Coffee is important to a lot of us. Whether you drink this liquid gold for its delicious taste or its desired effect, it plays a crucial role in many of our mornings. If you thought back to your first coffee, you might remember it tasting disgusting, but addictive at the same time.
Most of our parents had the bog-standard stuff that was only barely special enough to start us on our caffeinated journey, but now things are different. Whether you use an espresso machine, prefer a dark roast, or want to have five cups of coffee a day, your morning coffee is significant.
There are so many flavours of coffee available, and so many roasts and categories. The generic coffee still has a place, but it’s more like the antique you don’t touch any more. Now, there is a whole world to choose from, and there are so many forms, too.
Buying your favourite coffee at Tesco or Sainsbury’s is enough for most people, but there are options if you want to branch out and try different things. There’s nothing wrong with having your go-to, but don’t you want to discover more?
Coffee subscriptions are a brilliant way to do just that. Instead of stick to the same-old same-old, expand your horizons and brew some new flavours! If you are a coffee lover and want to try something a bit more exciting than what you can find in every standard store – you have come to the right place to learn all about it.
In this post, we are going to be taking a look at some of the best coffee subscriptions available in the UK right now.
Coffee Subscription Types
Depending on what you are looking for, there are two primary types of coffee subscriptions. These types of subscriptions are very different, and are set up to achieve different things.
Before we jump into the best subscriptions out there, we will go through what these two types of subscriptions actually mean, and what purpose they serve to us as customers.
Supply Subscriptions (Subscribe & Save)
The first kind of subscription is the notorious subscribe and save. You see these everywhere, and their main function is to ensure that you never run out of your favourite coffee. Many retailers, including Amazon, have subscribed and save options, and this is just a way of knowing that your coffee will arrive regularly.
You might see a lot of every-day items on subscribe and save platforms, since you do end up saving a lot of money over the course of several months or years. Having these important items magically appear on your doorway is a great alternative to suddenly realizing you have run out one day.
Supply subscriptions are not worth the money if you are only trying out a coffee and aren’t sure if you like it just yet. If, however, you have found the coffee bean that you wish to take to the grave, this option is smart. You will never have to worry about using up the last of it and dread trod through the dank British weather to get your next hit.
Discovery Subscriptions
Discovery subscriptions are for the adventurous coffee connoisseurs of the world. You might have your go-to sitting in the cupboard at home, but why not try something different? Sweet? Spicy? Deep? Light? You won’t know if you love (or hate) it until you try. Chances are, you will never get to experience half the coffee beans there are available if you never try a discovery subscription.
These subscriptions will send you a different coffee every month (or week, or whatever that particular subscription period is). As you continue to use the subscription, you will be sent coffees from all around the world, each with a different process, flavour, and origin. You will be surprised by just how many varieties are out there, believe me.
Since each subscription varies, you might end signing up for several. You can get box subscriptions with many bags of coffee, or just a bag subscription, where you receive one bag of coffee every time. The box subscriptions are likely to be monthly, but again, this can vary depending on the service.
There are subscription selections that you can get from roasters, or ones from “Multi Roasters”, there you can get your beans from lots of different roasteries.
If you want to embark on a caffeinated journey and connect to the coffees of the world, discovery subscriptions are the best way to do it. You might love your coffee pots or instant coffee jars, but as soon as you start in the road of speciality coffee, you will never look back.
While there is a very limited selection of pods and instant coffees, the world is your oyster with specialities, and you will never run out of things to discover.
The flavour profiles of coffee beans can change depending on the plant, country, and even region. These are things that just aren’t taken into consideration with instant coffees because, well, they are instant.
Their purpose is to be a semi-decent choice for caffeinated beverages, but they are by no means the top-of-the-change products. To get the cherry on top, you need to venture out and try these discovery subscriptions.
What Can Dictate Flavour?
There are a few key things that can affect the coffee flavour. To get a good idea of these, we will quickly go through them below. This should help you understand why discovery subscriptions can be the easiest way to expand your horizons.
- Method Of Processing – the processing that the coffee beans go through will have a big impact on its flavour. The separation of the beans from the flesh and how it is done in various regions and farms will differ greatly.
- Roast Profile – we’re all familiar with light and dark roasts, but this is a big part of a coffee bean’s flavour profile. The darker the roast, the more robust the coffee is, and the lighter, the less robust and ‘roasty’ the coffee tastes.
- Region Of Growth – every country, region, and subregion will have coffee beans that taste slightly different because of the environment.
- Altitude (Elevation) – depending on how high the coffee is grown, it can taste different. The higher the altitude, the more suspended the growth time is for the coffee plant. This results in the coffee beans having deeper flavours, because of the complex sugar formation.
- Coffee Plant – like any plant, there are different varieties, and they all have their differences. Some may have flavours that are naturally more appealing to you, while others do not.
Coffee Subscriptions You Need To Try In The UK
We’re talked about why coffee is important, and what the different subscription types are, so not seems like a good time to talk about the actual coffee subscriptions.
The subscriptions on this list are all ones that are recommended for anyone who is willing to get a bit more adventurous in their hot beverages. Remember, you can have more than one subscription active at one time, so if more than one appeals to you, there is nothing stopping you from going all out!
Balance Coffee
Launched at the beginning of the pandemic, Balance Coffee is a flexible coffee subscription service. You can choose from a weekly, fortnightly, or monthly subscription depending on your personal needs. There is a decaf subscription, as well as pre-paid gift subscriptions to get your friends obsessed with it, too.
Any subscriptions can be cancelled at any time, or simply paused when need be. There are options to pick either 250g or 1Kg coffee bags, so no matter how much coffee you can go through in a month, you will be sorted. On top of that, they have a wide variety of grinding options.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250g or 1Kg coffee bags
Batch Coffee
Batch Coffee offers pre-ground and whole bean coffees like no others. Subscriptions can be fortnightly or monthly, depending on what you would prefer, and in each subscription you will receive two bags of coffee weighing in at 200g.
Most coffees on offer are medium roasted, but various levels exist, and you can pay for gist subscriptions to help your friends fall in love with their beans, too.
Delivery Choices – fortnightly, monthly
Decaf Subscription – no
Coffee Bag Size – 200g coffee bags
Blue Coffee Box
As one of the first multi-roaster subscriptions within the UK, Blue Coffee Box has done incredibly well. This coffee subscription offers quality coffee from all around the world, and is a great service for discovering new coffees.
Because of their experience in the field, this company is not only trusted, but has a long and impressive list of roasteries that are happy to work with them.
You will never have to worry about running out of coffees to try, because everyone wants to be a part of their success. Everyone benefits, and their subscription service is as smooth as can be.
Customers can cancel or make amends to their orders, so you won’t get a headache from dealing with any issues. Their eco-friendly view and way of doing things make you want to support them even more, but their wide range of choices make it easy to fork out a bit of money to travel the world with your taste buds.
Delivery Choices – fortnightly, monthly, every two months
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 227g coffee bags
Caravan Coffee Roasters
As one of the most popular roasteries in the UK, Caravan Coffee Roasters is a coffee subscription everyone needs to try. With a wide range of choices, you can get unique and enjoyable blends from this company.
If you are an espresso or filter lover, Caravan Coffee Roasters will have the perfect selection for you, even if you want to go decaf! Seasonal blends mean that you can experience something special every year, and the rotating selection gives you something to look forward to all year long.
You can save while getting quality products. Pre-ground or whole bean offers are available, so whatever you want – they have it. Caravan Coffee Roasters’ blends are often used in other subscription services, so if you have tried a couple, you may have already tried one of these unknowingly. That’s how popular this companies roasts are.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250k or 1Kg coffee bags
Django Coffee Co
Django Coffee Co offers a number of subscription choices, including how often you receive coffee, and how much you receive at a time. With this company, you buy subscriptions in advance, which means that you can sign up for a month-long subscription and pay upfront.
When you sign up, you will receive a bag of coffee, then the next week you will get a different one, and so on. If, at the end of the month, you wish to continue the subscription, all you need to do is just login and order another one.
Even if you don’t feel like ordering a subscription, you can just order a bag of coffee straight from the website without a problem.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, three weeks, monthly
Decaf Subscription – no
Coffee Bag Size – 100g sample pack, 250g, 500g, 1Kg coffee bags
Dog And Hat
This multi roaster subscription offers subscribers a great way to discover new blends and flavours from across the world. Each bag of coffee comes in the original roaster’s bags, which is something that isn’t really done by many other companies.
There are a few subscriptions to choose from, including an assorted one, espresso, filter, decaf, and darker roasts. On top of that, their international subscription focuses on roasters that are based outside the UK, so you really get a lot of variety.
Since Dog & Hat has enough to focus on, they do not have pre-ground coffee subscriptions. Whole bean is the way forward with this company, but their wide selection makes up for this fact.
This company has an incredibly wide range of coffees, both UK-based roasts and international, and the subscription options mean that there is likely enough paperwork to deal with already. However, there is always a possibility that they will branch out and start doing pre-ground selections too. Just don’t hold your breath.
Delivery Choices – monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250g coffee bags
Foundry Coffee Roasters
Foundry Coffee Roasters is based in Sheffield, and has been around for a few years now. Not only does this place deal with coffee subscriptions, but you can also visit the site and have a coffee inside the coffee shop! Now, that isn’t something that many other subscriptions offer.
This company has a featured coffee that is different every month, and you can choose how much you would like to receive every month. The choices include 250g, 1Kg, and 2Kgs, so you can pick whichever is best for you.
Their gift subscriptions are another great feature if you want to get your friends into coffee, too. For this, you can pick how long the subscription is, and how much to send, and it will never auto-renew. You can make changes to your own subscription at any time, or even skip, pause, or cancel it when needed.
You can always expect to get freshly roasted coffee from this company, as they roast their beans on Tuesdays, and sent out the subscriptions the following day. So, when you place an order, you can know that those beans are fresh.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250g, 1Kg, 2Kg coffee bags
Hasbean
Hasbean has been around for some time, and has been successful beyond measure. Launched in the late 90s, this company has grown to become well-loved and a brilliant addition to the roasters. They were one of the first companies to use the online works to sell their coffee beans, and their success has only grown over the years.
Along with their incredible coffee subscription, if an insightful “In My Mug” video series, which comes with it. There, you will lean all about your subscription and become quite the professional in the field of coffee.
Hasbean’s subscriptions are more varied than any other service, with deliveries ranging from weekly, to every two months with weekly intervals. For anyone who lives the decaf life, there are also options for you, too!
Editing subscriptions in easy too, and can be done at any point in the process. To become the discoverer of coffee, you need to sign up for this subscription.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, every three weeks, monthly, every five weeks, every month and a half, every seven weeks, every two months
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250g coffee bags
Pact Coffee
This company is based in London with an extensive range of coffees, making it great for discovery. As one of the first coffee subscription services in the UK, Pact Coffee has grown in popularity as time has gone on, and their website proves that they know what people want.
This company has three ranges now – house, Microlot, and select. Their decaf options make them a great place for the caffeine avoiders of the world, and no matter what selection you go with, you will be impressed by the quality that is delivered right to your front door.
Delivery Choices – every three days, four days, five days, six days, weekly, every ten days, fortnightly, every three weeks, monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250g coffee bags
Perky Blenders
Perky Blenders is a unique company that started with a husband and wife duo back in 2015. They have now grown to have several locations across London, and are winning at every turn. Their wide range of coffees and biodegradable packaging makes them impossible not to love (or at least try).
Not only do they have ongoing subscribe and save options, but they also have a month-long auto-renewing subscription and a selection box. Their great blends can also be turned into a gift subscription, and can either last three months, six months, or a year.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, every three weeks, monthly, every month and a half
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 200g coffee bags
Shop Coffee
Roasting coffee since the early 80s, you could say that Shop Coffee know what they are doing. This company offers blends and single origins on their site, and have a great subscribe and save. Although this company isn’t great for discovering new blends, they do offer taster packs.
By selecting the “Africa” taster pack, you will get coffees from Burundi, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Kenya. If you want to try out the “South America” taster, you can expect blends from Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. Shop Coffee is a good choice if you know what you like and never want to run out.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250g, 1Kg, coffee bag
The Coffeeworks
The Coffeeworks boasts interesting and unique blends, with different subscriptions to suit your personal life. From weekly deliveries, fortnightly, and monthly, there are great options at every turn with this company.
All subscriptions can be edited and paused at any time, and all the best information is displayed beside very coffee available. If you want to try anything from Jaffa cake, cranberry, and gingerbread coffees, this is the place for you.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 250g, 1Kg coffee bags
Union Hand-Roasted
Joining the Coffee Club subscription with the Union Hand-Roasted means that you will be able to try out their amazing selection of blends and flavours they have to offer. Setting up subscriptions is easier than ever, and you can continue to get more of what you already know you love.
You have the option to let the company know which flavour profiles you prefer, and they can cater to your personal needs.
All subscriptions will arrive either weekly, fortnightly, or monthly, and you can have the choice of whole beans or ground coffee to make your life even easier. You can also be sure to pause, skip, reschedule, and cancel at any time, so everything suits you.
Delivery Choices – weekly, fortnightly, monthly
Decaf Subscription – yes
Coffee Bag Size – 200g coffee bags
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it – some of the best coffee subscriptions available in the UK. Each of these subscription services offer something unique, and they are all worth trying out at least once (especially the discovery ones). If you are a coffee lover, whether that is decaf or regular, there will be something for you to find and love.
Your subscription box can be full of bags of speciality coffee, seasonal coffee, or any other kind of coffee you want to try. Chances are, any kind of coffee subscription box will give you more coffee knowledge and light a fire under you for more.
Hopefully you found this post helpful, and you now feel ready (and eager) to find your new favourite coffee. Remember – you can pause, edit, and cancel whenever you need to on most sites, so don’t be afraid to stick your neck out and try new things.
You will never know if you never try. You might prefer single origin coffees or play around with brewing methods depending on the subscription service you choose.
Either way, weekly or monthly deliveries will result in a delicious cup of coffee that will make you glad that you are on the coffee scene. Now, go get a mug of the good stuff.
