In 2020, something huge happened. The COVID19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns created an opportunity for people to explore making coffee at home. Coffee machine sales skyrocketed, and so too did the sale of coffee beans and coffee subscriptions.
Many of us still have these coffee machines at home, and in the middle of a cost of living crisis these are helping us save hundreds of dollars every month by brewing at home rather than buying coffee from cafes.
But there’s a steep learning curve to espresso, and to match the flavour of a coffee made at a cafe takes many hours of work and practice.
One reason these bought coffees taste so good is the freshness of the beans. Cafes go through many kilograms of coffee a day, and are therefore turning over their stock incredibly fast. Since they are buying their coffee directly from coffee roasters, their beans don’t have time to go stale.
In the same way, home baristas should be looking at the amount they use their coffee machine, the weight of beans they go through on average in a fortnight, and ordering accordingly. Coffee subscriptions can really help with this. It’s so simple to set and forget about it, and have the coffee delivered to your door every fortnight, ensuring you have the freshest beans whenever you need them.
We’re here today to explore the best coffee subscriptions in New Zealand. We are not going to look at coffee roasters, but the other subscriptions that span across multiple roasters, meaning home baristas will get the most variety, and the most bang for their buck.
1. Bean Merchant
Bean Merchant is a New Zealand based company that has coffee roaster partners all over New Zealand. The aspect that makes Bean Merchant stand out above their competitors is their personalisation of coffee through their matchmaker quiz, taking your coffee-drinking-preferences and matching them with their lineup of premium coffee beans.
Positives:
- An online quiz profiles you and matches you with coffee that suits your tastes.
- Their coffee subscription is versatile, meaning you can receive a different coffee from a different roaster every order
- They also have the option to set your subscription so that you just receive the same coffee every order.
- They have a shop where you can buy one off bags of coffee beans.
- Free shipping on every order
- You can change frequencies to suit your drinking habits – whether you want monthly, fortnightly, or weekly orders.
- Customise the amount of beans and how they are ground (beans, espresso, plunger, etc)
- No cancellation fees, no contracts.
Challenges:
- Bean Merchant supports the local roasters, farmers overseas and supplies incredible-quality coffee. Although shipping is free, the prices are higher than some of their competitors.
2. The Coffee Collective
The Coffee Collective partners with a large range of roasters around New Zealand as an online shop.
Positives:
- You can subscribe to individual bags of beans.
- You can purchase one off bags of beans in their shop.
- You can change frequencies depending on how much coffee you drink.
- You can customise the size of bags, and what your grind settings are.
- There are no cancellation fees, and no contracts.
- You save a little bit money buy subscribing to a bag of coffee than you can by purchasing once.
Challenges:
- There is no rotating through roasters. Once you have decided which bean you want, you are stuck with that one until you manually change it.
- You need to decide which coffee suits you from their large range of coffee beans.
- Shipping is not included in prices on the website.
3. Fernweh
Fernweh is a New Zealand company who partners with a different coffee roaster every month to give coffee lovers a tour of New Zealand’s roasters.
Positives:
- Each month will deliver you coffee from a different coffee roaster from around New Zealand.
- Customise the amount of beans and how they are ground (beans, espresso, plunger, etc)
Challenges:
- You are stuck with the roaster that Fernweh has decided for the month.
- They don’t have customisable features, or a shop for purchases so if you find a bean you like and want to stick with it for a while, you need to visit the coffee roasters individual website.
- They have scheduled periods of subscriptions, meaning you buy a subscription for a certain period and lock yourself in for that time.
- Shipping is included in the beans, making the prices higher than some of their competitors.
Summary
New Zealand has a pretty amazing coffee scene, with some of the best coffee roasters in the world. New Zealand also has some pretty amazing coffee bean subscriptions, who support the farmers who grow the coffee beans, and the coffee roasters themselves.
With so much variety, it’s not hard to believe that home baristas are struggling to make a choice about what beans they might like to try. Bean Merchant’s custom quiz is the standout winner here, taking your coffee flavour preferences and matching you with beans from coffee roasters around New Zealand.