Oakland Coffee Club Review
A Green Coffee Subscription From the Band Green Day
There are a lot of different coffee subscriptions out there, and here at MSA we've reviewed quite a few of them. We're always on the hunt for deliciously roasted coffee that will ship to our door, and we've sampled beans from dozens of roasters all across the country. It's not every day though, that we come across a coffee company that's changing the game.
Oakland Coffee Club caught our attention for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's got star power. The company was founded by members of the band Green Day. Even more impressive, though, is how Oakland Coffee has innovated traditional coffee packaging. Working with a team of engineers, the team created compostable coffee bags that help limit the company's environmental impact. But what about the beans? The taste? The cost? In this Oakland Coffee Club review, we'll take a look at the ins and outs of this coffee subscription to help you find out if it's right for you.
Now, let's dive into this Oakland Coffee Club review!
ACTIVE DEAL: 10% Off. No coupon needed - just use this link.
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
Oakland Coffee Club Pros & Cons
Oakland Coffee Club Pros
- Oakland Coffee Club was founded in 2015 by Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool, and Mike Dirnt of the band Green Day.
- Green Day's edgy rock and roll sensibility is reflected in the company's branding, merchandise, curated playlists, and packaging.
- Coffee is bold without being bitter.
- You can place a one-time order in the online store or sign up for an ongoing subscription.
- Subscriptions can be customized to feature your favorite beans.
- Oakland Coffee Company boasts that it's the "greenest coffee company on the planet" due to its compostable packaging.
- Whole bean coffee, ground coffee, and K-cups are available. Decaf is also offered.
- It's easy to pause or cancel your subscription online.
Oakland Coffee Club Cons
- Oakland Coffee Club specializes in medium and dark roast coffee. If you're a fan of lighter roasts, this might not be the subscription for you.
- Sensitive to swearing? There's some PG-13 language featured on the packaging.
- Oakland Coffee Club exclusively features beans that have been roasted in-house. Want a subscription that allows you to sample coffee from a variety of different roasters? Another subscription might be a better fit.
All About Oakland Coffee Club
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How did Oakland Coffee Club get started?
The members of Green Day have been coffee fans for a very long time, and while on the road, they relied on great coffee to get them through long recording sessions and back-to-back shows. They sought out the best product they could find, and they even started roasting coffee themselves. Says Green Day, "after over a decade of searching for our favorite beans and experimenting with roasting (sometimes in our kitchen), we thought it was high time to share it with the world." In 2015, Oakland Coffee was born. Since then, they've been roasting coffee at their home base in California and sending it out to subscribers. In addition to valuing great coffee, Billie Joe Armstrong, Tre Cool, and Mike Dirnt wanted to start a company that's earth-friendly. Their innovative, compostable packaging is setting the bar for sustainability.
How does Oakland Coffee Club work?
In this Oakland Coffee Club review, we'll go over all the things you need to know about this coffee subscription service, but in case you're new to coffee subscriptions, let's start with a quick overview of how Oakland Coffee Club works.
The first thing to know is that Oakland Coffee Club is a recurring subscription. When you sign up, you're agreeing to receive coffee deliveries on an ongoing basis. You'll enter your credit card information when you join, and you'll continue to be charged until you decide to cancel. If you'd rather not sign up for a subscription, that's okay, too. You can place a one-time order in the online store.
Does Oakland Coffee Club have different subscriptions available?
Image via Oakland Coffee Club.
When you sign up for a subscription to Oakland Coffee Club, you'll first need to pick out which items you'd like to receive. There are several bundles available, or you can customize your subscription when you sign up. Deliveries can be set up weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Let's take a look at a few different subscription options:
- Whole Bean Coffee Mix Bundle- three 12-oz bags of caffeinated coffee
- (1) Atomic Garden Blend
- (1) Cerro De Oro Single Origin (Guatemala)
- (1) Guapa Chiapas Single Origin (Mexico)
- Ground Coffee Mix Bundle- three 12-oz bags of ground coffee blends
- (2) Atomic Garden Blend
- (1) Father of All Dark Roasts Blend
- Single Serve Mixed Bundle- four boxes of K-cup coffee (10 cups per box)
- (2) Fourth Wave Blend
- (2) Cerro De Oro Single Origin
- Create your own- build your own subscription from any of the available coffees
All subscriptions earn rewards points that can be exchanged for free coffee and discounts on merchandise.
How much does Oakland Coffee Club cost?
The cost of your subscription will vary depending on which bundle you choose. You can also build your own subscription from any of the products available in the Oakland Coffee online shop. Here's what pricing looks like for the most popular subscription options:
- Whole Bean Coffee Mix Bundle- $44.95
- Ground Coffee Mix Bundle- $44.95
- Single Serve Mixed Bundle- $37.99
- Create your own- prices will vary
Shipping is $2.95 for shipments under $35.00, and free for shipments over $35.00.
ACTIVE DEAL: 10% Off. No coupon needed - just use this link.
How is an Oakland Coffee Club delivery packaged?
For Oakland Coffee, sustainability has been a goal from the very beginning.
One day, when Mike was out surfing, he watched a plastic bag float by his board. He knew -right there and then- that Oakland Coffee needed to be part of the solution, not the problem. So we set out to find 100% compostable packaging...which didn’t exist.
Oakland Coffee is revolutionizing the way coffee is packaged. After working directly with engineers to develop packaging that wouldn't be a burden on the environment, in 2017 their coffee bags were certified compostable by the Biodegradable Products Institute. Oakland Coffee is the first coffee company to receive such a certification.
What products does Oakland Coffee Club offer?
There are a variety of different coffees available through Oakland Coffee Club, including blends, single-origin roasts, and k-cups. Let's take a closer look at the available selection:
- K-cups:
- Fourth Wave Single-Serve Cups- a medium/dark blend coffee
- Cerro De Oro Single-Serve Cups- a medium/dark single-origin coffee
- Straight Edge Single-Serve Cups- a medium/dark blend of decaf coffee
- Coffee (whole bean only):
- Guapa Chiapas- a medium blend of single-origin coffee
- Cerro De Oro- a medium/dark blend of single-origin coffee
- Straight Edge Decaf- a medium/dark blend of decaf coffee
- Coffee (available ground or whole bean):
- Father of All... Dark Roasts- a dark blend coffee
- Atomic Garden- a medium/dark coffee blend coffee
Does Oakland Coffee Club sell merch?
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Oakland Coffee has a wide selection of merchandise available in the online store. You'll find mugs, tumblers, hats, and tees for sale, and many of the items have that signature quirky sass that Green Day is so well known for (just check out that cyclops mug!). If you commit to a subscription that's 3 months or longer in length, you'll be able to add a complimentary mug to your order as a welcome gift.
Is Oakland Coffee Club's coffee tasty?
If you're a fan of medium or darkly roasted coffee that's bold but not bitter, you'll likely find Oakland Coffee is right up your alley. The coffee is crafted to be as smooth as possible, and you won't find any flavors of citrus, pepper, and spice. Instead, it's roasty, toasty, and super easy to drink. In the words of Oakland themselves, this is "the kind of cup that kicks your ass and soothes your soul."
Is Oakland Coffee Club convenient?
If you're a fan of Oakland Coffee Club and you want to make sure you're always stocked up on beans, the Oakland Coffee Club is super convenient. You can sign up for deliveries that work with your schedule, and you can fill up your box with whichever coffees you enjoy most. As a subscriber, you'll also earn rewards that you can put towards free coffee and discounted merchandise.
Are there alternatives to Oakland Coffee Club?
If you like the idea of a coffee subscription, but you're not sure Oakland Coffee Club is the right subscription for you, there are a few competitors that might be a better fit.
Oakland Coffee Club vs. Atlas Coffee Club
Atlas Coffee Club is a coffee subscription service that connects you with specialty-grade coffees from across the globe. Beans are roasted to order, and they ship directly to your door. Coffee from all over the world is featured, and every coffee is packaged in bright, graphic packaging that's inspired by the featured country's landscape and textiles. Like Oakland Coffee, every bag of coffee you receive from Atlas will be roasted in-house. However, the roast style is typically lighter.
- Roast level: Oakland Coffee Club sends medium and dark roast coffee. Atlas Coffee Club specializes in light and medium roast coffees (though they do offer darker roasts, too).
- Customization: With Atlas, a new coffee is roasted and shipped every month. If you prefer to find what you like and stick with it, you might prefer Oakland Coffee Club.
- Delivery frequency: Atlas allows you to choose between bi-weekly or monthly deliveries. If you prefer to have coffee delivered every week, you might prefer a subscription to Oakland Coffee Club.
Oakland Coffee Company vs. Trade Coffee
Trade is a coffee subscription and online retailer that connects people with high-quality coffee from over 50 of the best roasters in the US. Whether you buy their coffee as a one-time order or via a subscription, it’s roasted fresh and shipped directly from the roaster to you.
- Featured roasters: If you'd like to sample coffee from roasters all over the country, Trade may be a better fit than Oakland Coffee.
- Selection: Prefer light roast? Or want espresso beans? Since Trade features coffee from over 50 different roasters, there's a large selection to suit a variety of needs.
- Discovery: Oakland Coffee Subscriptions feature the same coffees in each shipment. If you'd prefer to try something new in each box, Trade is a great way to sample coffee from all over the world and try out roasters from across the country.
Oakland Coffee Company vs. Peet's Coffee
Peet's Coffee is a specialty coffee roaster based in San Francisco, but you've probably seen their coffee on the shelves of your local grocery store, or you may even have one of their coffee shops in your area. In addition to the cups of joe and grounds you can buy locally, Peet's also offers subscriptions. Both Oakland Coffee and Peet's specialize in darker roast coffees.
- Variety per shipment: You can set up a subscription for multiple bags of coffee with a Peet's subscription, but they'll all be the same. If you'd like to receive multiple kinds of coffee in each shipment, Oakland Coffee is probably the way to go.
- Sustainability: Peet's uses industry-standard packaging. If sustainability is a priority, you'll likely appreciate that Oakland Coffee has compostable coffee bags.
- Bag size: Peet's coffee comes in 16-oz bags. Oakland Coffee packages its coffee in 12-oz bags.
Is Oakland Coffee Club worth it?
We've covered a lot of info in this Oakland Coffee Club review, but one big question remains: is Oakland Coffee Club worth it?
There are a lot of coffee subscriptions out there to choose from, and it can be difficult to figure out which one is right for you. What sets Oakland Coffee Club apart? Well, first and foremost, the coffee is delicious. If you're a fan of bold, darkly roasted coffee that's smooth and not bitter, listen up. This subscription is designed for coffee drinkers like you.
The compostable packaging is innovative and sustainable, and you can rest easy knowing you're choosing a coffee subscription that's limiting its environmental impact. It's also worth noting that while there's not a huge selection of different coffee available, you'll probably find something that works for you. Subscriptions can be customized to feature decaf, whole bean, ground, and/or k-cup coffee, you can choose how many items to receive in each shipment, and you can set up shipments as frequently as you like. If you're a fan of Green Day, you'll probably also appreciate that their fingerprint is all over this subscription. From curated Spotify playlists to fun, edgy merchandise, this is definitely a coffee subscription with a rock and roll spirit.
Ready to subscribe? Make sure to sign up using our coupon below to ensure you get the best deal.
You can try Oakland Coffee Club for yourself here:
ACTIVE DEAL: 10% Off. No coupon needed - just use this link.
Have you tried Oakland Coffee Club? Head to the comments section and let us know!
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