After enthusing about Pact’s single sentence summaries in my last review, I’ve realised that the last few packets I’ve received have all followed a similar theme – milk chocolate, cherries, that kind of thing.

In some ways this is entirely reasonable. Coffee often has a red fruit character – the bean comes from the inside of a coffee “cherry” after all – and a more gentle roast can easily produce chocolate tones. However, for a service offering me a new coffee with every delivery there comes a point when they all start to taste the same.

Fazenda Sertao takes us in a new direction happily, promising “apricot and apple compote”. I can honestly say I’ve never encountered a coffee that had me thinking of those terms so it’s an intriguing start.

The grounds have a distinctly light fruit aroma; dried apricot without the sweetness, and tobacco leaves too. Brewed, the tobacco is lost and a slightly marzipan tone appears and some subtle caramel sweetness comes through as well.

In the mouth it’s light and lacking in sweetness. There’s a decent, slightly acidic bitterness but the fruits in the aroma are lost and there’s not a great deal to replace it.

There’s nothing actively wrong with this coffee, but it’s flat and uninspiring. 1.5 stars.