Coffee subscription services promise to deliver quality beans matched to your preferences, right to your door. But with so many options available, figuring out which service actually delivers on that promise can be tricky. We tested the two most popular options — Bean Box and MistoBox — to see which one comes out on top.
Before You Subscribe: Know Your Preferences
Before choosing a service, it helps to have a few things figured out:
- How much coffee you consume and how often you will need a delivery
- Your preferences — roast type, flavor profile, processing methods
- Hidden costs — particularly shipping fees, which can add up over time
Bean Box
Bean Box was started by a couple of Seattle-based software engineers who combined their knowledge of coffee and tech to create a unique coffee recommendation platform. They work alongside local, small-batch roasters throughout the Pacific Northwest, many on an exclusive basis.
Coffee variety: The selection is not quite as large as MistoBox’s catalog, but the options are unique and consistently high quality. You can choose from eight different roast options, and their sampler contains six variations.
Coffee quality: We found all of their coffees to be excellent — both great tasting and fresh. The standout was East Timor by Cafe Vita: earthy and bold, with cocoa and caramel notes that were very pronounced. The entire sample box was an excellent set that would be easy to recommend.
The killer feature: Bean Box lets you order smaller sample bags as part of a subscription. Instead of committing to a full 12-ounce bag of something you might not love, you can try a variety of coffees in a single shipment. This is a relatively unique offering in the coffee subscription space.
Website and tracking: The interface is user-friendly and easy to navigate. After you receive your coffees, Bean Box keeps track of what you have had in a dashboard and lets you rate and leave notes on each one.
Price: Around $24 per month for either a collection of four sampler bags or one standard 12-ounce bag. That is on the higher end for coffee, but you are paying a premium for curation from smaller roasters — and the sample bag format is hard to put a price on.
MistoBox
MistoBox operates on a similar model but with some key differences. The biggest: their catalog includes over 600 different coffees from popular roasters like Onyx, Verve, and Intelligentsia. You are unlikely to run out of new coffees to try.
Like Bean Box, MistoBox uses a curation quiz to figure out what to recommend. The interface is noticeably slicker, and one advantage of their quiz is the ability to select a preference for blends or single origins, which helps narrow the recommendations further.
Coffee quality: We tried two dark blends. The first was Populist Coffee’s Dark Lens — bold with notes of cocoa. The more interesting one was Parisi Artisan Coffee’s Italian Blend, which had Sumatran characteristics. We slightly preferred Bean Box’s coffees overall, but this is going to depend entirely on which particular coffees you receive.
The downside: MistoBox does not offer sample boxes. You are working with 12-ounce bags exclusively, which can be inconvenient if you end up with something you do not enjoy.
Premium limitations: You cannot get specialty coffees like Kona, Red Mocha Harrar, or Jamaica Blue through MistoBox.
Price: At first glance, MistoBox appears a bit cheaper than Bean Box. However, MistoBox charges a $5 shipping fee per order, which brings the total cost to roughly the same range. Both services charge a premium for curation and convenience.
The Verdict
Bean Box slightly edges out MistoBox in our ratings, primarily because of the sample bag option. Being able to try a variety of coffees in a single shipment without committing to full-size bags is a significant advantage, especially if you are still exploring your preferences.
That said, MistoBox has a strong case for longer-term subscriptions. With over 600 coffees available, you will not run out of new things to try for a very long time.
The short version: Bean Box for exploration, MistoBox for the long haul.
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