Coffee is a personal thing. You know exactly how you like it and it has to be a certain way. Have you ever wondered if there’s even better coffee out than than one you’re using right now?
Maybe you’re needing to buy a gift soon for someone and they always have coffee with them? One of the subscription box options below would be a wonderful surprise – and a surprise they’ll appreciate daily (until the coffee runs out!)
- Try Atlas Coffee Club or Driftaway Coffee for something special and exotic.
- Try Illy, Craft Coffee or Crema for solid no-fail coffee that almost all coffee drinkers will love
- Try Grounds & Hounds or Peet’s Coffee for a coffee subscription box that gives back
What is a coffee subscription box?
A coffee subscription box usually begins by you answering some basic questions on how you prefer your coffee – like strengths, acidity, boldness and flavors (some coffee’s can be fruity, others have a hint of caramel).
Once you’ve answered the questions, the monthly box will be curated according to your answers. You won’t know 100% exactly what’s going in your box until you receive and open it, but you can rest assured the coffee won’t be something completely off.
Usually you can modify what coffee goes into the box as your preferences change.
Let’s check out the best coffee subscriptions to splurge on right now.
Craft Coffee
Fast roast to ship date
One 12oz Bag Per Month
Craft Coffee has a quiz to help them (or help you) choose the right coffee beans. This one is a bit different, because instead of answering flavor questions, it’s just one question – what coffee are you drinking currently?
With that information, they will choose and present a coffee that’s similar – but better!
If you don’t like the coffee that’s recommended for you, you always have a 100% satisfaction guarantee that means they’ll re-send a different coffee that you’ll love – after a few more questions on you preferences so they can get it right.
BUY: Check out more information about Craft Coffee and subscribe to their monthly fresh roasted subscription service on their website here.
Blue Bottle Coffee
Try new high quality coffee
One 12oz Bag
It seems like the thing with coffee subscription companies is how fast they can roast the beans and get it to you. Blue Bottle Coffee demands a premium price per bag – $22 for a standard 12oz bag – but it gets you coffee that was roasted within 48 hours of you receiving it.
That’s amazingly awesome.
Shipping is included, so take that into account when you are pricing these coffee subscription companies.
You can change or cancel you subscription at any time – change the flavor? change the quantity? do it all online and without hassle.
BUY: You can check out more information about Blue Bottle Coffee and subscribe to one of their gourmet subscription plans on their website here.
Bean Box
Coffee tasting sampler
One 12oz Bag
Bean Box is another top rated coffee subscription box to treat yourself or someone else to.
They have a short quiz – like most of the recommendations I have to show you today – that asks you your roast preferences, whole or ground coffee and if you would like either a coffee tasting subscription or a coffee bag subscription.
The coffee tasting subscription is excellent for discovering expertly curated coffees every month. They’re smaller bags – at 1.8oz each – but they’re perfect for expanding your coffee experience and finding new roasts your love.
The coffee tasting subscription serves 4-6 cups per bag, so you can share with friends or family and they can join in on the experience. Costs are $16.50/mo.
The coffee bag subscription is for full-sized 12oz bags that brews somewhere between 24-36 cups depending on your strength. Costs are $24/mo.
BUY: You can check out more information about BeanBox and subscribe to a coffee subscription plan on their website here.
Atlas Coffee Club
Great Value
Two 24oz Bags
Atlas Coffee Club is a well known coffee subscription service that provides high quality coffees from all corners of the planet.
Their coffee’s are single origin and are expertly curated so you only receive the best. You’ll get to tour the world with coffee as each monthly box includes a postcard from the coffee’s origin country.
There’s even tasting notes and brewing tips that accompany the fresh gourmet coffee so you can be sure to take full advantage of this special treat.
When you’re choosing your subscription on the Atlas Coffee Club website, you can choose between the quantity of coffee you’ll receive, the frequency, roast preference and grind type.
BUY: You can check out more information about Atlas Coffee Club and subscribe to your own coffee subscription box on their website here.
Misto Box
Best variety of independent roasters
One 12oz Bag
MistoBox is one of the more affordable coffee subscription boxes, but they also offer one of the largest collections of coffees that have been skillfully roasted by over 50+ independent roasters.
Their basic plan is $10.95/mo (+shipping) and you’ll get a freshly roasted 12oz bag of coffee that’s personalized to your tastes. It’ll be freshly roasted – but there’s nothing indicating how fresh like the other coffee subscription boxes I’ve seen (48hrs? 4 days?).
MistoBox has four “tiers” of pricing. I can only assume that’s a codeword for cheaper or more expensive coffee roasts. A Basic tier gets you $10.16 a bag where as the Deluxe tier gets you $12.71 a bag.
What’s the difference? No idea!
You then get another option of choosing a coffee plan – this is different to coffee delivery frequency…that’s just how many times the post guy will drop something off, you have to further choose how much coffee the mail guy will drop off.
Pay per bag at $11.95 (I thought it was $10.95?), take a 6-coffee plan out for $10.76 a bag (paid all at once) or a 12 coffee plan out for $10.16 a bag (also paid all at once).
When you finally get to the payment screen, they tell you that by choosing Mistobox, you’ll save $700 per year.
Not so sure about that one to be honest.
BUY: Check out more information on Mistobox and order your own monthly coffee subscription on their website here.
Equator Coffees
A simple subscription
One 12oz Bag
Equator Coffees have a different subscription system. You can subscribe to a curated subscription where you’ll choose your prefered coffee type:
- Single origin
- Espresso
- Blended
Or if you’ve found a coffee that you love and want it delivered monthly, you can sign up for a subscription and they’ll send you 12oz monthly with free shipping.
Prices do vary, with the curated subscriptions offered between $16 – $19 a month and single bags offered around $18.
BUY: Check out more information on Equator Coffees and subscribe to a coffee subscription plan on their website here.
Illy
Consistently high quality coffee
One 8.8oz Can
Illy wants you to subscribe to their coffee subscription service so much that they’ll give you 20% off, free shipping and even a special welcome bonus gift for new customers.
If you prefer to use coffee capsules, Illy will give you a free iperEspreso machine ($295 value) when you subscribe to a 18 month subscription (4 cans every 2 months for 18 months).
For ground and whole bean coffee, they have a simple subscription system.
first choose your coffee, set a schedule and choose your free gift. Pretty straight forward and something a few other coffee subscription companies should take note of.
As far as coffee type, they’ve probably got the most variety:
- Capsules
- K-Cup Pods
- Whole Bean
- Ground Espresso
- Ground Drip
- E.S.E Pods
- Ready to drink cans
BUY: Check out more information about Illy and sign up to their coffee subscription service on their website here.
Driftaway Coffee
Sustainably farmed coffee
One 12oz Bag
There’s a short coffee preference quiz to fill out detailing your preferred type of coffee whether it’s whole bean or ground. Interestingly when you select ground coffee as a preference, you can further select how you’ll be brewing it – Aeropress, drip, french press, pour over and so on.
A uniqueness to Driftaway Coffee is their offering of a Coffee Explorer Kit.
Rather than shuttle you through the quiz and then give you a ton of coffees to pick from – none that you’ve tasted before – you can opt to start you subscription with the Coffee Explorer Kit.
In the kit you’ll get a collection of four bags of fresh single origin coffee. Pick you favorites from the selection and Driftaway Coffee will match your future coffees to them.
This is a great way to literally get a taste of Driftaway Coffee and it’ll be a good indication if you should stay subscribed or choose another coffee subscription box.
You can always skip the Coffee Explorer Kit and opt for a single type – 8oz all the way up to 2lbs of coffee.
BUY: Check out more information on Driftaway Coffee and subscribe to your own coffee subscription plan on their website here.
Grounds & Hounds
Great coffee and a great cause
One 12oz Bag
This is a unique coffee subscription box from Grounds & Hounds.
This company are committed to donating a portion of their profits from every sale to support animal rescue organizations. They actually donate 20% of all profits, which is amazingly awesome.
The coffee subscription service also includes a short quiz, asking questions like what style do you prefer your coffee, how frequently and how much.
Once you’ve made your selections, you’ll actually see what the money from your purchase can do for needy pups. A single bag subscription provides 200 meals per year for instance.
BUY: Find out more information on Grounds & Hounds Coffee and subscribe to their coffee service on their website here.
Trade Coffee
400+ Coffees
One 12oz Bag
Trade Coffee specializing in sourcing premium coffees responsibly and supporting the farmers and roasters who produce it.
It’s a great way to explore new roasters and different beans and you’ll also enjoy the surprise each month as you won’t know exactly what you’re getting until….you get it!
Like the other coffee subscription boxes there’s a short quiz and customization so you can dial in the subscription that works for you best. Something unique to Trade Coffee is that they ask you your coffee experience. That’s not a question I’ve seen presented on any of the other coffee subscription boxes quizzes and is important to know.
If your experience level is pretty new to coffee, you’ll get a different selection than you would if you were an expert. The individually curated boxes are backed by a team of experts that select coffees that you’ll be most likely to love.
After all, it’s in their best interests to supply you with awesome coffee or else….well, you’ll just cancel the subscription right?
BUY: Check out more information on Trade Coffee and subscribe to one of their subscriptions on the website here.
Crema
55+ Independent roastariesOne 12oz Bag
Crema.co coffee is another coffee subscription box company that’ll expertly curate fresh roasted coffee to your door.
Complete their coffee quiz and you’ll get $5 off your first bag, shipping is free too which is a bonus, but the coffees are generally more expensive per bag than others.
You can also opt for a sample kit that includes 3 different coffers from their award winning roasters.
BUY: Check out more information on Creama.co Coffee and subscribe to a coffee subscription box on their website here.
Angel’s Cup
Coffee tasting kits
One 12oz Bag
So I was expecting some sort of charitable association with a name like Angel’s Cup but there doesn’t appear to be any at all.
Angel’s Cup provides coffee tasting kits (called a tasting flight) to try and spread the word about their high quality coffees and give their customers an opportunity to try as many high quality, fresh coffees as possible.
You can even opt for a blind bag, where the roaster and origin are hidden so you can focus 100% on the flavor.
A uniqueness to Angel’s Cup is their smartphone app. Once you order, receive and try the tasting flight, you can report your feedback using the app. You’ll then see how your feedback compares with other customers.
For their subscription, there’s the standard quiz – roast, grind and frequency. Then you can choose the Tasting Flight (or cupping flight), All-Stars box (top rated from the community) and The Black Box which has a lot of variety.
BUY: To find out more information about Angel’s Cup and to subscribe to one of their plans, check out their website here.
Peet’s Coffee
Four unique coffee subscriptions
One 1lb Bag
Peet’s Coffee offers a monthly subscription where customers can enjoy free shipping, exclusive deals and perks and discounts that save you more the more you spend.
There’s four curated subscription options:
- Break Up With Carbon – Sponsors CO2 absorbing mangrove trees with each delivery
- Be On The Cutting Edge – Special, extraordinary coffees with limited release.
- Experience The World – Explore the unique, nuanced flavors of Earth’s best coffee each month
- Taste The Peet’s Classics – Alfred Peet was known for his coffee blends. Try them all with this subscription
Peet’s has always free shipping, which can add on almost half the cost of the actual coffee with some retailers. Not so with Peet’s, you’ll also get the 10% discount and shop with confidence as you’ll enjoy 30 days for a full refund if you are not satisfied with what you received.
BUY: To find out more information about Peet’s Coffee subscription and to sign up, check out the Peets website here.
Summary
You’ve got some great options when it comes to coffee subscription boxes.
You can choose an elevated coffee experience like MistoBox or Blue Bottle Coffee and experience coffees that are within your comfort zone, but still a little adventerous.
Alternatively, go with Atlas Coffee Club or Driftaway Coffee for something more special and exotic.
For solid no-fail coffee that almost all coffee drinkers will love, try Illy, Craft Coffee or Crema.
Finally, for a coffee subscription box that gives back, try Grounds & Hounds or Peet’s Coffee.
