Coffee subscriptions

Looking for some data points from anyone who subscribes for small batch coffee from an independent roaster. I'm curious how much you pay for what quantity and frequency; also how many varieties you receive over the course of a year.

My Wilfa Uniform Silver grinder arrives tomorrow after waiting more than 1.5 years, so I'm looking at subscriptions with two local roasters below

RIGHT SIDE COFFEE - VOLUME SUBSCRIPTION

250g
every 15 days - 11€
monthly - 11

500g
every 15 days - 18,05 (9,03 per 250g)
monthly - 18,05 (9,03 per 250g)

1kg
every 15 days - 29,20 (7,30 per 250g)
monthly - 29,20 (7,30 per 250g)

2kg
every 15 days - 54,65 (6,83 per 250g)
monthly - every 15 days - 54,65 (6,83 per 250g)

versus —

SYRA COFFEE SUBSCRIPTION

250g bags per month
1 - 11,26€
2 - 21,00 (10,50 per 250g)
3 - 31,00 (10,33 per 250g)
4 - 41,00 (10,25 per 250g)

I consume on average 250g ~ 7 days give or take. 7,30€ per 250g is pretty decent; the same bag costs roughly 11,25€ if I walk in the coffee shop — so I'm trying to beat that baseline — of course pricing varies so these are broad strokes.

What I don't love about RS's Volume subscription is, say, I order 1kg / month then I have to drink the same coffee for a month so I only get 12 coffees over a year which isn’t much variety

If I went with 250g every 15 days that would be 24 coffees over the course of a year - twice the variety - that’s what I’m after but I don’t want to pay 11€ per 250g bag which is what I would pay if I walk in off the street.

500g every 2 weeks @ 9 euros per 250g bag would still be 24 coffees a year at the volume I'm drinking i.e. 250g @ 15 days I would be without some days

I can modify the subscription anytime. One additional piece is I want to get Mrs. Holliscx on my bean plan so that I go through more coffee with her. But I’m ordering beans for filter and she uses a stovetop espresso which technically should be different beans. I think I can use the same beans though. Mrs. Holliscx could care less about small batch coffee though so her inclusion isn't critical.

Lastly, what I thought would be awesome, would be to do a 250g every 15 days for the first half of the month from one roaster and then for variety do the same qty subscription from another roaster for the second half of the month. This would be awesome but you pay for it. If I did this, it would cost 22,26€ for 500g of coffee per month which is 11,13 per 250g bag but I would enjoy 24 coffees from 2 roasters over a year, but pay top dollar. But the whole point of subscribing is to save money (and receive freshly roasted beans direct from the roaster shipped to your door).

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11,26€ per 250g bag is pretty expensive tbh

7,30€ is awesome but you have to snooze through the lack of variety which is disappointing

I dunno I can always modify. Right Side is my #1 they have another subscription called "Experience" where the roaster selects some speciality roasts but it's prohibitively expensive.

Syra is my #2 (RS is better) but you can choose African, South/Central American, or Roaster’s Choice (which is what I want)

Right Side's Experience subscription is essentially roaster’s choice but it's out of the question unfortunately.

Help Josh, I think I may have posted this in the wrong place. Please redirect if necessary.

I think you are in the right place.

I've had a few subscriptions and though some try to be flexible, in the end I just prefer to order what I want as I need it.

In general I prefer to buy by the pound (about 500g) unless it's something I only want to try or think I might not love. If I have my doubts 500g's is a lot of untasty cafes. But here in the US I order most often from Redbird and get 3-4 pounds at a time, that arrives freshly enough roasted for me to get through it in an acceptable amount of time. I usually go for a couple of bags of beans that I know I like, and then get a bag or two that I want to try or prefer to only have once in awhile. Sometimes my order is based off knowing I want to use something besides the espresso machine more for whatever reason.


Another problem I've had with every subscription is that I eventually end up with more coffee than I really need at any particular time. I'd rather need to pick up a bag of beans locally to hold me over than have bags getting old on the shelf.

I'm in the middle of moving right now and my equipment is all packed up. I can't wait to unpack my machine and gear so I can quit drinking hotel coffee in the morning lol. I may be on an air mattress for a few weeks, but if I've got my machine on the counter I'll be just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kytyree

Another problem I've had with every subscription is that I eventually end up with more coffee than I really need at any particular time. I'd rather need to pick up a bag of beans locally to hold me over than have bags getting old on the shelf.

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I think I'm going to do a 1-year subscription at my no 2 and err on the safe side which is 500g per month or 2 250g bags which is the standard here. I can drink 250g in 7-10 days so this will allow me to nip out and try some other beans locally though I will pay full price but at least I want feel I have inventory at home which I don't want to stockpile beans. This is the reason I'm trying to get my wife on my subscription so we can consume together. She doesn't care about the nuance and superior taste of the small batch local roasted stuff unfortunately.

Syra will mail 2 different coffees each month plus a local pickup. I think this will be an alright deal. I will pay 8,30 euros per 250g bag versus 9-15 euros per bag if I walk in the shop. The only hitch is that I have to pay a year upfront but I'm fine with that.

I can subscribe for one 250g bag per month from Right Side but I pay basically full price which is 11,26 per 250g and they don't change the coffee until it runs out so there will only be 2-3 changes a year whereas if I walk in the coffee shop to purchase there's more variety I believe so I don't see much advantage subscribing with Right Side though I might try it out of convenience and I can cancel anytime sans penalty.

We know the family that started https://groundwire.coffee/ here in town and to support them early on we had it delivered. Now we just pick it up at the grocery store. We always had more than we can drink too. Cody used to deliver it in town by bike. My wife really enjoys Superconductor for her Moki pot. I like their Honduras blend for the press.

I buy from my local roaster and they charge $7.50 to deliver 2# of beans in 2 days. It’s also available at the local grocery store at the same price, but it feels better to keep some of the margin in-house.

https://laprima.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobC...SAAEgLLB_D_BwE