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For a time, I cheated myself of one of the coffee-lovers great joys and that’s trying new beans. Now I have a service that’s connecting me to amazing roasters around America to reignite my passion of the pursuit.
The reason why I’d stopped chasing new beans for a time comes down to saving time. Though the java nerds around me may scoff, my Nespresso machine gave me the highest quality cup each morning compared to the the amount of time I had to invest to make it. But once I finally got my hands on an outstanding superautomatic espresso machine, I was compelled to dive into beans again. And that’s where Trade’s coffee subscription program was a godsend.
The beauty of a the new espresso machine was how high a quality cup I could brew, but the difference between a good and great bag of beans became even more apparent. To get the best aroma, flavor and crema, I needed fresh beans from great roasters. Even when I went with reputable coffee purveyors, if I was buying those in a grocery store, they were not fresh enough to be their best—and it showed. And though I like some of my local roasters, after a while I wanted more variety and Trade delivered that to me.
It started with taking a quiz to learn my preferred brewing method, flavor profile and frequency (a 12-bag subscription, delivering every two weeks, is $216). The company then created a queue of roasters that matched my preferences and then every two weeks I got a new bag of great coffee from places it wouldn’t have been feasible for me to order a one-off bag from. These include the Drink Coffee Do Stuff roasters in Lake Tahoe, Calif.; Onyx Coffee Lab in Bentonville, Ark.; Metric in Chicago; and Kuma in Seattle. Once this subscription ends, its pretty likely I’ll re-up and keep the quality coffee flowing.
