Steampunk Coffee's Packaging

Steampunk is one of two coffee roasters that I've come to learn about in more depth than the rest. I've spent some time reading about the Scottish speciality coffee market. There are so many roasters and many of them do not have active online presences. I rely on the online presences of roasters because I buy most of my speciality coffee online. I brew most of my coffee at home.

I have been actively following Steampunk for at least a month. I looked at them like any other roastery until I found out about their online cupping class. As a birthday treat, I decided to book myself into a session. I paid 15 pounds for a one hour class. The class ended up going on for over one hour and twenty minutes. It was well worth the money. I signed up for the cupping quickly after I discovered it on Steampunk's website. I have found few online cuppings. The only other one of which I am aware was the World's Biggest Cupping, hosted by James Hoffman. I missed the enrollment for that cupping session this year.

Ordering New Beans

I got an email in my inbox a few days about a discount Steampunk was running on their coffees. I usually do not take any action when I receive emails about discounts. This email was different. I tasted a range of coffees during the cupping session I attended and I know I really like their beans. I was running low on my supply at home and I decided that I'd buy a bag from Steampunk.

I did buy these beans in haste. I was somewhat disappointed by the fact my beans from Union Coffee had not showed up on the day that I expected them to be delivered. To make sure I would have enough beans for the week, I purchased some from Steampunk. I went for the decaf beans. I've tried all of the other beans they serve and I wanted a change. I've had a good experience with all the coffees I have tried from Steampunk. I'm confident that the decaf beans will be tasty. I'm going to brew a cup with them later today.

The discount code that I wanted to use was only applicable to purchases over 10 pounds. The decaf coffee cost less than 10 pounds. I had to buy something else to get the discount. I finally purchased a coffee container to store my beans. I usually store my beans in a bag. I had a clear plastic box in which I kept any bags of beans that were open. This has served me well but I'd rather have a proper vessel in which to store my beans. A plastic box from the cupboard where I keep all the plastic boxes was not a long-term strategy.

The tin cost me three pounds. Aside from a sticker, I believe the tin was the cheapest item I could find. I wanted the tin anyway so it was not as if I made a purchase that I did not need just to get the discount. I checked out and waited for my order to arrive.

The Delivery

My postie delivered a package to me yesterday from Steampunk. I did not expect the delivery so soon. My local coffee roaster can take seven days or more to deliver products because they roast to-order and they are a small operation. I've had delivery times at around a week from other roasters. I had only ordered my beans on Tuesday and they had arrived by Friday.

The delivery came in a 100% recyclable box. I opened the box and only saw my container. For a moment, I was worried that my coffee would be delivered in another package. I'd ordered the coffee and the container at the same time and so I expected them to be delivered in one box. I saw a sticker in the box with the notes for the decaf coffee I ordered. I thought to myself that maybe the beans were in the container. I opened the tin and there were my coffee beans.

I was thinking about this yesterday and I could not let it go. Steampunk went above and beyond to deliver my decaf coffee beans. They saved themselves from packaging my coffee individually and bundled the two orders into one. This could not have been done by a machine. A human would have made the decision to put my coffee beans in the container. I was impressed.

I find myself thinking about how most roasteries are small. I order a lot of coffee from Union Coffee which I know is a bigger operation. Union is not representative of the average coffee roastery. Most of the one's I've seen in Scotland tend to offer a few different beans. They are mainly people-powered operations. I know that Steampunk is very human-driven because I've heard about how they work on their podcast (which I highly recommend).

I am waiting in anticipation for Steampunk to host an Aeropress brewing class. They are presently marketing their Kalita Wave brew masterclass. I'm somewhat tempted to sign up but I'm presently happy with the brewing method that I use. I don't want to complicate my process.