Forget the Hassle, Bring on the Faff When you Want Some Specialty Coffee

For most people wanting a coffee at home, the instant type in a jar is the go-to product and has been for well over half a century, but this could be all about to change with Faff’s extra-large coffee bags.

When guests come to our house and want a hot drink, they have four options; normal tea and posh tea, and it’s the same for coffee. Who gets what depends on what we feel our guest(s) would prefer. The problems only arise when the guests say, “Coffee, please”, followed by, “What varieties do you have?” “What varieties?”, “We have standard coffee granules and posh coffee granules! We’re not blooming coffee baristas!”

This scenario would be no different for most households across the UK. Admittedly, some people will be a little more expert in the field of coffee making than we are and might have a dedicated machine that produces a range of high-quality beverages. But, most will be limited to the same options as us.

There’s an obvious reason why there are so many coffee shops on British high streets, and that’s because million’s of people love a good quality cup of coffee, and until now, they’ve been the best place to get one.

Coffee is a hugely popular beverage in the UK. But, what many reading this will might not know is instant coffee has been in the country for centuries.

It was first introduced in 1771, the year James Cook sailed on his first voyage. Then, it was known as a coffee compound and was subsequently granted a patent by the British Government. We’re quite sure many will have assumed it was the American’s who came up with the idea of instant coffee. Alas, they were a little late to the party, only creating their version in 1851, eighty years later.

Thanks to those clever British minds two and half centuries ago, making a standard coffee at home is now a simple task. However, making a high-quality, specialty cup of coffee is far from straightforward unless you have a dedicated machine and some extra bits and bobs. If we’re completely honest, making a speciality coffee at home involves far too much faffing about.

In the main, most people don’t want to do more than they need to, and this could explain why almost 36 billion cups of tea are drunk each year in the UK. Tea is easy to make, and this is due in the main to it coming in a tea bag; all you need to do is pop it in a cup, pour some hot water in and wait.

It’s even simpler when it comes to instant coffee as there is no wait time. However, higher-quality coffee is a different kettle of fish altogether and has been out of the reach of many, but this could all be about to change in 2021.

There are some new kids on the coffee block, and they go by the name of Faff. What they are bringing to the table is something different; it’s coffee in what we would commonly regard as a teabag!

Admittedly, coffee bags have been on the market for a while. But what makes Faff different from the rest is their bags are double-sized. People who’ve tried the smaller bags currently available frequently say the coffee tasted weak and often had a bitter flavour; not the case with the Faff bags.

Dave Law is the person behind Faff. Previously, he founded and ran Brew Lab Coffee which was Edinburgh’s first specialty coffee bar which means he knows more than a thing or two about the industry. He’s taken the years of experience he’s gained and has put them into designing new and significantly larger bags jam-packed with specialty coffee.

From the outset, his goal was to create the perfect cup of coffee, whether at home or work, and Faff bags appears to have achieved this. However, the bags are only the beginning as Dave has a host of other ideas which are currently being developed, all of which focus on enabling anyone to make a perfect cup of coffee.

Dave said, “I have always been obsessed with making outstanding coffee more accessible. In a country where over 80% of home coffee drinkers still drink commodity-based instant coffee and less than 1% drink specialty-grade coffee, I realised that the fact that great coffee is actually quite difficult to make well is holding back specialty coffee from capturing more home coffee drinkers.”

He added, “If you can’t brew it on top of a mountain with just a stove and a mug, we aren’t interested.”

Whether Faff will be able to change British habits of a lifetime remains to be seen. However, if their coffee tastes half as good as they suggest, many households up and down the country will be able to breathe a sigh of relief when one of their guests asks, “What varieties do you have?”

Faff’s Single Origin Coffee Bags are priced at £11 for 15 x 15g bags. For more information, visit faff.coffee.