There’s nothing like receiving an exciting surprise in the mail, and for coffee aficionados, what’s better than having your favorite coffee delivered right to your door? Investing in a weekly or monthly coffee subscription is a terrific way to spice up your morning cup of joy and broaden your coffee horizons, or to make excellent and personal gifts for coffee lovers in your life.
Both Atlas Coffee Club and Trade are well-known coffee brands that provide superb coffee subscriptions. For a new user looking to spice up their routine when it comes to coffee culture, choosing between the two might prove to be a hefty task.
In this review, we have all of the facts you’ll need to make the best possible choice. Scroll down to learn everything there is to know about Trade Coffee, Atlas Coffee Club, and which coffee subscription will suit you best.
What Is Coffee Subscription?
Simply put, a coffee subscription represents a business model where a customer signs up online with a coffee retailer or roaster to have coffee delivered to their door every month. It provides users with a selection of coffees, allowing them to try different roasts and coffee beans grown in different locations. Moreover, your coffee subscription also lets you choose the frequency of deliveries, ensuring that you never run out of fresh beans.
People who have a solid understanding of coffee can now fully appreciate the vast array of distinct coffee bean cultivars and production methods. Growers and roasters have leaned in as demand for high-quality coffee varieties started growing. As a result, the retail and wholesale coffee landscape rivals any other artisanal scene in terms of zeal and expertise.
A successful coffee club membership would not have been feasible in the 1980s or 1990sa when most people were satisfied with commercially available mixes. However, people are now ready and able to explore the world of coffee with discerning eyes and palates. There is a great opportunity for coffee roasters or retailers who are willing to jump in and deliver just what the customers are asking for. One of the simplest and most convenient methods to do so is to use and provide a coffee subscription service.
How to Find the Perfect Coffee Subscription
There are lots of coffee subscription services available, and they all provide one thing: great coffee delivered to your home. But, beyond that, these businesses offer a wide range of services. How do you go through all of the subscriptions to discover the one that best suits your needs?
The first question anyone considering a coffee subscription should ask themselves is what kind of coffee they prefer. Do you prefer premium single-origin beans or convenient pre-ground alternatives? Do you want to experience a diverse range of coffees, or are you looking for smooth beans that you know you’ll enjoy? Would you rather pick all of your coffee or let the professionals surprise you?
Many high-quality coffee firms roast and ship beans on demand, ensuring that you never get stale, flavorless beans. On the other hand, many companies roast and ship on a predetermined timetable due to the costly price of on-demand roasting. If your coffee subscription is merely a fun addition to your normal beans, this is OK, but if you rely on that shipment for your morning fix, the rigid timetable may become an issue.
Buying from Trade Coffee
Trade Coffee sells approximately 400 coffees from various roasters, all of which have been thoroughly tested by their crew. Their subscription begins with a survey in which you answer questions about your coffee preferences and if you drink decaf, after which their algorithm recommends matches for you. You can then choose your preferred frequency, bean kind, and a number of bags.
Trade Coffee’s specialization is connecting small roasters with the rest of the globe. The company does not roast its own beans; instead, by acting as a middleman between coffee lovers and coffee roasters, it collaborates with roasters to make it easy for you to get beans from small-batch roasters around the United States. All of the roasters they work with have signed the “Roaster Pledge,” promising to use ethical and environmentally friendly techniques.
What Sets Trade Coffee Apart?
If you hit a financial obstacle and can temporarily not afford to pay for your coffee subscription or have any other reason to put a halt to your deliveries, you can pause your subscription for three, six, or nine weeks rather than canceling it altogether.
Another amazing feature of Trade Coffee is that there are no shipping costs! Because you’ve already signed up to get coffee on a regular basis, Trade Coffee will take care of all shipping and handling costs. So all you have to do is press a button, then sit back and relax while you wait for your coffee to arrive.
Trade also does an excellent job of marking their own guidelines and information that subscribers should be aware of while brewing. Whether it’s information on the coffee or instructions on how to utilize specific goods, Trade coffee is there for you every step of the way.
Last but not the least, Trade’s cold brew bags are made of corn-based fiber and are easily compostable, allowing you to use them after you’ve finished brewing. These bags are both convenient for the brewing process and environmentally friendly.
Price range
Trade coffee subscriptions cost about $12 for a 12-ounce bag. The Manage Subscription options on their website will let you choose your preferred time for deliveries, which can be made every 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 weeks.
There are two tiers of subscriptions as well. The first one, cheekily named The Hookup, offers subscribers different coffee beans with each shipment, selected based on their personal tastes. In this case, prices range from $15-$22 per bag, while the shipping is free every time. This option offers the broadest diversity of roasts, origins, and flavor characteristics, making it ideal for both experienced and adventurous coffee drinkers.
The second tier, The Classic, includes a personalized rotation of matches from a curated list of specialty coffees, at a price of 1 bag for $14.75, or a 2-bag shipment for $25. Made of approachable, easy-to-love coffee flavors at unbeatable prices, this option also provides shipping at no cost.
Pros and Cons
Trade Coffee provides everything you could want in a coffee subscription, including an easy questionnaire to help match your tastes to its coffees and a handy website where you can browse new coffees and keep track of which ones you enjoy. Trade has a sizable selection as well, with over 400 selections to choose from, and the mixes and single-origin alternatives are split quite evenly. It’s also one of the few subscription services that offer decaf.
Trade might be the greatest coffee subscription box for those looking to learn about a variety of roasters in the country. Trade is less curated than Atlas, which is a plus if you enjoy shopping but a disadvantage if you are pressed for time. You can follow the company’s suggestions, but it’s not the same as working with Atlas’ human curators. And trade isn’t exactly a low-cost alternative. It does, however, have a large selection and excellent coffee.
Buying from Atlas Coffee Club
Atlas Coffee Club was established in Texas with a mission to allow consumers to experience the narrative of coffee from all over the world. This coffee subscription, in a way, represents a journey of exotic discovery, highlighting the regional distinctions in every cup, as users explore grinds from a new country each month.
The company selects only the best coffee beans and roasts each batch on the go to highlight flavor qualities unique to the location where it was grown. Made in order to ensure freshness, it presents a great opportunity for subscribers to discover organic flavor and a worldwide variety of coffee beans.
The coffee bags are simple and beautiful, with lovely patterns printed on the sides which represent the culture of the region your bean came from. Every order includes a colorful postcard representing the country of origin, as well as an instructive card with more information on the beans and a recommended brewing procedure. Having that in mind, if you care about stylish packaging and attentive presentation, Atlas Coffee Club is the place to go.
What Sets Atlas Coffee Club Apart
Atlas compensates you for the “travel” you take with your coffee each month, much like a frequent flyer club. When you become a subscriber, you automatically become a member, meaning you can earn points depending on the distance your coffee goes, the countries you “visit,” presents purchased, and referrals. You can then use your points to get store credit, free delivery, and other benefits.
Atlas stands out among its competitors because it provides one of the greatest user experiences of any coffee subscription. Furthermore, Atlas also introduces coffee drinkers to origins and micro-lots they may not have otherwise encountered, as well as some of the more well-known coffee sources.
Price Range
To begin with, you should determine how much coffee you wish to receive with each shipment. If you only want to try a different coffee once a month, the half bag would be ideal. If you plan on using this subscription box as your primary supply of coffee, you might want to go with the double bag option, which Atlas claims can brew up to 60 cups, although that will vary with your brew preferences.
When it comes to quantity, you may choose to receive 6, 12, or 24 ounces of coffee per month for $9, $14, or $28, respectively, and you can pick from three roast preferences: light to medium, medium to dark, or all roasts. Furthermore, you can also decide between biweekly or monthly deliveries, as well as whether you’ll receive grounded or whole beans.
Pros and Cons
Atlas is a full-service coffee subscription service with a fashionable, travel-themed motif. You select your desired roast level, bag size, and shipping frequency, and Atlas handles the rest. Many reviews also praise their excellent customer service and reward program.
Coffee beans you receive with a subscription have a strong aroma and can include exotic flavors like, for example, chocolate, almonds, and oranges. A postcard and a card with full information on the coffee bean origins were included in the box. You may also choose from a number of gift subscription choices, which makes a wonderful present for any coffee enthusiast.
However, the Atlas coffee subscription does not include a quiz or a tasting kit, and you do not have the option of selecting individual coffees or customizing anything other than the roast. Another downside is that you also have to pay close to $5 for shipping.
Trade vs Atlas – How to Make a Decision?
Atlas has a fully curated coffee assortment, so all you have to do is pick your roast level. We can assure you won’t get bored because the travel-themed firm curates great single-origin coffee from all over the world. Whether you’re trying out a new brew method or looking for coffee you can’t buy on the market, coffee is all about trying new things. Atlas Coffee Club is the finest place to go if you want to sample everything the world of coffee has to offer.
If you like to purchase for yourself, though, trade is probably the better option. Over 400 coffee kinds from dozens of great roasters are available at Trade. You have the option of shopping a la carte or selecting a specific bag from each subscription. Alternatively, you can start with the entertaining taste quiz and let the algorithm handle the rest!
What’s the bottom line? You can’t go wrong with any of the subscription options. Prepare to have your taste buds blown away by some genuinely delicious beans!
