The 7 Best Coffee Subscription Boxes of 2023

Best Overall: Counter Culture

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Since its inception, Counter Culture coffee has been devoted to the health of the natural environment in their pursuit of the perfect coffee bean—even going so far as opening their doors with a bird-friendly coffee line called Sanctuary Coffee, which focused on shade-grown coffees beneficial to migratory birds. Since then, they have sought out lasting relationships with farmers all over the coffee-producing world to bring their organic beans to your doorstep. It’s that specific, 25-year-long interest in farmers and a great product that makes Counter Culture our pick for best overall coffee delivery.

With a detailed plan for quality and sustainability that starts before the harvest begins, Counter Culture has the freedom to experiment with growing practices while guaranteeing predictability of product as well as the financial solvency of their partners by paying farmers and workers more for the work they do. The end result is unique and surprising, organic beans for all of us, completely different from what we may find commercially. Counter Culture has a holistic set of sustainability indicators, intentionally work to reduce their carbon footprint, and actively participates in climate change research to adapt and implement new practices into their production.

Counter Culture offers an impressively extensive myriad of options from around the globe like Idido, an Ethiopian cooperative of member farms throughout seven communities working in high altitude regions. For approximately $17 per 12-ounce bag, Counter Culture brings super sustainable beans to your doorstep. Head to counterculturecoffee.com to start a subscription that delivers up to four different bags from different regions each month.

Best Tasting Kit: Driftaway Coffee

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Driftaway Coffee was started by husband and wife team Anu Menon and Suyog Mody who tried all of the locally roasted coffees in their Brooklyn neighborhood and couldn’t find their ideal roast. They tasted and tasted and realized the key to finding the right coffee was by allowing their customers the opportunity to try different roasts before digging into their subscription. The result is a subscription that provides time and choices to the discerning coffee drinker.

The tasting kit arrives with four different options, which you can brew individually—or, for maximum taste testing—brew them all at once. Then you rate each brew and Driftaway sends you four new coffees with your chosen flavor profile for the next month. The rate and review process continues until you find the perfect coffee for your morning joe.

All coffees come from smallholder coffee farmers and include a letter about the farms and their region. The packaging is even compostable/plant-based—made from sugarcane waste and plant fiber to make sure the coffee remains fresh. The subscription is about $19 per month (with discounts for paying for six or 12 months in advance) for 12 ounces of beans, which is about 24 cups of coffee. Or for 16 ounces (roughly 32 cups coffee), you can opt to pay $24 monthly, which is also discounted if you pay for six or more months in advance. Head to driftawaycoffee.com to begin your subscription.

Best Variety: Mistobox

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Mistobox currently features over 600 different coffees from 60 plus roasters. That’s a lot of options. For this reason alone, they stand out among all other subscriptions and receive the crown of Best Variety for the discerning coffee drinker. You begin by answering questions about your favorite flavor profiles. Then they match you with a coffee expert, who gets to know your taste and starts suggesting coffees. Based on your preferences, your coffee expert puts suggestions into your Brew Queue. Once there, you can control which coffees are sent to your door.

They work with farmers and cafes dedicated to Fair Trade and sustainable business practices, including small farms and co-ops, so you can be confident that your product is coming from a good place and workers are being paid fair wages. The subscription itself links to your Alexa and is a very quick and easy process to navigate on your device, making them the tech favorite of all coffee subscriptions. Recommended by Goop, Buzzfeed, and LifeHacker, this is a crowd-pleasing option. Head to mistobox.com and start a subscription for around $12 a month.

Best Handmade: Verve

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Based in Santa Cruz, these local Californians came together over a shared love of roasting techniques and the perfect cup of brew. Starting at one location in Santa Cruz, they now have 15 throughout California and Japan. They’ve been honing their skills as small-batch roasters to bring special blends to your doorstep. With a deeply conscious attitude toward fair wages and respect for the work that starts as a seed and becomes liquid in our cup, their direct trade practice exceeds the Fair Trade minimum requirements. With respect for the hands that make the beans, they carefully hand roast all of their beans on vintage Probat roasters, making sure every bean hits their desired level of roast.

Their subscription options are plentiful, allowing you to choose from a region or one of their many patented blends. The flagship espresso blend, Streetlevel, is a chocolatey and sweet blast of expression of the bean. You can choose whole beans or have them grind it one of three ways—coarse for French Press, medium for drip, or fine for espresso. One 12-ounce bag costs about $17, two for $35, or $50 for one kilo of your favorite bean, with prices varying slightly depending on the roast. You can also put your coffee delivery on a schedule, once a week, once every two weeks, or once a month. With that level of expertise going into each bean, Verve offers a great opportunity to give a lot of different types of coffee a chance from the comfort of your home.

Best Healthy: Purity Coffee

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Purity’s dogmatic approach to making sure their coffee is the healthiest on the market is a testament to their sustained growth since their inception. Founders Amber and Andrew faced health issues and soon found the key after time at Vanderbilt University’s Institute for Coffee Studies—it was coffee. Now, they place great importance on coffee that is free from mold, pesticides, and mycotoxins like Ochratoxin A. They test their coffee vigilantly and only source beans that pass. No bean can have a chip or a crack, and all beans must all be uniform and perfectly shaped. Their roasting protocol is unparalleled—to retain antioxidants while avoiding PAH development and reducing the amount of acrylamide. They also have partnerships with conscientious farmers and all organic beans, how’s that for standards?

For whole beans, their subscription starts around $24 for a 12-ounce bag or $120 for a 5-pound bag. There are only two types of Purity coffee here, standard or dark, available in either regular or decaf. These beans are sure to be the healthiest on the market, as Purity promises that they offer the only coffee that tests for health benefits first. They also have a coffee pod subscription option, which isn’t the most environmentally sound choice given the packaging, but their serving pods are eco-friendly and #5 recyclable.

Best Instant: Crema Coffee Roasters

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Crema Coffee Roaster's instant coffee comes from the refined palates of our most trusted coffee roasters. Although it's not included in their subscription service, it's worth mentioning that they offer a freeze-dried version of their beans that makes an instant cup of brew that captures the elegance and boldness of their whole bean.

Their culture of sustainability starts with direct and personal relationships with farmers, with a strong sense of economic vitality, environmental commitment, and social responsibility. They are zero waste and as carbon neutral, as you can get, and they give back to the coffee community, making sure that their personal devotion reaches beyond the footprint of their wholly self-made brick and mortar locations.

You can choose how often they deliver—weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. Then choose how much you want, either 12 ounces for about $18 a month, two pounds for about $45, or three pounds for about $68. Also, check out their website for a host of educational resources for understanding the type of roast and brew that best suits you. You can even schedule a consultation, or a Tomsulation, with Tom, their brewing expert, and all-round good guy. Finally, you can even take a coffee class to get tips from the experts on how to make the perfect brew at home.