Yes, subscriptions are back. Wonky veg, tattered sleeves of vinyl, nerdy toy boxes in lieu of proper benefits, subscriptions are how you can fake it til you make it in all manner of specialist areas. Coffee is no exception, if anything, it really nails what’s great about subscription boxes – variety. We’ve assessed with an iron fist the best and brightest of coffee subscriptions for all the trembling British coffee drinkers.
Pact Coffee Subscription
Pact bills itself as the UK’s favourite coffee subscription box, as they’re all wont to do, but is it really bang for your buck? What’s the process?
First, pick your coffee – that is, tell Pact how you make it, how you like it, and how much you want to spend.
Second, choose a frequency of delivery, daily, weekly, monthly. They claim any frequency at all, but I’m sure they wouldn’t do hourly. Pact send out an email 48 hours before they pop the beans in the mailbag, so you can push or pause your order.
Nothing gives me greater fear than an unattended wonky veg box. Someone could just walk right off with it. Not the case with Pact as they ship in letter-box sized packages.
- 13 rotating coffees
- Over 8 origins
- 5 different grind sizes
- 100% speciality grade coffee
- Farmers receive 25-125% over the standard Fair-trade rate
- Next day delivery before 1pm Monday to Friday
Pact have a really lovely website, the user interface is clear and easy to customise from your first order, to your last. Their coffee scores a minimum of 82 on SCA rating.
Rave Coffee Review Box
Rave are a group of roasters based in Cirencester. They strive to deliver the best coffee they can without breaking the bank. They’ve got sustainability credentials and projects on the go with World Coffee Research and the New Farmers Association in Huila, Colombia.
Each month you receive a different, delicious coffee. You can choose from the ‘Roastery’s Choice’ or choose your own via their website. You can pause, skip or cancel with no commitment – and even give pre-planned, pre-paid subscriptions as gifts.
- 3 different origins, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua
- Pre-paid gift plans with wrapping and personalised messages
- Specify delivery days
- Monthly delivery only
Union Coffee Subscription
Union can be found on shelves in many supermarkets and corner shops around the UK. But did you know they run a subscription service too? Union’s Coffee Club offers coffee on a spectrum of free choice to curated selection. Get it ground to your method of making, cafetière, espresso, or stovetop-slash-filter. Delivery comes either monthly, fortnightly or weekly – you receive two 200g pouches, which is around 26 cups.
For an extra £2 a month you can get yourself some Fine & Rare coffees you won’t find anywhere else. All deliveries come in a letter-box friendly pack, with easy returns and the ability to pause, skip or cancel your plan anytime.
- A range of exclusive Single Origin coffees and limited, seasonal Microlots
- Light roasts, bright roasts, dark roasts and more
- One of the OG roasters in London
Weanie Beans Subscription
Weanie Beans are a weeny coffee roasters offering a limited but tasty coffee subscription service. Choose from four different grinds, or whole beans, and receive as many multiples of 250g, of said coffee, as you want, every month.
Less sophisticated and frequent than competitors, Weanie Beans are reasonably priced and offer great gift options – Weanie do a deal on an Aeropress and 12 month coffee subscription.
- Single Origins
- Previews of new coffees before they’re available elsewhere
Django Coffee Subscription
Django offer weekly, fortnightly, and monthly subscription plans to keep you full of beans. The plans are on the more expensive side, as compared with Weanie Beans, but you get a far greater depth of choice and variety – in both size and flavour.
Django also offer specialist office subscriptions, which ship a kilogram of freshly roasted whole beans every week or every other week. Generally you can customise this offer though, if you’re looking to buy they’re looking to sell.
The beans are quality greens from farms and farmers chosen for their ethical credentials in relation to workers and the environment. By using Django you also support the One Tree Planted charity, which aims to stem deforestation and promote reforestation.
- Highly customisable packages and delivery frequencies
- Roasting occurs thrice weekly to ensure you’re always getting the fresh stuff
- Free UK shipping, but a charge for overseas
Blue Coffee Box Subscriptions
The UK’s best gourmet coffee subscription club™ may ring some caffeinated noses, yes, is it the fabled Blue Mountain? Maybe, they don’t mention it anywhere on their site though. Blue Coffee Box have ‘Coffee Concierges’ who travel the world to source unique speciality coffees. They ship these beans back to the UK where a network of over 300 artisanal roasters do their thing.
Choose from either a single bag or a Blue Coffee Box of three (smaller) bags. This comes in a presentation box too. Which seems like a superfluous waste of material. The beans are already sealed…
- Choose your preferred grind or get whole beans
- Choose from light, medium, dark roasts – or let the Coffee Concierge ‘surprise’ you
- Beans bought using Direct Trade
Perky Blenders Subscription Box
To match the flat cap and tweed-Twenties inspired fashion, why not get a Perky Blenders coffee box? Personally we abhor puns of this nature, but what about behind the name?
Perky Blenders offer four different clubs; the flexiclub, the three month club, the six month- and the twelve month club. Those names tell you the duration obviously. What you get is up to you. Choose from a roasters blend, a blend of the month, single origin or, rather uniquely decaf. Select your grind and you’re away, Perky Blenders roast daily and all elements of their coffee bags are biodegradable.
- Roasted daily
- Array of roasts and beans
- Sustainability focussed
The Coffee Factory Discovery Pack Subscription
The Coffee Factory want you to never run out of fresh, artisanal coffee. Their subscriptions come in several different forms, choose a specific Coffee Factory blend or go with a Roaster’s Choice Subscription – for a 250g pack of single origin goodness. Our favourite however, is the Discovery Pack, you get two smaller, 125g, pouches of the world’s best coffees.
Coffee gets roasted daily at the Factory and is shipped in slimline packaging to get through any letter box.
- Discovery Pack has two coffees per delivery
- A choice of grinds or whole beans.
- Send as a gift or enjoy yourself
- Easy to alter your existing order with no quibbles
Hasbean Subscription Packs
Hasbean roast a wide and ever-changing seasonal selection of beans. If variety is what you’re after the Hasbean subscription will keep your taste buds guessing. Pay upfront for either four or twelve bags, or pay more flexibly with a Direct Debit.
However you do it, the beans will keep coming, from Ethiopia, from Guatemala, from Thailand and Costa Rica.
- Global selection, endless choices
- Great variety of packages to suit most people’s coffee needs
- Hasbean always pay farmers and growers above the FairTrade floor pricing
Origin Coffee Subscription
Origin’s freshly roasted specialty coffee subscription is chosen by their roasters. Origin promise to deliver in a range of Single Origins, processing methods and flavours to their subscribers.
Delivery options are limited to monthly or fortnightly. Both frequencies receive a 250g pouch. Gift options are available, but you have to get a gift card sent out and then the gift-receiver has to sort out deliveries and what-not. Not the smoothest website or transaction. Origin also state you may receive the same coffee twice in a month, which isn’t great variety.
- Not a good website experience
- Unclear ordering process
Neighbourhood Coffee Subscription Pack
This crew of Liverpudlian specialty roasters have roasted since 2014, they offer a great amount of variety in their beans and have handy customisation features. You can choose a specific bean and roast or go for a roasters choice. Tell them how you like your coffee, and they’ll do their best to get you buzzing.
Deliveries can happen every week, two weeks or monthly and they’ll send up to 1kg too – something neglected by other coffee subscriptions. Whether you were ‘Born Sippin’ or want to ‘Espresso Yourself’ the Scousers know what they’re doing.
- Northern roasters
- 50% off with the ‘sub50’ voucher code
- Hefty 1kg bags available – perfect for the office
