Hey guys, I think I found the perfect gift for a picky coffee snob in your life! Bean Box is a Seattle-based company started by a team of coffee enthusiasts who wanted to share authentic experience of local roasts and coffee shops with their friends and family, that eventually grew to be a thriving business. I’m kind of a coffee snob myself in the sense that I don’t like most coffees, because they all taste burned and bitter; but I do appreciate the subtleties of unique roasts and freshly ground gourmet coffee beans, which is a luxury few of us can afford to indulge in on daily basis.
HOW IT WORKS: Bean Box is a gourmet coffee sampling service. For $20/month subscribers will receive four kinds of high quality whole coffee beans, freshly roasted within 1-2 days of shipping to ensure the richest flavor possible. Click here to check it out.
Each box comes with four 1.8oz bags, filled with coffee beans, with the day of the roast marked on the back of each bag. Two of my coffees were roasted on February 10th, and the other two on the 9th [can you tell I’m a procrastinator?], and as promised, I received my box within a few days of the roast.
The first coffee I tried was Nicaragua Cerro del Cielo from Caffe Vita roasting company. Let me tell you ladies, this coffee smelled like heaven, and I just wanted to let it sit on my counter and never use it because it made the entire room smell like a fancy coffee shop with faint whiffs of nuts and citrus. I don’t own a coffee grinder, but my blender has an attachment for shaving ice, and that’s what I used. Worked like a charm, albeit MacGyvered!
I’m no connoisseur, but I know good coffee when I taste one. Once brewed, Nicaragua Cerro del Cielo developed a very rich profile of flavors and kept tricking my taste buds with hints of caramel, tangerines, and chocolate. It’s supposed to taste like plum, too, and I think that’s what my tongue mistook for citrus. Either way, I think it’s easily one of the best coffees I’ve ever had.
Another coffee I tried [sipping on it today, actually] was Kilenso Ethiopia from Slate Coffee Roasters, which Bean Box describes as a “bright roast with notes of strawberry, blueberry, and powdered cocoa”. My Mom is a huge fan of The Beatles, and started singing Strawberry Fields Forever as soon as I told her about this one.
The beans really smell like chocolate-covered strawberries! With a little bit of honey as a sweetener, Kilenso Ethiopia turned into delicious dessert coffee with very prominent hints of ripe strawberries and cocoa. I bet it will taste even better iced, so I think I might order a large bag for Summer. My nose wasn’t able to pick up blueberries, but I’m sure it’s because my coffee palate is just not trained enough for those subtleties.
I saved the other two bags for entertaining, because I am convinced that every bean inside of them is of the highest quality, and that my guests will enjoy their coffee til the last sip.
Are you a coffee lover? Have you tried gourmet coffee roasts before?
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Wow, I’d LOVE to receive something like this in the mail every month! Now I’m off to look for a sub service for coffee in my country, HA.
Isn’t it nice? Bean Box should really start shipping Worldwide because everybody needs to experience what great coffee tastes like; I’m sure, some of these roasts can convert even the most avid coffee haters. I hope you can find something like this in your country, because love for coffee is pretty much a universal thing 🙂
This is even a great gift for coffee lovers. I’d love to receive this subscription.
Indeed! And probably would be nice as a housewarming or hostess gift, too 🙂
I do like coffee, but adulterated with cream and sugar, so these subtleties would be lost on me. Great for the true aficionado, though!
I must be one of those crazy animals who still prefer their coffee dark. I do love some good caramel + irish cream creamer from time to time though 😉
I would love this as a gift!
I think I would, too 🙂 Since almost everyone I know loves coffee, this is a perfect gift for any occasion. And come on, who would want to miss a chance to try a roast that tastes like tomatoes and chocolate?
Oh this is totally up my alley! What a great gift idea
Indeed, it is! Bean Box really created something fun and unique here.
Nice gift idea for a coffee lover!
I agree, Allison!
Interesting idea – sounds like a great gift for those coffee lovers out there!
Indeed, it would be a nice housewarming or hostess gift for coffee lovers. And honestly, almost everyone I know likes coffee, so this is almost a universal gift 🙂
These blends sound freaking delicous!
No kidding, Miranda! I didn’t even know you could have a coffee that tastes like tomatoes, but wow, oddly enough that works. Suddenly I have the urge to try all kinds of unique blends 🙂
This sounds perfect for a coffee lover!
Right? And I like that all of the roasts come from Seattle, the unofficial coffee capital of the country.
I have a feeling these are good quality coffees. Would make a cool gift too.
They probably are, I read some reviews online from actual coffee professionals, and they seem to rate all of these in the high 90s out of 100. I’m no connoisseur though, I just like good coffee and these tasted very good 🙂
I’m probably the only person on earth that doesn’t care for coffee, but if I did, this would be great!!
You’re not alone, Cindy! I’m a tea drinker myself, but make exceptions for really good coffee.
I’m with Cindy, I don’t ever drink coffee but my family loves it so this would be good for them.
I understand, Marcia, I’m a tea drinker myself, and everyone around me seems to love coffee – ANY coffee for that matter. I just can’t enjoy those bitter/burned roasts, to me drinking them is like drinking cheap tasteless beer, if you know what I mean. Good tasting coffee is certainly hard to come by, and none of these samples disappointed yet. Worth a try!
Coffee addict here, snob for that matter! I’m definitely interested to try this out!
Then you will certainly appreciate the subtleties of these complicated flavors, Kath. I can see that this subscription can turn anyone into a coffee snob 🙂
This sounds like a box sub that’s right up my alley. Really reasonably priced as well! And can I just say I love your new word, MacGyvered?! <3
Haha, thanks Amber! Gotta put that ice shaving attachment to a good use 🙂
This is such a nice box… my dad with love it. 🙂 I love coffee… but I like things quick, and I would not like to grind the beans. lol
It actually takes very little time to grind them in a blender – maybe 3-4 pulses tops? I thought it was a long process, too, but an ice shaver attachment shredded them to dust nearly instantly.
I can practically smell/taste it from here, sounds wonderful!
I definitely don’t have the palate to pick up all the subtleties, but hopefully I could give you an idea about the aroma and the taste of these from a commoner’s perspective, haha 🙂
I’m obsessed with coffee so I’m definitely checking this out!
oh my gosh, I totally need this!