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Bean Box Subscription Box Review – October 2014

Haley Faye
ByHaley FayeOct 28, 2014 | 9 comments

Bean Box Subscription Box Review - October 2014 Box

Bean Box is a monthly coffee subscription box from a city known for its coffee obsession: Seattle. Every month, you will receive 4 samples of different coffee roasts, shipped fresh within 1 day of roasting.

This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

Bean Box Subscription Box Review - October 2014 Info

Each Bean Box comes with a card detailing the coffee makers that are featured that month.

Bean Box Subscription Box Review - October 2014 Items

The Subscription: Bean Box

The Cost: $20/month

The Products: Four 1.7 oz sample bags of whole-bean coffee that was roasted the day before your box ships.

Ships to: US & Canada

Bean Box Subscription Box Review - October 2014 Blend

Herkimer Coffee - Drip Blend – 1.7 oz, value: $1.63

Longshoreman's Daughter - Ethiopian Yirgacheffe – 1.7 oz, value: $1.70

First of all, I love that these coffees come in re-sealable bags! This gives me chance to grind the coffee and save what I don’t brew right away so I can come back to my favorites. I also love that they provide descriptions on the front of the bags – it’s really helpful to read while tasting and makes identifying notes or flavors easier.

I loved both these roasts! The Herkimer Coffee was light and clean, and had subtle flavors of caramelized sugar and chocolate.

This Longshorman’s Daughter roast has been my favorite, though. I think it’s because I tend to like earthy, herbal flavors in my coffee and this roast actually has flavors of black tea in it (along with citrus and cane sugar)!

Bean Box Subscription Box Review - October 2014 Coffee

Kuma Coffee - Guatemala La Esperanza – 1.7 oz, value: $1.42

Lighthouse Roasters - Roaster's Choice – 1.7 oz, value: $.86

The roast from Lighthouse Roasters is the only one I have yet to try, but I’m excited about it. The ones I’ve had so far in this box are more light- or medium-bodied so I’m curious to see how I feel about a full-bodied coffee now that I have something to specifically contrast it to.

This Kuma Coffee has been my least favorite so far, but I still like it fine (it’s actually sold out online!). I found that I liked it better black (the correct way to taste coffee so you get nothing but the roast). But once I added a little cream and sugar to it for a little more indulgence, I found that the flavor of the coffee was pretty muted and I could hardly taste it. Now I know to drink this black when I get back to it (or maybe I need to just brew it stronger next time)!

Verdict: I really enjoyed this Bean Box, and really like the idea of a coffee tasting subscription. This is a box where the value (for me) is more about the experience and the introduction to new roasts every month, and I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve never considered myself any kind of coffee snob or connoisseur (just an addict!), so it was really fun to be able to compare and contrast different roasts and detect different flavors and notes within the blend.

What do you think about Bean Box?

Haley Faye
Haley Faye
Haley Faye first discovered the wonderful world of subscription boxes in 2012 and began writing for MSA in 2014. Over the years, she has found many subscriptions to love. Now a mom of three, her favorite boxes are ones that dress her kids, help her get organized, feed her family, send her snacks, and offer educational fun for her children.

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9 comments

lily

I like the idea, but I don’t like the value.

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Sara

Way to expensive for what you get. There are coffee subscriptions that offer full sized bags for that price.

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chelsea

Thank you for reviewing this sub. I agree with your other commentators, regardless of curation. This box value is incredibly low. As a coffee snob, subscriber(not this coffee sub, though), and fan of coffee start ups, I don’t mind shelling out more than I get if it’s truly a phenomenal product. But this just makes me feel like I got slighted. In my house a decent pot of coffee would take at least 2 ounces, so to pay 20 bucks for four brews isn’t wallet wise.

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Jessica

I’m with the others. There’s definitely value added from the curation and experience provided, but $20 seems like way too much. I would consider for $10 or even $12, but not $20.

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Alicia

I like the idea of this box, and your descriptions and reviews of the blends are fantastic, Haley, but the value is unbelievably low for the price paid. Wow. I won’t be subbing to this one.

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Jillian D

I DO drink coffee LOTS of it. I was excited when I saw this, but if I’m going to spend $20 I at least want that much value in coffee. Maybe that’s what you’re getting minus the shipping? I was just bummed that the value of the coffee wasn’t higher.

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Robyn

Pretty bad value no? Maybe I would consider if it was $10 a month but $20 for $5-$6 worth of coffee????

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PA Anna

I don’t drink coffee. When I first saw the title I thought it was (vegetable) bean subscription for vegetarians/vegans.

I enjoy reading the descriptions of how the coffees tasted. Thank you for including that in your blog review 🙂

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Sneaky Burrito

I don’t drink coffee either. My parents didn’t, so we never had it around the house when I was a kid, and I still can’t get used to the smell today (ick). There are a lot of tea subs out there but many of them are kind of pricy.

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