BOXO is a subscription box that sends freshly roasted, whole bean coffee directly to your doorstep.
Each month, BOXO travels to a different city in America to find that city’s best roasters. They choose their two favorites, and include a bag from each roaster to send to subscribers.
Freshness is a top priority for BOXO, and they ensure that subscribers receive their beans within five days of them being roasted.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: BOXO
The Cost: $28.99 monthly for two 8 oz bags (shipping included) or $48.99 for two 1lb bags (shipping included). Annual plans start at $299.99 (12 months, shipping included)
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 20% off your first box!
CODE: MYADDICTION
The Products: Freshly roasted coffee from roasters across America.
Ships to: U.S.
Check out all of our BOXO reviews and the Coffee Subscription Box Directory for more coffee boxes!
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BOXO boxes contain two different coffees from two different roasters that are based in the same city.
This month’s box features coffee from Atlanta, GA. (I went to college in Atlanta, so I’m excited about this!) The roasters featured this month are Rev Coffee Roasters and Firelight Coffee Roasters.
Normal Human Postcard Print- Value $2.50
BOXO boxes always contains a print from Normal Human, a screen printing shop based in Kansas City, MO. I really like this month’s print. (So much so that it’s currently displayed on my refrigerator door.) A phoenix rising from a cup of coffee? How clever! I mean, coffee certainly manages to resurrect me from the dead every morning…
Rev Coffee Costa Rica Alexis Badilla Cruz (8 oz.)- Value $12
This coffee is from the Cangrejal region of Tarrazu in Costa Rica. The beans were grown at 5,100 feet above sea level and processed naturally.
I’m not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the beans appear to have quite an uneven roast. This can happen for a couple of reasons, but it most often occurs when the roasting drum rotates too slowly or the drum is overfilled. In both cases, the beans that sit along the walls of the mixing drum roast more quickly than the rest. It can also occur if the beans are unevenly sized, and I have to say that there is a pretty big range of bean sizes in this bag.
It’s not unusual to see a bit of variation in bean size, but some of the beans in this bag are a lot smaller than others.
Despite this issue, I have to say that the beans smell great. There’s a really nice aroma of chocolate and red berries. In the cup, however, I wasn’t as impressed. Rev Coffee recommends looking for flavors of “creamy strawberry fudge with a raspberry acidity,” but I think the roast overpowers those flavors. Instead of the bright fruity flavors I expected, I got a fairly flat nutty chocolate flavor that was a little on the bitter side.
Firelight Coffee Brazil Boa Vista (8 oz.)- Value $9.33
The second coffee featured in this box is a Brazilian coffee from the Caconde region of Brazil. It was grown at an altitude of 1200-1340 meters above sea level, and the beans were processed naturally and dried in the sun.
I like that Firelight has Atlanta pride! Woot!
To my nose, these beans have an earthy aroma that’s just a little funky (in a good way). When brewed, they produce a bright, balanced coffee that’s really tasty. The flavor is smooth with a citrusy chocolate flavor that reminds me of chocolate oranges. (Firelight pinpoints flavors of strawberry, mandarin, and chocolate.) This coffee starts out bright and finishes very clean.
My husband and I tasted this month’s coffees side by side, and brewed each one in a French press.
Verdict: I really like BOXO, and I think it’s a lot of fun to sample two coffees every month that have been roasted in the same city. This month’s matchup was a no brainer for my husband and me: we both greatly preferred Firelight’s Brazil Boa Vista over Rev Coffee’s Costa Rica Alexis Badilla Cruz. I also have to say that I loved this month’s Normal Human print. So cool! The total retail value of the items I received this month totals $23.83. That falls a bit short of the subscription cost, but it’s within the range I expect from a coffee subscription. (And, of course, if I ordered these coffees individually I’d have to pay shipping to get them delivered.) Even though one of this month’s coffees was a miss for me, I’m greatly enjoying my subscription to BOXO. I can’t wait to see which city will be featured next month!
What do you think of this month’s BOXO? Are you familiar with either of the roasters featured in this month’s box?
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