhattan skyline appear before you. And you don't have to run — walking is fun too, especially if you also take in the gorgeous houses and views from Brooklyn Heights Promenade. (Lower Manhattan / Brooklyn)

Manhattan at sunrise, viewed from Brooklyn Bridge.

6. Take the high road. The High Line — a disused, elevated freight railway line that has been converted into a park and public space — now stretches from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street, bringing you level with the Empire State Building (although several blocks further west). You can enjoy the view and the green space, as well as art, live music and a few food, drink and artsy retail opportunities. If you walk southwards, you can reward yourself with brunch, lunch or dinner outdoors at one of the many Meatpacking restaurants. Pastis and the Standard Grill are among my favourites. Gansevoort to 34th St (Meatpacking District / Chelsea),

The Meatpacking District end of the High Line.

7. Eastern promises. Catch the L train or, better, the East River Ferry, and spend the afternoon exploring Brooklyn. There are tons of great shops and eateries on Bedford Avenue, Billyburg’s main drag, and at weekends, check out the Smorgasburg and Williamsburg Flea markets. Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn (Williamsburg) More about Williamsburg here, here and here.

8. Hit the shops. I must admit that indulging in some retail therapy is usually one of the first things I do when I enter the 212 area code. My first port of call is usually SoHo, but once I've raided my favourite chains (J. Crew, Madewell, Lululemon), Kate Spade and Bloomingdale's, I like to wander around the independent stores in NoLIta and NoHo. 

Fanelli's on Prince Street is my favourite place in the area to refuel; it's a complete coincidence that it's just opposite J. Crew! I've been going there with my family for over 15 years, but in the grand scheme of the café's 166-year history, that isn't very long. Further north, I really like shopping on the stretch of Fifth Avenue between Union Square and Madison Square Park, and Henri Bendel is the best place to shop for lovely gifts for girls. (SoHo)

9. The other Bloomies. This (mostly) recovered nail biter had her first manicure at Bloomie Nails in New York, and I’ve been loyal ever since. My mother discovered them by chance, as we often stay very close to the Midtown branch. Efficient and proficient, they even make my hands look pretty. 44 West 55th Street bet. 5th & 6th Ave (Midtown)

10. People-watching. Perhaps the best thing of all about New York is that you don't really need to do anything much to have fun and experience the city. Grab a coffee or a bagel (try Ess-A-Bagel) and sit in a café or in Union Square or Madison Square Park, or stand in Grand Central Station (especially at rush hour) or Times Square and watch and listen as New York goes by. What a great city.


Part 1: Top 10 New York coffee bars
Part 2: Top 10 New York burgers
Part 3: Top 10 New York cocktails

Best in Show: The Bermondsey Edition

This time last year, I was waiting to sign on the dotted line on my flat and, wanting to make the most of my last few weeks in Marylebone, I didn't visit the Bermondsey Street Festival, the cool and stylish "village fête" that takes over the always lovely Bermondsey Street for one Saturday each September.

Bex's Guide to NYC: Top 10 New York Cocktails

It's time for the third part of my guide to NYC. If you missed my round-ups of my top ten coffee bars and top ten burgers in the city, check them out now, because it's cocktail o'clock. Most of my favourite places to get a cocktail in New York are of the secret-speakeasy variety. 

I love the contrast of a superbly mixed drink and an unexpected location. That said, I never tire of the New York skyline, so a couple of the bars on this list are on rooftops that offer a superb view of the cityscape, as well as an excellent cocktail. Although I often have a cocktail with dinner when I'm on holiday, these venues are all about the drinks.

Employees Only (West Village). This West Village bar, tucked away behind a psychic and a velvet curtain, is where bartenders go on their night off, hence the name. Since my first visit, some six years ago, I've been back on countless occasions. I love the typography and I love the drinks. The Ginger Smash and the Fraise Sauvage are my favourites. 510 Hudson Street bet. West 10th & Christopher. Mini-reviews here and here. Website.

Huckleberry Bar (Williamsburg). Manhattan has great cocktail bars, but sometimes you just want something a little more chilled out — a cool but intimate neighbourhood bar with great drinks. Or, as Huckleberry Bar puts it, "fancy without the fussy." At Huckleberry, you can chatter away for hours with the friendly and knowledgeable bar staff. Oh, and they do all sorts of fun events, including Monday night movie nights. Last time, I ordered the citrusy, gingery Article 57, which was gorgeous. 588 Grand Street nr Lorimer. Mini-review.

Back Room (Lower East Side). You have to work a little bit to find The Back Room, tucked away behind a gate with a sign for the LES Toy Company, and at the other end of a dingy alley, but it's worth the effort when you reach the secret speakeasy. Cocktails in dainty teacups and brown-bagged beer bottles, it's like 1930 all over again. They have great music, spanning the decades, and an even more secret back room for VIPs. Very cool indeed. 102 Norfolk Street nr Delancey. Mini-review.

Mother's Ruin (NoLIta). An effortlessly cool neighbourhood bar, Mother's Ruin serves great cocktails, as well as "everyday edibles" and "bitchin' brunch." They change up the cocktails a lot, but I enjoyed the Sí Punch, in all its tropical glory. Mother's Ruin is a lovely, intimate place to enjoy a fantastic cocktail. 18 Spring Street bet. Mott & Elizabeth. Mini-review. Website.

Little Branch (West Village). Once you've found the unmarked door on Seventh Avenue, head downstairs to the basement of Little Branch for some serious cocktails. The place is usually pretty busy, but it's worth the crowd. 20 Seventh Avenue South @ Leroy.

Pegu Club (SoHo). With its old-school chic, the Pegu Club is a very civilised place to sip a cocktail. Or five. They offer a whole book of classic and signature cocktails, and in no time, you'll feel a million miles — and a hundred years — away from the hustle and bustle of SoHo. 77 West Houston Street (2nd floor) nr West Broadway.

Salon De Ning (Midtown). It's worth a trip to Ning, the bar on the 23rd floor of the swanky Peninsula just to get the chance to slink through the lobby and ride in the sexy lift. The drinks aren't cheap at Ning, and you are, to some extent, paying for the stunning view over Fifth Avenue. That said, you do get plenty of nibbles thrown in, and my Ninglet (Hendricks gin, St Germain elderflower liquor and fresh lime) was excellent. Stylish, sexy and very impressive. 700 Fifth Avenue (23rd floor) @ 55th St.

Elsa (East Village). We came to Elsa after failing to get into the overly busy PDT, but we didn't regret it. It's light, airy and elegant inside, with its white walls and exposed light bulbs. The cocktail menu takes a while to process, because of the really interesting drinks available. They change the menu seasonally, but when I was last there, the drinks took inspiration from books and movies. I ordered the Plan To Get Even — not just because I liked the name — and it was delicious and refreshing. 217 East Third Street bet. Bowery & 2nd Ave. Mini-review. Website.

B Flat (TriBeCa). B Flat is a cool, jazz-themed basement bar. It's dark and intimate, with comfy booths, and live jazz on Mondays and Wednesdays. The Autumn Leaves cocktail left this B anything but flat, but if I go back, I want to try the Enigma and the Lush Life. 227 Church Street @ White. Mini-review. 

Bookmarks (Midtown). Another hotel rooftop bar, this time on the 14th floor of the lovely Library Hotel. Bookmarks is the perfect place for a literary-themed cocktail. If the weather is being kind, you can also sit out on the rooftop terrace and enjoy the incredible view of Midtown.  299 Madison Avenue @ 41st St. Website.

New York has a lot of great places to get a cocktail, so here are three others that remain on my to-do list:

• Gin Palace (East Village). Gin and tonic on tap! Fancy G and Ts! All sorts of other gin-friendly cocktails. You are probably starting to understand why I want to go. 95 Avenue A nr East 6th St.
• Mulberry Project (Little Italy). Numerous friends have recommended this subterranean cocktail bar to me. Maybe next time? 149 Mulberry Street nr Grand.
• Please Don't Tell (East Village). A secret bar, which you enter through the phone booth inside Crif Dogs. Great cocktails, but unless you go really early, you have to book. One day I will make it there! 113 St Mark's Place bet. 1st Ave & Ave A. Website.

Part 1: Top 10 New York coffee bars

Part 2: Top 10 New York burgers
Part 4: Top 10 New York experiences

LDF, LFW, ETC.

It's London Fashion Week again, but to my disappointment, Fashion's Night Out has moved to Manchester. However, the London Design Festival is also on, so there are plenty of fun events going on to keep me entertained.

1. A damp Friday evening at Bermondsey Antiques Night Market. 2. Wild Art's giraffes by More London. 3. The (Not Really) Endless Stair. 4. Strawberry brioche at Comptoir Gourmand. 5. Reflected London Eye from the South Bank Centre. 6. Discarded skateboards under the Hungerford Bridge. 7. Gwyneth Leech's 'A Year in Cups' display at Anthropologie for the London Design Festival. 8. Trafalgar Square's Coq Bleu from behind. 9. The Blush Bus — an LFW-mobile.

I spent the morning running, brunching and wandering along the South Bank with friends. The weather was very autumnal, but we sought shelter in the members' café at the Tate Modern and in the South Bank Centre's lovely design shop, before I crossed the river to pick up a few things in Soho and Oxford Street.

 Lots of shops were getting into the design spirit — the basement of John Lewis was filled with lots of gorgeous design-inspired pieces, including a Danish designer dustpan and brush, to rival the smoke detector I spotted in Helsinki. There were also some cool coat hangers with geometric designs, but I managed to resist.

The Endless Stair. Actually, disappointingly finite.

Helter-skelter and bubble-chasing on the South Bank.

The London skyline from the Hungerford Bridge.

The Burger Bulletin: Five Guys Covent Garden

All of the research I did for my top NYC burgers post clearly made me hungry. It also made me realise that I still hadn't been to a Five Guys, either here or on the other side of the pond. In the US, it always felt like I had a better option (usually Shake Shack for a good burger on the go), and Londoners are also spoilt for choice these days. After a bit of shopping in Soho last night, I walked past Five Guys and saw that the queue wasn't too bad, so I decided to check it out.

The first UK branch, on Covent Garden's Long Acre Street, was bigger than I was expecting. There is a relatively large space near the counter for ordering, and then you can go out to the back to stake out a table once you've picked up your food. It's not dissimilar to a McDonald's, and yet so much nicer. There are comfy booth seats and stools for perching and people-watching.

It's a slick operation and within ten minutes of joining the queue, I was clutching my brown bag of burgery goodness. I ordered a cheeseburger with mayo and some "little fries." Had I realised that a regular cheeseburger included two burger patties and that the "little" fries portion would easily serve two people, I probably wouldn't have bothered with the fries. Next time, I'll order the "little cheeseburger," which contains a mere single patty.

Over-ordering aside, I was pretty impressed with the food. I wasn't allowed to order a medium-rare burger, and although it was definitely more well done than I prefer, it was still juicy and meaty. I also like the way that you get to opt into toppings, rather than having to opt out. I asked for mayo and lettuce, but you can get various other sauces and vegetables thrown in for free.

The skin-on fries were good too, although very salty, making me wish I'd ordered a drink. The other advantage to ordering a soft drink is that you get to choose from about a gajillion (well, 127) flavours of Coke, Sprite and Fanta from the magical Freestyle machine. I don't normally like fizzy drinks, but a raspberry Sprite sounds great.

Choose your own Coke adventure.

Maybe it was because I went to Shake Shack on a glorious sunny evening, making the most of sitting outdoors in the bustle of the Covent Garden Piazza, but the Shake Shack experience was more fun than my trip to Five Guys. Also, I really like the Shack Sauce on the Shack Burger. The prices between the two restaurants are pretty similar: £8 for a double regular cheeseburger at Five Guys, compared to £7.50 for a double Shack Burger. I think Shake Shack is the better deal, but if you're in need of a good-quality burger — fast — in the Leicester Square area, give Five Guys a try. Their next branch is supposed to be in Islington — hopefully closer to the King's Cross side!

Five Guys. 1–3 Long Acre Street, London, WC2E 9LH (Tube: Leicester Square). Website.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Delivering Us from Mediocre Coffee

Ever since I unsubscribed from Glossybox, I've been having serious mail envy at work. I don't like shopping online and my co-workers always seem to get better post than me. Enter Pact, a new coffee subscription service, which aims to bring good coffee to the UK, including to those whose only option is a packet of Lavazza in the supermarket. For £6.95 (including postage), Pact will send you 250g of really good coffee, ground or not, according to your needs, as often as you want (weekly and fortnightly are the default options).

Their goal is a worthy one, but initially, I was hesitant. I live five minutes away from Monmouth's Bermondsey outpost, and part of the fun of coffee-drinking is choosing my own coffee bean adventure. I didn't want to be tied down to the default frequency options, although you can skip as many deliveries as you like. 

Given the chance to switch to a monthly delivery and armed with a code for a free 100g sample bag, however, I hit the button. Actually, this wasn't entirely intentional; beautifully designed as the website is, it's also a little trigger-happy, so be careful where you click.

I was sort of hoping that the first batch wouldn't be any good — adequate for those who don't have easy access to London's wealth of premium coffee suppliers, perhaps, but not anything special. No such luck: the single-origin Brazilian Rodomunho beans I received were excellent: a light roast (AKA more caffeine) with the honey and milk chocolate notes promised by the description. I usually brew with an Aeropress for which I felt like the Rodomunho was a good match.

Rodomunho beans in the Pact package.

My second batch, and first full-size bag, was from El Salvador. This variety is apparently particularly well suited for an Aeropress, but I actually preferred the Rodomunho. The coffee is still very good, but you can definitely taste the fruity acidity and I prefer my coffee a little smoother.

The packs come with the date of roasting, the name of the person who packed the coffee and a little feedback checkbox, where you can Tweet whether the coffee was "life changing," "smile inducing" or "not my cup of tea." A nice idea.

My first Aeropress brew with the Rodomunho coffee. Cup from Joe.

I was even more pleased when I found out that the Pact office is just down the road from me, next to where I went bouldering. It's a lot harder to cancel a subscription when you have local loyalty to take into account! But I plan to keep my subscription active for now, although I might skip a month or two if I'm, say, going to New York and want to bring back my own beans. Even though I can get hold of good coffee easily, there are still weeks when I don't have time to go to stock up. 

Which is where Pact steps in. You usually get your coffee the day after ordering and the package fits through "90% of letterboxes" — unfortunately, not including mine, which is too narrow, although I usually get packages sent to my office.