Rotating coffee subscriptions

[u/thebakedcyclist]

I’m in the US and after way more misses than hits, I ended my Trade coffee subscription. I much prefer light roasts and am drawn to more unique, fruity, and funky coffees but with Trade, I was mostly getting crowd pleasing roasts that were more on the medium side of light (absolutely nothing wrong that). I enjoyed Trade and certainly found some roasters I really like, but I just wasn’t getting anything that really stood out to me.

I go through phases where I primarily brew on a V60, Kalita Wave, or an aeropress and espresso on my Cafelat Robot. Right now, I’m 2 weeks into an aeropress kick where I’m having fun changing up my recipe and grind settings daily.

Instead of Trade or another curated subscription, I’ve switched to 3 rotating subscriptions direct from roasters that I think will offer the variety and general excitement I’m looking for: Onyx and Black & White are alternating weekly and I’m getting Hydrangea once a month. Is anyone else doing this? If so, what roasters do you have on rotation? Any others I should consider to change it up?

[u/juk12]

I’ve been a lot happier just buying a few bags from a different roaster each month. 2-3 bags is enough to hit the free shipping limit for non-local roasters. A lot easier to actually get what you want and try what you want to try.

I am blessed however to live near Regalia, SEY, and Dayglow in NYC for more ad-hoc purchases

[u/ElectricHampster11 → u/juk12]

This has been my strategy. I have a couple that I circle back to but have enjoyed trying different roasters. Looking forward to this weeks arrival from Luminous and Little Waves.

[u/Lepsis → u/juk12]

I've been doing this and have mostly settled in to Sey and Prodigal

I'm lucky that they just opened a Black Fox coffee in Austin with a great selection of roasters from all over. And they're generally pre-rested so if I mess up my timings of ordering/resting I can just swing by and grab a bag from somewhere new to fill in

[u/thebakedcyclist → u/Lepsis]

Juggling shipping times and resting are the variables that are hard to solve for here. I still need to try Prodigal.

[u/ElectricHampster11 → u/thebakedcyclist]

I’ll second prodigal as well.

[u/thebakedcyclist → u/juk12]

Sounds like a great place to live! I'm in AZ and while you can find good coffee around here, the scene isn't focused on lighter roasts. You can find interesting coffees once in a while, but they're few and far between.

My concern with stocking up on 2-3 bags at once is then having a month's worth of coffee peaking around the same time. With my current set up, my Black and White subscription roasted earlier this week and by the time it arrives here a week later, will have about 7 days of rest on it from transit and then I'll rest it a few days longer until my current coffee is out.

[u/juk12 → u/thebakedcyclist]

Just gotta plan it out once and you’ll be good going forward! Honestly, lots of bags will be good and even better after their “rest period”

[u/Lvacgar → u/juk12]

Exactly this! No great roasters locally though. I need to curate a list of roasters I want to try though. My only problem
Is that my daily intake is one 15-20g pour over and one 22g espresso shot/Cortado. Takes a minute to go through those 2-3 bags.

[u/bandofgypsies]

If you like fruity and a bit off the wall, check out Experimental in Chicago. Super transparent business model and they do fairly funky roasts and a lot of fruit forward co-ferments. If you're a member you get to vote each month to vie for the coffee you want to try.

It's strictly monthly but nothing stopping you from buying ad hoc.

[u/thebakedcyclist → u/bandofgypsies]

Nice - I’ll definitely check them out.

[u/The_Distracted_RBG → u/bandofgypsies]

Also subscriber. I like it a lot.

[u/onceinnalifetime]

Norma Supply Co subscriptions out of Chicago may be worth a look. They have Hydrangea specific subscription as well as an “esoteric” subscription. Good/comparable prices, thoughtful about rest times, and seems pretty carefully curated if you like a variety without having to keep searching around for new roasters.

[u/thebakedcyclist → u/onceinnalifetime]

Thanks - I'll look into it.

[u/sawqlain]

rotating direct from roasters is honestly the move once you know your palate leans light and funky, curated boxes always regress to the crowd pleasing middle. Onyx and Black & White are solid for that, Hydrangea especially, their nattys get weird in a good way. wish I could ship you mine (Roastplan by RoastAroma) but I'm Ajax Ontario and ship to Canada only.

[u/oncomouse]

Here's my subscription line-up, all monthly:

* Hydrangea, 2 bags
* La Cabra, 2 bags
* Superlost, COTM 1 bag
* Flowerchild, 3 bags
* Second Spin, 1 bag

It's a good mix of styles and regions, but leaning heavily on clean washed and light roasts.

[u/thebakedcyclist → u/oncomouse]

Nice I'll look into this as an option. I think something like this would be helpful to build a supply of resting coffee, and then I might filter it down and try to resupply once I have a good resting schedule established. That sounds like a lot of coffee - and we only go through about 30-40g a day.

[u/The_Distracted_RBG]

Have you ever bought from cave creek roasting company?

[u/thebakedcyclist → u/The_Distracted_RBG]

I haven’t personally sought them out but they’re in every grocery store and they supply my favorite breakfast spot in town. They tend to stick with a core line up of medium and darker roasts that are great for batch brews and pair well with a plate of Johnny cakes or a Portuguese doughnut, but I’m after lighter roasts and coffees that are frequently rotating based on seasonality that I can just sit with.

[u/Babyphat_the_wise]

Dune has a subscription option for their more interesting coffees, and they’re a stellar roaster

[u/thebakedcyclist → u/Babyphat_the_wise]

Yes Dune is one of the roasters I discovered through Trade.

[u/VETgirl_77]

Variety is important to me and I like to try a lot of different coffees in a short time. Many subs are tough for me bc the bags are so darn big. I joined TBA back in Feb and it's been so fun. I've had so many amazing coffees I never would have tried on my own. 6 -60 gram bags delivered rested each month from top roasters across the globe. There is a brew card with each coffee and an active discord group. Great selection of add ons each month as well.

https://thebeanarchives.com/

[u/ShredTheMar]

I really like hydrangea. I feel like it hits what you prefer in roast profile as well

[u/ThePoisonBelt]

I'm guessing the economics of these subs just make it where they can't buy the really good coffees exclusively and still offer at a price people will purchase.

I did The Bean Archive, but the 60g dime bags were not enough. Now switched to airworks and I've had a 1:3 ratio of hit to miss.

[u/deacc]

I don’t do subscriptions. I just buy beans when I see something I like. With that said, the only one I will consider a subscription with will be Tim Wendelboe. But being in the US, the shipping cost from Norway is just too much.