Thinking of venturing out to try new coffee beans but there are so many out there that you hardly know where to start and which is good?
Why not opt for a coffee subscription service that does the scouting and curating jobs for you? All you have to do is sit and wait for freshly roasted new coffee blends suiting your preference to arrive promptly at your door.
In this article, I will perform a detailed Trade Coffee review to help you determine whether this well-known brand that’s often referred to as the “best coffee subscription” can be the answer to your caffeine dilemmas.
What kind of varieties does it offer? What can you expect in terms of quality? Is it too good to be true? All will be unfolded in the following Trade Coffee review.
Who Started Trade Coffee?
Let’s kick off the Trade Coffee subscription review with a bit of background knowledge.
It’s always useful to look into the behind-the-scenes of the brand before engaging with any of its products and services.
Trade Coffee Co. is a fairly new subscription service. Founded in 2018 by Eric Girouard, Hugh Hunter, and Nicholas Gavronsky in the U.S. with its headquarter in New York, Trade Coffee has been able to gather a large gathering of coffee lovers who adore their wide selections of specialty coffee.
In fact, by 2020, it’s reported that the brand had built a loyal with a whopping 90% retention rate. This means only 1 in 10 people leave after getting a taste of a cup of coffee curated by Trade.
The brand is on a mission to connect coffee drinkers with the best national roasters to help them discover fresh coffee that best suits their tastes from the 400+ offerings available.
What’s Special About Trade Coffee
Surely, there must be more than one good reason to explain why Trade Coffee subscribers feel so compelled to stay.
Is Trade Coffee Subscription Fair Trade?
So, is Trade Coffee subscription ethical?
Yes, one of the brand’s main concerns is making sure that coffee farmers are well compensated for their efforts to maintain sustainable farming practices.
Trade Coffee claims that all of its coffees for sales are purchased at above fair trade prices from the farms. If you’re unaware of what that term means, fair trade price refers to the ethical minimum price to be paid to producers to support their livelihood and sustain environmentally friendly operations.
Trade Coffee has many coffees that are Fair Trade, Kosher, Organic, and Rainforest Alliance certified.
However, some of them aren’t able to obtain a certification either due to several reasons such as secluded location, small scale, and so on.
In addition, the reality isn’t always as easy to determine. Criteria tend to be broad and vague and, hence, have to be fluid when evaluating.
The bottom line is: You can rest assured that the bag you receive from Trade Coffee is as ethically sourced as it is high quality.
All of the roasters the brand works with have taken the Roaster Pledge to maintain the highest standards in terms of sourcing, sustainability, and quality.
Is Trade Coffee Freshly Roasted?
Trade Coffee is known to partner with over 55 top roasters around the country to deliver freshly roasted to order coffee bags to customers. Rest assured that none of the coffee you receive has been pre-roasted and sat on a shelf before your order arrives.
Each roaster has a different roasting schedule which you can find listed below the description of the coffee they provide on Trade’s website.
Since each roaster is responsible for different coffees, you may not expect all of your orders to arrive together at the same time.
But, all roasters ship the coffee within 24 hours of the roasting process, and the bags should arrive at your destination after 2 to 5 business days.
That is a perfect window for the beans to degas a bit and become ready to produce a balanced flavor profile when brewed.
Does Trade Coffee Subscription Allow Personalization?
Like a couple of other coffee subscription services, Trade Coffee also offers a Matching Quiz to help you get back in touch with your coffee preferences and let the brand know to make suitable recommendations.
After you finish the small survey, you get a first bag recommendation to jump-start the subscription.
You can always make custom changes to let the brand know of your personal taste, including manually changing and swapping coffee.
And if you don’t like the first brew, Trade Coffee has a First Match Guarantee for the occasion.
Feel free to contact the Customer Experience team to receive your free replacement.
Like a couple of other coffee subscription services, Trade Coffee also offers a Matching Quiz to help you get back in touch with your coffee preferences and let the brand know to make suitable recommendations.
After you finish the small survey, you get a first bag recommendation to jump-start the subscription.
Did You Know?
You can always make custom changes to let the brand know of your personal taste, including manually changing and swapping coffee.
And if you don’t like the first brew, Trade Coffee has a First Match Guarantee for the occasion. Feel free to contact the Customer Experience team to receive your free replacement.
If you doubt the brand’s expertise in making good recommendations, rest assured that the Trade Coffee team has decades of collective experience with coffee, some of whom are even champion baristas on the national scale.
Trade Coffee has successfully made over 2 million Taste Type matches. Why doubt you can’t be its next satisfied customer?
How Many Coffee Varieties Can You Expect From Trade Coffee?
As I’ve briefly mentioned above, you can expect over 400 different varieties of coffees roasted by Trade Coffee’s top roasters and handpicked and tasted by its team of coffee pros.
You can find more about Trade Coffee’s offerings by accessing its list of roasters.
Each one offers an array and at least one of them should fit your type.
In addition, the brand can also satisfy more than one type of home baristas and coffee drinkers with various roast levels and its collection of whole bean, ground, and decaf.
They even have Cold Brew bags as well!
Is Trade Coffee A Good Deal?
Money doesn’t grow on trees. So you can’t really throw money around and spend on things that aren’t worth it. Luckily, you can get the quality and pay the price for what it’s worth as well.
Generally, Trade Coffee is relatively affordable, with prices ranging from $15 to $22 per bag. That’s a wide enough spectrum to offer different price points for everyone.
Since Trade Coffee isn’t a roaster but joined the coffee game – coffee trade – as an intermediary and distributes beans from coffee roasters, it’s understandable.
Of course, it’s not as cheap as your local grocery store coffee. But you have to pay for the price difference if you want the quality difference.
In terms of shipping fees, if your order costs $30 or more, you get free shipping. In addition, active subscribers can also get free shipping on their a la carte and coffee equipment orders as well.
Otherwise, expect a $2 shipping fee for each coffee bag or piece of equipment.
What Subscription Packages Does Trade Coffee Offer?
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The Hookup
Your journey starts from the first Match Quiz outcome. But it doesn’t stop once you’ve tasted it.
Trade Coffee has a rating in-store, enabling you to rate the coffee to give them a reference to rely on when making suggestions for your future coffee shipment.
The Hookup features a wider coffee selection of coffee beans including both blends and single-origin coffees, especially for fans of light to medium roasted single-origin ones.
With the Hookup, you can expect brighter and more complex notes of fruits and flowers on top of the signature rich coffee taste.
So espresso drinkers and traditional black coffee seekers should look elsewhere if this isn’t their cup of Joe.
Overall, if you pick the Hookup subscription package, you get to try new and different coffees in each bag shipment which can be every 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 weeks. The coffees should suit your taste palate based on your given feedback.
The Classics
The Classics is your basic subscription that’s perfect for brewing an everyday Joe for the everyday Joe.
Based on the result of the Match Quiz, you can expect 1 to 2 bags to arrive every 1, 2, 3, 4, or 6 weeks. Whichever frequency you prefer.
Generally, you can expect the same bag of coffee for each delivery with familiar flavors and aroma. But based on your feedback, Trade Coffee can provide you with new coffees as well to arrive at “the one”.
Auto-Reorder
If you’ve already known what you want, you don’t have to tell Trade Coffee what you really want.
With Auto-Reorder, pick however many coffees you desire and the shipping schedule to enjoy the freshest brew in the next cycles.
How Does Trade Coffee Subscription Work?
Let Trade Coffee Know Your Taste Preferences
As I’ve mentioned in the previous section, Trade Coffee also utilizes a Match Quiz to get to know more about your coffee style and go-to brewing method to optimize the coffee buying experience.
By clicking on any button on its homepage, you’ll reach the onboarding questions asking about:
- Your coffee experience level (well-versed or a beginner home barista)
- The kind of coffee maker you use to brew a cup of coffee at home
- What you pair your black coffee with (if any)
- The roast level you typically enjoy
- Your taste preference and expectation
- Type of coffee (whole bean, ground, or both)
- Whether you drink decaf
Customize The Trade Subscription Plans
The Number Of Bags Of Coffee
Trade Coffee subscription can offer you 2 options:
- 1 Bag – 12 oz (340.2 g) – Enough to brew around 16 cups of coffee2
- Bags – 24 oz (680.4 g) – Enough to brew around 32 cups of coffee
You can save 15% when getting 1 bag and 20% when getting 2. How neat!
The first selection is more suitable for a small household of 1 – 2 coffee drinkers and the second one caters to bigger households and offices with more coffee lovers. But, you may need to keep the next question in mind before finalizing your subscription options.
Shipping Frequency
If you’ve read my previous reviews, you’re probably aware that many coffee companies offer coffee bags to be shipped every 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks to best preserve coffee freshness, in their opinion.
However, the Trade Coffee subscription has a different idea in mind. Rather than having a 1-week interval in between shipping frequency options, the brand shortens it by a few days.
You’re allowed to pick from the following 4:
- Every 1 week
- Every 1.5 weeks (10 days)
- Every 2 weeks
- Every 3 weeks
So you don’t get a monthly shipping option either, but a much shorter frequency range. Trade Coffee subscription believes those are the best weeks to always enjoy coffee in its peak freshness and quality.
Among the options provided, 1.5 weeks, or 10 days, is the most popular among Trade’s subscribers. This popularity should be some sort of indication from the brand’s large loyal subscriber base, right?
Type Of Coffee Beans
You can enjoy both whole bean coffee and pre-ground beans. If you pick the latter, you also need to detail which brew method the coffee is intended for so they can send you the bag in the appropriate grind size.
Trade Coffee subscription covers the following brewing devices:
- French Press
- Coffee Maker (likely a drip machine)
- Chemex
- Pour-Over
- Espresso Machine
- AeroPress
- Cold Brew/Percolator
From the variety that Trade Coffee provides, you should be able to find your match.
I suggest getting a whole bean bag and grinding the beans yourself right before brewing to maximize freshness and extraction quality. But of course, not everyone has the time and energy to indulge in brewing coffee at home from the ground up, so pick the one that best matches your lifestyle and preferences.
Payment Of Choice
You can either pay per shipment or pay for 2 to 3 bags upfront and get 1 for free! That means:
- If you order 1 bag per shipment, you’re paying for 3 future scheduled deliveries at the price of 2.
- If you order 2 bags per shipment, you’re paying for 2 future scheduled deliveries at the price of 1.
Afterward, you’ll still pay for shipments at the price of $15 – $22 per bag of coffee.
Packaging Of A Bag Of Coffee From Trade Coffee
Your order will arrive in a neat cardboard box with the brand’s name, Trade, on top and a welcoming phrase “Hello, coffee maker” on the side.
Inside, other than the coffee, you can also find a welcome booklet that lets you learn a bit more about the roaster.
The booklet also briefly explains where you can find a useful brewing guide on the brand’s website and the steps you can take after having a sip of the brew: become a regular and rate your brew.
Overall, not a whole lot of reading so you don’t have to dread dragging yourself through the booklet.
Back to the main topic, your order is neatly packaged inside a paper bag with a simple design. On the front, you can find:
- The name of the roaster
- The origin of the coffee
- The roasting level
- The expected tasting notes
- A brief text about the specific source of the beans and the best coffee-making method to brew the beans
On the side, you can find a more detailed guide to brewing a cup of Joe, including the golden coffee-to-water ratio, and tips to correctly store to make sure the coffee stays fresh for as long as possible.
Can You Cancel Trade Coffee Subscription?
Very easily, yes. Find and click on the “Cancel Subscription” in your account management, answer a short survey to help Trade Coffee subscription improve its coffee quality and customer experience, and you’re released.
Don’t worry! You won’t lose your in-progress orders if you cancel before receiving them, especially prepaid bundles. They will still be sent as your fair-well coffee bags.
If you wish to cancel the prepaid ones as well, reach out to the brand’s customer support email or make a direct call to talk with one of the representatives on weekdays.
If your intention is only a temporary pause or you think Trade Coffee is like one of those exes, the good news is you can always get back together.
All of your account information is retained, including order history and coffee reviews and ratings, so you can get right back on track.
Final Verdict Of A Coffee Lover – Trade Coffee Review
Pros
- Am insanely large variety of single-origins and blends from top roasters in the country – over 400
- Many types of coffee (whole bean, ground coffee, decaf, Cold Brew bags)
- Peak freshness guaranteed
- Free shipping for subscription packages and above $30 orders
- Helpful matching system
- Temporary cancellation available
Cons
- Trade Coffee is just an intermediary and doesn’t directly foresee any sourcing and roasting activities.
- Prices can vary and may be expensive depending on the roasters
- You can’t edit but have to redo the Match Quiz again if you want a different recommendation outcome
To Wrap Up
So, from the pros and cons I’ve summed up from the Trade Coffee review, is Trade Coffee worth it? From one coffee lover to another, my answer is yes.
From the super large selection Trade Coffee offers, there’s definitely a bit of something for everyone. So why not step out of your safe zone and spend a few extra bucks to experiment with specialty coffee?
The matching system is especially helpful for new coffee enthusiasts who want to recreate barista-quality coffee from their favorite coffee shop but are too overwhelmed to know where to start.