Why You Can Trust CNET Give Your Valentine a Coffee Subscription Gift this Year
Send a few months of good beans to your special someone.
A three- or six-month coffee subscription will keep the goodwill rolling in long after Feb. 14.
Food and drink subscriptions make great gifts, in general, but membership to a coffee club is my favorite type to lay on a loved one for the holidays, birthdays and Valentine's Day, too.
For someone who drinks the stuff regularly, an upgrade to their morning routine in the form of quality coffee sent directly to their home is always welcomed. Coffee subscriptions also invite the recipient to try new and interesting roasts. They might just discover their new favorite coffee along the way and have you to thank.
A coffee subscription gift is low-risk, high-reward
As long as you know your giftee, ya know, drinks coffee, there's a good chance this gift will hit. The only sleuthing you may want to do is for the type of roasts they're accustomed to -- dark roast, light roast. If you don't know and can't find out, a subscription for medium roast coffee is safe.
I've found a monthly drop of new and interesting coffee resonates particularly with folks who already have most of what they need and aren't looking for more stuff. Consumables such as coffee, wine or chocolate won't cause any "where do I put this" anxiety.
You're not just sending boring bags of beans
If the person you're buying for drinks coffee, there's a good chance they'll appreciate a nice bag of it arriving every month.
Coffee subscriptions aren't just utilitarian, although you are knocking something off a coffee drinker's to-do list. They're also fun, surprising and a stress-free way to get your giftee to try something new. Some coffee drinkers may have specific tastes, but most people are willing and ready to taste new coffee roasts and styles. Good coffee subscriptions curate high-end beans from small producers around the world that they have tested, loved and are willing to bet you will, too.
Think about the simple joy of tasting coffee in a local cafe in a new neighborhood or city. That's the energy a good curated coffee club brings, but without the travel fare.
Coffee clubs aren't expensive, and subscriptions start at just three months
Equator is another coffee subscription with premium beans sent in chic packaging.
I've tested nearly a dozen coffee subscriptions from the more basic versions to the super high-end options. Most curated coffee subscriptions run somewhere between $15 and $20 per bag -- about what you'd pay at a store for a 12-ounce bag of quality, fair-trade whole beans from an independent roaster. You often have the option of sending a subscription as short as three months or as long as a year.
Here are a few of my favorites to give.
Atlas Coffee Club is one of the cheaper and more giftable coffee subscriptions and sends beans from all around the world in funky packaging. Atlas costs just $15.75 a month for a 12-ounce bag if you give a year's subscription -- that's $89 total. Six months costs $99 ($16.50 a bag). Each delivery includes a postcard explaining a bit about the coffee and the coffee-producing region the beans came from.
Atlas coffee beans arrive in bright bags with a postcard illuminating the region they came from.
Trade Coffee is another coffee club I love. This one is a tad more expensive at $20 a bag no matter how many months you buy. With Trade, your giftee will enjoy premium beans housed in branded bags from popular roasters around the country.
Honestly, admiring the stylish and colorful bags from Trade's coffee partners is half the fun of this subscription.
The artful bags each month's batch of beans come in is half the fun of a Trade coffee subscription.
Bean Box coffee tasting: If a subscription isn't your vibe, I'd suggest sending a coffee tasting. Bean Box has some of my favorite samplers, particularly this coffee and chocolate pairing box for the coffee drinker with a sweet tooth. The $72 sampler includes eight specialty coffees from indie roasters and four artisan chocolate bars from serious chocolatiers.
A coffee and chocolate tasting will earn you some serious brownie points.
Giving any subscription multiplies the goodwill
When you send someone a coffee subscription that comes monthly. Not only are you saddling that person with a monthly surprise, but the goodwill towards you is multiplied by however many times one of those packages of tasty eats or drinks arrives. If you weren't already the favorite child, grandchild, niece, nephew or cousin, you will be soon.