February 2015 Blue Bottle Coffee Origins Subscription Review + Coupon

Blue Bottle Coffee is a coffee subscription with multiple options to suit your coffee needs. Generally you’ll get 12 oz of beans every other week for $17, or double your bag for an extra $11. They also offer half bag and triple bag subscriptions. The prices vary by a buck or so on your coffee selections.

This month I received Colombia Cauca Caloto. I have the Origins subscription, but it’s easy to switch between the 3 types (Origins, Blend, Espresso) or one of the 8 specialty subscriptions available, as well as change the frequency and amount of coffee you receive in each shipment.

Blue Bottle’s Description:

This coffee comes to us from a group of four smallholders – Marta Cunda, Diego Trujillo, Arturo Lizcano and Jairo Almeguer – all located in Caloto, a small municipality just a couple hours south of the Colombian city of Cali. After picking, coffee cherries from these producers undergo a process of manual de-pulping, then they’re fermented in tiled or concrete tanks for a period of 16-20 hours. To children of the 90s, “Fruit Stripe Gum” was less a consumer product than it was a state of mind, a manifesto, a lifestyle. The same could be said of the Cauca Caloto’s audacious tropicalia. The psychedelic zebra, however, is sold separately.

Blue Bottle Coffee‘s notes: tropical fruit, tangerine, date, toffee.

My Notes: Colombia Cauca Caloto is a true gem that is as delightful as it is difficult to describe.  I expected a brash bold brew, but was instead greeted with something more complex and mellow than your typical Columbian flagship roast.  The BB tasting notes cited tropical fruit,  along with tangerine, date and toffee as the main flavors:  all generic and middle of the road rich flavors.  They did not specify a fruit because the blend defies precise description; it is juicy and fruity, but lacks any high floral notes or bitter boldness.  I typically set the stereo equalizer to accentuate the treble bass, dropping out the midrange. This brew thrives in the midrange, and its equalizer is set to the “dialogue” setting.  For having no top or bottom notes, it is extremely engaging.  Think of it as the Downton Abbey of coffee… complex, witty, and even-keeled, it is sophisticated and wonderfully immersive.

Visit Blue Bottle Coffee to find out more or to subscribe. See all our Blue Bottle Coffee Reviews. You can also see all the coffee subscriptions in the subscription box directory.