Three Cool European Multi-roaster Coffee Subscriptions

Variety is the spice of life with these three excellent options for multi-roaster subscription services.

BY TANYA NANETTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Cover photo courtesy of The Coffeevine

In recent years, the specialty-coffee market has developed a new way of introducing coffee roasters. In addition to visiting roasters and coffee shops, or buying from the website of specific coffee roasters, specialty-coffee lovers can now opt for a different choice: a multi-roaster coffee subscription.

Many options are available for those who want to try something new: tasting sets, a selection of roasters from a specific region, and even coffee and chocolate pairing.

Here are three European multi-roaster subscriptions worth checking out.

The Right Roast Taster Set. Photo courtesy of The Right Roast.

The Right Roast (U.K.)

Videos to Vendors

The Right Roast was born almost a decade ago when, in 2013, a fun and educational YouTube channel was created by a magic duo: husband and wife Tim and Aiko.

Tim (the “muscle”) was already a filmmaker at the time, and soon became the face of The Right Roast. Aiko chose to stay behind the camera as a producer, basically becoming the “brains” of the operation.

Lovers of specialty coffee, they created The Right Roast to spread the word about third-wave coffee (still new at the time). They began shooting videos around the world, interviewing coffee friends, sharing recipes, and much more. At the same time, they began to sell coffee selections at London’s market stalls.

The Taster Set

As the project evolved, Tim and Aiko had a new idea: a unique subscription service called Taster Set featuring three coffees from a different city. Each was paired with bonus videos made by the couple.

The same long white box with lid, with four small white flat coffee bags inside. Each is labeled with a different number and color (1 is blue, etc.) There is a little rainbow sticker that says "light roast is the right roast." There is also a coffee club booklet with an image of coffee being poured into a white cup with a glass decanter. They have included a taste sheet describing the coffees in the box. — One of the Taster Sets was themed Light Roast. Photo courtesy of The Right Roast.

In the years that followed, the Taster Set evolved further and became what it is today: an attractive (and interactive), theme-based European filter coffee subscription. Every month features four different European roasters selected according to a specific theme.

Roasting machines, African coffees, acidity, and even pudding as a specific coffee taste are just some of the themes featured in the set (which offers four 50g bags and costs about $24 USD). All are accompanied by interviews with roasters, live cupping, and coffee champions’ recipes for brewing a specific coffee included in the set.

A brown box with sticker label for Kaffebox. Before it is a glass decanter with brewed coffee and a double rocks glass with some coffee inside. There is a little red booklet with KAFFE BOX.NO printed on the front. There is also an abstract black, white and orange print on the table beside. — An example of KaffeBox’s sleek design elements. Photo courtesy of KaffeBox.

KaffeBox (Norway)

The Classic KaffeBox

KaffeBox is a Norwegian-based coffee subscription that exclusively features small-batch Scandinavian roasters; the key here is light roasting.

Launched in 2014 and now shipped to customers all over the world (50 countries and counting), KaffeBox features two coffee bags from a single roaster each month. Each roaster chooses the coffee and roasts it specifically for the KaffeBox.

The same package and decanter and double rocks glass as previous picture, only zoomed in on the brewed coffee in the photo. — The roasters selected each month roast their chosen beans specifically for KaffeBox. Photo courtesy of KaffeBox.

The box costs about $36 USD for two 250g bags and offers small lots, Cup of Excellence coffees, and new exciting offers. Additionally, each bag of beans you receive provides three months of clean water to a person in a developing country via Water.org.

Chocolate Pairings

As an alternative to the classic box, for around $17 USD more they also offer an interesting KaffeBox Chocolate Pairing subscription: a tasty pairing between the monthly featured KaffeBox roaster and a rotating selection of small batch, bean-to-bar chocolate makers.

As with the KaffeBox specialty-coffee subscription, ethical trade, transparency, sustainability from grower to consumer, and a high-quality product are the priorities here. By choosing this option you can taste handmade craft chocolate from chocolate makers who source their products in an ethical, sustainable manner, building personal and direct relationships with cocoa farmers and suppliers.

Most of the chocolate featured will be single-origin dark chocolate (to fully highlight the raw product). Sometimes you’ll get milk chocolate and flavored bars—whatever goes best with the included coffee.

Advent Calendar

Last but not least, during the holiday season KaffeBox also distributes a popular advent calendar. It features 24 days of coffee from 12 different Scandinavian roasters—50g each day—in elegant, festive packaging.

Alex pours coffee into a pottery cup while seated at a table with smooth pink tablecloth. There are three different coffee packages in front of him. Two are bags; one with an illustrated sunset over water, one that simply says PLACID in all caps. There is also a small white box with colorful illustration, a silver seal sticker and letters too blurry to read. — Founder Alex Kitain pours and poses with some of The Coffeevine’s products.
Image courtesy of The Coffeevine.

The Coffeevine (The Netherlands)

From Guide to Guru

The Coffeevine began in 2012 as Alex Kitain’s personal guide to the best specialty-coffee bars, at a time when the third-wave coffee scene was just taking off in Europe.

In 2014, Alex launched a coffee subscription service with the aim of showcasing the world’s most delicious coffees from exciting roasters every month. Over the years, The Coffeevine has worked with over 300 roasters from around the world, shipping thousands of coffee boxes to customers in more than 100 countries.

Their Process

The Coffeevine has a tasting panel consisting of professional baristas, roasters, and competition judges who join Alex and his team once a month to blind-taste and rate the large number of coffee samples they receive.

Alex laughs out loud while pouring coffee from a decanter into a pottery cup. He sits at the same pink table and wear glasses and gray sweatshirt with pocket. — Alex Kitain of The Coffeevine. Image courtesy of The Coffeevine.

At the end of each cupping session, they select the tastiest coffees as a group to put in the next subscription box. This ensures that each roaster gets a fair chance of being featured—all coffees are chosen solely on the basis of craftsmanship, quality, and taste.

Options

Every month the Coffeevine offers a selection of three coffees (from three different roasters) that can be purchased in different-sized boxes. From the S box (about $16 USD if you choose to buy only one of the three bags) to the XXXL box (which for about $74 USD will have 1.5kg of coffee delivered to your doorstep), there’s certainly something for everyone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tanya Nanetti (she/her) is a specialty-coffee barista, a traveler, and a dreamer. When she’s not behind the coffee machine (or visiting some hidden corner of the world), she’s busy writing for Coffee Insurrection, a website about specialty coffee that she’s creating along with her boyfriend.