I’m reluctant to point the finger as I’ve had a LOT of coffee from Rave which has been fantastic. However I did stop ordering from them recently after a few kilos of blends definitely seemed less enjoyable. Might be down to adjustments in the blend perhaps.
I now subscribe to NewGround Mug Shot which is a single origin Brazilian at around £21 a kilo. Chocolatey med/dark and it’s fantastic as espresso, flat white and brew, as well as good value.
Also is it possible you’re over extracting? A med-dark could taste smoky if overextracted. It can be tempting to run a medium/dark for 30-34 seconds at 1:2 and granted that’s a sweet spot for a lot of those roasts, but I’ve had fantastic results with some darker roasts around 23-35 seconds. Worth a try.