MistoBox Coffee Subscription Review: Pros, Cons & Verdict

MistoBox Coffee Subscription Review

If you’re a frequent audience of the popular business reality TV series Shark Tank, you likely have heard of this coffee subscription service that’s known for the large variety of specialty coffee it offers at such a reasonable price point, MistoBox.

In this MistoBox Coffee Subscription Review, we’ve covered everything you need to know about the company and its coffee subscription service, including tips for picking out coffee and any cons you should look out for.


MistoBox Coffee Background

MistoBox Coffee logo

Like many coffee subscription companies, MistoBox was launched to improve the user experience of coffee lovers to make better-tasting coffee at home and skip getting overpriced specialty coffee from coffee shops.

Back in the summer of 2010, the founders, Samantha Meis and Connor Riley, met abroad in Barcelona. But MistoBox never saw the daylight until late 2011 when the founders started it as a school project.

In 2012, the brand was gathering funds from Kickstarter and officially launched in May. And one year later, the brand made its appearance on the popular series Shark Tank and successfully signed with Mark Cuban, indicating a lot of growth potentials in the future.

What Happened To MistoBox After The Deal With Mark Cuban On Shark Tank?

So, how is MistoBox doing?

The brand has continued to scour talented coffee roasters all over the country and sampled their coffees to find new partners to work with, fulfilling its mission of making specialty coffee more accessible to home baristas everywhere.

This was realized in October 2014 when the brand launched the personalized subscriptions service and joined the race.

Where Is MistoBox Located?

The headquarters of MistoBox is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.


What’s Special About MistoBox Coffee Subscription

Tune in to find out what factors have enabled the brand to strike a hefty deal and numerous other subscribers.

Freshly Roasted Coffee

MistoBox partners with over 50 artisan coffee roasters in the country to roast to order customers’ coffee selections.

However, to ensure that the coffee is roasted and delivered fresh and in its peak quality to your door, MistoBox currently only ships within the US.

International shipments may run into more shipment hassles, causing potential delays or even no-shows.

This inevitably affects the freshness and quality of the brewed cup of Joe.

Freshly Roasted Coffee

Coffee Variety

This coffee subscription brand offers one of the largest collections of coffees I’ve ever seen – nearly 600 varieties, available in both whole bean and ground coffee in a number of roast levels (light, medium, and dark).

Mistobox coffee shop

The majority of specialty coffees offered by the brand are sourced from Africa, Latin America, and Asia and the Pacific region, all of the big names in the coffee production world. You can also find both single-origin and blend coffees, regular and decaffeinated.

Do keep in mind that not all of the coffees on sale on the website of Mistobox are organically grown and sustainably sourced.

But you can use its filtering function to find those that fit your coffee preferences being environmentally-conscious coffee aficionados.

Another thing is, although the brand says that it offers ground coffee, it essentially only sells one medium grind size which is suitable for a drip-brewed cup of Joe.

So, if you intend to pull a shot of espresso which calls for finely ground beans, or make a cup of French Press which requires much coarser beans, better invest in a coffee grinder or look elsewhere.

Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that MistoBox is striving for more variety to be able to meet the needs of all kinds of coffee drinkers.

Personalization

To each their own, people can have different preferences in terms of coffee types (single-origin or blend), roast levels, and flavor profiles.

Being one of the coffee subscription services that are pro-customer, MistoBox takes customers’ taste preferences into special consideration.

Once the customer is on board, they can personalize their coffee journey with MistoBox by informing their preferences through a small coffee quiz and having a knowledgeable coffee curator pick out suitable coffees for them.

Or, if you know what you want and like to take things into your own hand with a go-getter spirit, feel free to pick out your favorites from the range of roasters yourself with the help of Brew Queue.

User Experience

One of the biggest pluses of joining MistoBox coffee subscription is the robust user experience the site offers.

Brew Queue is a coffee subscription function available on MistoBox that helps subscribers browse, manage, and control their subscription options and coffees to be shipped to their door.

Mistobox User Experience

Brew Queue makes it easier for customers to track and modify what’s coming next and when exactly they can expect the coffees to arrive.

You can also easily manage your coffee subscription by making adjustments to the following items in a few simple clicks:

  • Roast level
  • Coffee type
  • Tasting notes
  • Grind preference
  • Shipping frequency
  • Payment plan

For better coffee recommendations and experience in the future, you can also give feedback to the ones you have tried in the form of star ratings and additional comments.

The feedback will then be sent to the expert coffee curator of MistoBox to help them understand your preferences better and send to your door better coffees the next time.

Technologically Driven

What’s more, MistoBox is also incredibly tech-friendly. If you have a virtual assistant at home like Alexa, you can have it control your delivery schedule and ask for updates using voice control.

The future is here and great coffee can be bought in the comfort of your home.


How Does MistoBox Coffee Subscription Work?

To jump-start the subscription, you first need to let MistoBox learn more about you. Don’t worry. There are no small talks. All you have to do is finish a small quiz about your coffee consumption habit and taste.

How You Enjoy Your Cup Of Coffee

How Does MistoBox Coffee Subscription Work?

You are presented with 4 options:

  • Black
  • Cream
  • Sugar
  • None of the above

The average coffee drinker can be fine with all of them, but make sure to run through the last three months of your coffee habit and pick the option that you’ve gone for the most.

Beans Grind Type

Mistobox Beans Grind Type

Like I’ve been doing in all articles, I recommend picking whole bean coffee over ground coffee. Not only for the fact that MistoBox only offers medium-sized ground beans but also because whole bean coffee lasts a lot longer than ground coffee.

Freshness plays an important role in the quality of the final cup of coffee. While coffee doesn’t exactly go off, staleness is a real phenomenon that can be identified in the aroma and taste of both the untouched beans and the brewed coffee.

By going for whole bean coffee, you can preserve that freshness for much longer and enjoy the brewed version in its optimal quality. So order a coffee grinder and get MistoBox whole bean coffee to upgrade your coffee experience. You can thank me later.

Roast Level

Mistobox Roast Level

As I’ve briefly mentioned above, MistoBox offers a variety of roast types. They are:

  • Light (bright with complex flavor notes)
  • Medium (balanced with a medium body)
  • Dark (lower acid, smokier, and earthier)

If you’re unsure of which one to pick, you can go with either medium roast, the standard well-balanced profile, or the “Not Sure” option and let the coffee curator handle it based on your other answers.

Coffee Type

Mistobox Coffee Type

MistoBox presents to customers 3 types of coffee:

  • Single-origin
  • Blend
  • Espresso

Some like single-origin for the uniform and unique flavor profiles. Others enjoy blends for their balanced and interesting flavor combinations.

And MistoBox also offers specific espresso blends for espresso lovers. The company says that coffee roasters prepare blends and roast coffees in a way that’s suitable for brewing espresso.

So, most likely, you can receive a bag of medium to dark roasted 100% Arabica beans or a majority of Arabica and some blends of Robusta for the traditional take.

In addition, if you drink decaf, make sure to check that option to let the MistoBox coffee curator know when weighing coffee options for you.

Shipment Frequency

Shipment Frequency

Like most coffee subscription services, MistoBox offers 4 shipment options for one bag containing 12 oz (340 g) of beans:

  • Every week – 24 cups/week
  • Every 2 weeks – 12 cups/week
  • Every 3 weeks – 8 cups/week
  • Every month – 6 cups/week

Depending on your coffee drinking habit and the number of people in the household or office, make the most suitable choice.

I recommend ordering within the 2 – 3 week range to enjoy the beans when they’re of the best quality. It’s long enough from the roast date, allowing the coffee beans to degas a bit to be ready for brewing, yet still within the peak freshness period.

Coffee Tier

Mistobox Coffee Tier

There are 2 coffee beans tiers that you can expect:

  • Deluxe: From $12.71 – $15 for a bag of large lot single-origins, espresso blends, and medium-roasted coffee
  • Exclusive: From $15.26 for a bag of micro-lot single-origins, direct trade, and bright light-roasted coffees

Coffee tier might have sounded fancy, but MistoBox is in fact just referring to the price points you expect to pay. Due to having a huge variety of coffees from different coffee roasters, there would inevitably be a large price range, over 50 points, to be exact.

But, there are actually 3 coffee tiers: Basic, Deluxe, and Exclusive. The basic tier offers coffees within the range of $10 – $12, containing mainly coffee blends and darker roasted coffees.

For whatever reason, MistoBox has removed this tier from the initial quiz. However, you can manually add a variety of coffees in this tier to your Brew Queue to your MistoBox coffee subscription, if they’re what you’re looking for.

The bottom line is, pick whichever suits your budget and preferences the most.

Coffee Plan

Mistobox Coffee Plan

So, how much does MistoBox cost? There are 3 plans available:

  • Pay per box: $14.95/bag
  • 6 boxes plan: $13.46/bag (save 10%)
  • 12 boxes plan: $12.71/bag (save 15%)

Each box of coffee contains a 12 oz bag, enough for brewing about 24 cups of coffee.

Keep in mind that even if you pay upfront for 6 or 12 future boxes, you still have to pay shipping fees for each box, which is around $5/bag. So it can get pretty expensive as the shipping costs stack up.


MistoBox Gift Subscription

From one coffee lover to another, one of the most thoughtful gifts you can give is a coffee subscription.

Aside from providing coffee subscriptions for their direct customers, MistoBox also offers to roast coffee and send coffee bags to a third-party recipient of choice as a gift.

The giver can also be notified of when coffee ships and arrives at the place of the recipient for the first and last time. The recipient can enjoy as many benefits as the average subscription of the company, including tech-friendly customer service.

The subscription covers up to 24 boxes of coffee. The giver can choose to personalize the subscription themselves or pass the job to the recipient if they’re not sure of the recipient’s preferences.

The giver can also choose how to break the news, either through:

  • The first shipment
  • An email
  • A printed gift
  • All of them

All of them will arrive with how to customize their future shipments on the website. The giver can also add a gift note for a personal touch.


Coffee Packaging

The roasters roast beans and send them your way in a bag and a box.

The box is compact with a very simple design and the name of the company, MistoBox, on top.

Mistobox Coffee Packaging

Inside the box, you can find a personalized note informing you of the roasters, the origins of the coffees, and the name and email address of the coffee curator in case you have any concerns. Its customer service is indeed top-notch and feels very personal.

The coffee bags are beautifully designed in numerous colors. As the roasters don’t follow the same standard design, you can really get the feel of how the roasters roast the coffee inside from the external packaging.

You can find the roast date, expected detailed tasting notes, and concise brewing guides as well. The bag is also resealable, convenient for storing afterward.


Not For You? See Our Other Recommended Coffee Subscriptions

Next, I’ll go through some of the popular coffee roasters working with MistoBox that offer outstanding coffee quality.

Atlas Coffee Club

Atlas Coffee Club is well-known for its world coffee tour concept. You can travel and taste coffee from one country to another every single month without ever leaving your house.

And this is no ordinary coffee either. Expect a collection of affordable single-origin sustainably sourced coffees.

Still want to see more? Check out our other recommended coffee subscriptions here.


Our Final Verdict – Is MistoBox Worth It?

To end this MistoBox coffee review, check out the pros and cons of this company to make up your mind.

Pros

  • Fresh roast-to-order coffee
  • Large coffee variety (types and origins)
  • Whole bean and ground
  • Decaf available
  • Multiple roast profiles
  • Numerous excellent partnering roasters
  • Personalized subscription
  • Expert coffee curator
  • Beautiful packaging
  • Gift subscriptions
  • Affordable – multiple price tiers
  • Technologically driven user experience

Cons

  • Lack of attention to organic and sustainable coffee
  • Shipping fees per bag
  • Only one bag size
  • No samples
  • Only one grind size available

The Verdict

Overall, MistoBox is definitely worth a try considering its large offerings that cater to all types of coffee lovers, including decaf options. It’s hard to come by a coffee subscription with this many choices at affordable prices.

I’m also impressed with the level of personalization that the brand offers as well as the website experience, enabling even the non-tech-savvy users to easily manage their subscriptions.

Scroll to Top