Barista Coffee Subscription Box Review- August 2016

Barista Coffee Box is a subscription box that sends you four varieties of coffee in each shipment.  Every box will feature a new roaster.  You try each coffee and if you love it you can order more directly from the roaster, if it’s not your favorite you just wait for your next delivery and you will have four new coffees to try from a new roaster.

The Barista Coffee Box was inside an USPS postal envelope.  The box itself was neatly packed full with delicious coffee.  A large card welcomed us as the box opened.

The back of the card included light hearted coffee making instructions and directions for finding Barista Coffee on social media.

All of this was in the Barista Coffee Box.  You can choose to subscribe to Barista once a month (one roaster) for $20 a month or twice a month (two roasters) for $40 a month.  And coming soon you will be able to also choose 3 times a month (3 roasters) for $60 or 4 times a month (4 roasters) for $80.  (Shipping is included.)

You can also prepay for a non-renewing subscription here.  One box (one roaster) is $20, two boxes (two roasters per month for one month) is $40, six boxes (2 roasters per month for 3 months) is $120 and twelve boxes (2 roasters per month for 6 months) is $240.

This colorful postcard featured this month’s roaster, Oceana Coffee Roasters of Tequesta, Florida.  Oceana’s focus is small batch roasting to enhance and highlight the array of flavor possibilities in their specialty grade coffee.  This month’s Barista box featured four different coffee varieties all roasted by Oceana.

The back of the postcard told us a little more about Oceana coffee roasters.  I love that he (Scott) started out by roasting coffee beans in a popcorn air popper.  Now, that’s necessity being the mother of invention!!

Each coffee variety came in a vacuum sealed bag and had it’s own product information card.  This coffee variety is Sumatra.  A full size bag of Sumatra (12oz) is $15.25 from Oceana.

The back of the card goes into more information about the variety.  “Grown on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Mandheling is known as much for its smooth, full body (mouthfeel) as its rich, complex taste.  The coffee is named after North Sumatra’s Mandheling people and is USDA organic.  This coffee scored 90 points with Coffee Review in July 2016.”

They also included a coupon code if you wanted to order more of this variety from Oceana.

I brewed the Sumatra very strong in a french press.  The beans were a perfect medium roast and resulted in a rich flavorful coffee.  I think I prefer richer more syrupy mouthfeel coffees like this.  It had a definite chocolate flavor.

The next variety was Ethiopia Limu Natural.  A full size (12oz) bag from Oceana is $16.50.

The Ethiopia Limu Natural is a lighter roast coffee.  “This coffee won the 2014 African Harvest of the Year and has also won Oceana Coffee multiple medals from both Australia and the USA.  The coffee also scored 94 points with Coffee Review in July 2016.  This is true representation of a great natural processed Ethiopian, full of fruit, bright and well balanced.  Amazing as a Chemex pour over.”

The beans of this variety had more of the silver skin still attached due to the dry (natural) processing and are a lighter roast.  The resulting coffee was a exploding with fruity sweet notes.  It reminded me of the syrup of fig preserves.

The next coffee variety  was Mexica Chiapas.  The coffee is $15.25 for the full size 12oz bag from Oceana.

The Mexico Chiapas variety is described as, “A crowd favorite, out Mexico is a great all rounder.  This coffee shines as a drip filter or cold brewed coffee.  Smooth, chocolately, USDA Organic, Fair trade certified.”

These beans were really beautiful.  I may have snacked on a few whole.  I think they would be excellent with a chocolate coating.  Mmmm…     I brewed up a cup and was pleased with the sweet chocolate and cinnamon notes of this coffee.

The last coffee of the four coffee varieties is India Monsooned Malabar.  It is $14.75 for a full size bag (12oz) from Oceana.

According to Oceana India Monsooned Malabar is the world’s lowest acid coffee.  This is achieved by hand picking and dry processing Arabica Grade A beans and then raking them on outdoor drying beds for 12-15 weeks.  The prolonged process is meant to replicate the effect that the sea journey from India to Europe had on the coffee beans transported centuries ago.

“This is Oceana’s only dark roasted coffee.  We bring this coffee in for the sole purpose of dark roasting, and the results are a very smooth, deep flavored big coffee without the nasty bitterness usually found in dark roasts.”

They aren’t being facetious when they say that this is the world’s lowest acid coffee.  The beans are a lovely dark roast with a light oil sheen on each bean (indicative of the dark roast).  They brewed up the smoothest cup of coffee I believe I have ever had.  It had a thick rich mouthfeel with a rich dark chocolate flavor and woodsy notes.  It was a very good cup of coffee.  I might be ordering more of this one.

All the coffee varieties were stamped with the roast date on the back of the bag.  We received the coffee a little over one week after the roast date.

The bottom of the box made me giggle.

Barista has struck upon a wonderful idea with this subscription box which is essentially a high grade coffee sampler service.  You get to sample the best of the best without spending a fortune.  And, if you fall in love with a certain coffee they make it easy to order more directly from the roaster.  It’s a great idea!!

Have you tried the Barista Coffee Box?  Have you found any favorite roasters or varieties yet?

Visit Barista Coffee Box to subscribe or find out more!