For many of us our mornings may start with a warm cup of coffee to awaken our senses for the day ahead. Coffee subscription services can allow you to enjoy that first cup of energy, while trying new blends and flavours. We have handpicked the 8 ethical coffee subscription brands you need to know about to make securing ethical blends straight to your door that little bit easier!
Table of Contents:
- What is a Coffee Subscription Service?
- Top 8 Ethical Coffee Subscriptions to Try
What is a Coffee Subscription Service?
Coffee subscription services allow you to receive roasted coffee straight to your door. Depending on the company, some subscriptions can offer weekly, monthly or fortnightly options to suit your current lifestyle. They are a convenient way to try new blends and flavours from all over the world, or even make the perfect gifts for a coffee lover. Either way, receiving a letterbox coffee subscription can fuel your days without having to leave your house!
Top 8 Ethical Coffee Subscriptions to Try
- Union Hand-Roasted Coffee
- Pact Coffee
- Horsham Coffee Roaster
- Grind
- Perky Blenders
- Blue Coffee Box
- Kiss the Hippo
- Redemption Roasters
Union Hand-Roasted Coffee
Roasted in East London, Union Hand-Roasted Coffee provides fresh to order coffee to ensure each customer can have the finest and tastiest blend in each delivery. Sustainability is also at the heart of this organisation. They work alongside their farmers to ensure that the coffee grown is done so in a sustainable way that respects both the environment and people. Some of the ways they achieve this is by having their cartons, shipping packaging and print materials made from recyclable, FSC-certified eco-friendly materials. All of which are printed using vegetable ink.
Within their easy letterbox CoffeeClub subscription packages you will find two 200g bags of coffee and two handy guides detailing what makes the coffee so special. There are four plans to choose from, which you can take full control of to make them your own. Choose how often you would like to receive your coffee and how you like your coffee to be grounded. It's the little elements such as this which makes Union Hand-Roasted Coffee a great subscription box for everyone.
Pact Coffee
Pact Coffee began in 2012 with a quest to bring ‘amazing coffee to the lips of the nation’. It was after founder Stephen Rapoport discovered the supply chain between farmer and customer was often over ten parties long. By cutting out the middleman, Stephen was able to build relationships directly with farmers to pay them premium prices for their beans, leading to high-quality coffee that can be delivered straight to your door. How Pact coffee plans work is that you tailor your order to your taste preferences, without having any commitments. You can order as much or as little as you would like. The flexibility allows you to pause, skip, delay or reschedule an order, which is perfect for busy lifestyles.
Horsham Coffee Roasters
Horsham Coffee Roasters is a Sussex based company, who have a focus on specialty coffee which is ethically sourced. Over the last decade their Relationship Coffee has developed by the founders having direct contact with their farmers. They also partnered with One Tree Planted in 2019, which means they are committed to planting one tree for every 1kg of Rwanda and Kenyan coffee sold.
In terms of Horsham Coffee Roasters subscriptions, they offer complete flexibility. You can choose from their pre-paid monthly subscription, which is a delivery every four weeks, or have more control with a pay as you go subscription. With the pay as you go subscription you have two options, you can choose your own coffee in each delivery or be surprised with their Roasters Choice. However you decide to receive your coffee, with these models you can experience the flavours of the world in the comfort of your home.
Grind
Grind has become one of London’s hottest spots to grab a coffee and thanks to their at home subscription service, you can enjoy the taste of Grind from the comfort of your sofa. Roasted in Bermondsey, London, you can choose from Nespresso pods, ground coffee or whole beans to get delivered through your door. Each type of coffee is sourced from across the world and brought for a better than fair trade price. You even get one of their iconic pink tins with your first order!
A focus for Grind is to ensure their packaging is compostable and recyclable, which is why they were one of the first UK companies to have completely compostable coffee pods. Their Nespresso pods are made entirely from bio-plastic and they describe that once used and composted, it only takes a matter of weeks for them to break down. So not only are you receiving delicious coffee, but you are also helping the environment.
Perky Blenders
Perky Blenders is a family company who have a simple vision, to make coffee responsible, friendly and accessible for all. It is through this forward thinking that they have won two Time Out Awards for the ‘Best Coffee Place’ within three London postcodes. But you don’t have to just enjoy coffee within one of their four shops, you can purchase a Perky Blenders coffee subscription to get delivered through your letterbox. Choose from one of their seven unique blends then decide whether you want a one off purchase or a flexi-subscription. These packages even make great gifts as you can personalise the coffee to suit the receiver’s needs. You can adapt the type of grid, add a name and choose the colour of the labels. Having a personalised gift has never been so easy to craft!
Blue Coffee Box
Let us introduce you to a unique coffee club called Blue Coffee Box. Their mission is to introduce people to Speciality Coffee that has a top tasting grade. More often than not, when we try to make coffee at home it is instant, which doesn’t always pack the punch of our favourite coffee shops. To combat this, Blue Coffee Box selects blends from over 300+ expert roasters who extract the maximum flavours from every bean. Not only do they work alongside experts, but they also turn their focus to sustainability by sourcing their suppliers through the Direct Trade method. What this does is it enables the farmers to reinvest in sustainable crops to provide a better quality of life to their children and community. So not only will you be receiving high-quality coffee, you are helping those who need it most.
When you choose your coffee subscription, you can decide between the Blue Coffee Bag or the Blue Coffee Box. The difference between the two is that in the box you receive two bags per month, whereas in the bag you receive one. Overall, if you choose Blue Coffee Box, they will take your tastebuds on a voyage around the world to experience the highest quality blends they can find.
Kiss the Hippo
Kiss the Hippo is known for its sustainability approach to coffee. One of their goals is to make the process between farm to cup as direct as possible. This means they take seasonality into consideration when sourcing from around the world, to ensure that you receive the highest quality flavours with every sip. Their sustainable coffee production does not end with sourcing, once they receive the beans, they roast them in-house in a carbon-neutral way. Kiss the Hippo uses this process as they say it “preserves its individual flavour identity and the taste of its terroir, which is the characteristic taste and flavour passed onto coffee by the environment which it is grown in”. By having this process you can experience the finest flavours from across the globe.
To start your coffee subscription with Kiss the Hippo, you simply need to decide on the blend, the frequency of your subscription, the type of coffee and the grind. Once you have figured out those fine details, you just need to wait for that letterbox package to arrive through your door. You will be able to sit back, relax and enjoy a sip of a delicious cup of coffee.
Redemption Roasters
As the world’s first behind bars coffee company, Redemption Roasters do more than sourcing their coffee ethically, they are socially impactful too. It is found that 50% of prisoners are likely to reoffend if they leave prison without any skills and a job. This is where Redemption Roasters come in. They train inmates in professional roastery and barista skills, which helps them to find jobs within one of Redemption Roasters coffee shops or within one of their wholesale clients. Not only do the prisoners gain on-the-job skills and employment, but they are also helped reintegrated into society.
Redemption Roasters coffee subscriptions ensure you will never run out of coffee while in the comfort of your home. To determine the size and frequency of your order, they have a handy tool to compare how many cups you drink vs the size of the coffee bags. This easy to understand table makes ordering your coffee quick and simple every time. All you have to do, once you have ordered, is wait for your new blend to be delivered!
