Bean Box

If you’re a coffee lover who drinks a lot of coffee and loves trying new flavors -- or you just need a change -- the Bean Box coffee subscription might be just the thing for you.

What It Is

Seattle-based company Bean Box was founded in 2014 by software engineers Ryan Fritzky and Matthew Berk when they decided to use their tech skills and love of coffee to create a unique artisan coffee experience that delivers it straight to your door.

Bean Box works with some of the top small-batch roasters in the Seattle area -- such as Anchorhead Coffee Co., Broadcast Coffee Roasters, Coava, Kum Coffee, and Water Avenue, -- and selects the best coffees and roasts to send to you.

You can choose from a vast selection of coffees -- everything from single-origin to blends from all around the world. Bean Box allows you to choose your roast preference, which you can change at any time, flavors (like fruity, chocolatey, toasty), or choose a coffee of the month box. You can also choose the schedule: weekly, every other week, or monthly.

If you want to try a variety of exclusive, award-winning artisan coffee flavors and blends, you can even choose a sampler that comes with four curated 1.8-ounce bags of freshly roasted coffee (whole bean or freshly ground), information on where the coffee was grown, tasting notes, brewing tips, a personalized note (if it’s a gift)), and an artisan treat (such as a caramel candy, biscotti, teas, or other types of coffee).

You can choose 1, 3, 6, or 23-month gift subscription plans (long-term subscriptions give you a small discount). If you like a particular coffee from the sampler, you can get the number and code from it to order a full bag of that roast.

The gift shopping option allows you to choose between the bean box sampler, coffee bag subscription, and other options such as the World Coffee Tour Box, Tea Tasting Gift Box, Coffee and Tea Gift Box, Coffee + Biscotti Tasting Box, and more.

Pros

• Easy-to-use subscription: Bean Box makes it easy to order, change your coffee preferences, skip any months you need to, and even cancel subscriptions.
• Informative website: Bean Box’s website is simple to navigate and informative -- it has plenty of resources on coffee blends, roasters, and even a coffee blog and coffee forum.
• Fresh, delicious roasts: Bean Box roasts their beans right before they ship it, so you are guaranteed to receive quality beans and grinds within 48 hours of being roasted.
• Choose your preferred roast and type of grind
• Receive free shipping on paid subscriptions
• Perfect gift option for family, friends, and coffee lovers

Cons

• Bean Box is slightly more costly than many of its competitors, although the higher price reflects the quality of the coffee.

Price

• Coffee Tasting subscriptions are $16.50 a month and come with free shipping.
• Coffee Bag subscriptions are $24/month, $22/biweekly, and $20/weekly.
• Coffee Gifts are $15+.

The Bottom Line

Bean Box is an excellent service for curated high-quality artisan coffee from the West Coast. It gives you flexibility in terms of what you are looking for -- a sample kit, a gift, adventure with a new coffee of the month flavor, and more.

Bean Box also makes it easy to use its service and has excellent customer service. With a few clicks, you can have coffee shipped straight to your door. Need to skip a month? You can also do that at any time. And while the cost is a little high, you are getting the quality you pay for.