How We Test Coffee Subscriptions
- We buy what we test with our own money
- How we make money
Most of our pages are comparisons of published information: price, bag size, shipping, cadence, certifications as stated (or confirmed in a public directory), and renewal, skip and cancellation terms, each with the date we checked it. Comparison pages make no taste or experience claims.
Customer ratings. Next to each brand we show its rating out of 5 on Trustpilot and its review count, with the date we checked, linked to the brand’s Trustpilot page. These numbers are Trustpilot’s, from the brand’s reviewers there; they aren’t our assessment, and they change over time. We don’t copy review text, and we don’t control or verify those reviews. Where a brand has fewer than 10 reviews, we say “Too few reviews on Trustpilot” instead of a score. Ratings are shown for context only; our picks are based on published price, price per cup, shipping, and renewal and cancellation terms.
Tested by us. We use this label only for a coffee we’ve bought with our own money and brewed ourselves, following every step below. Only “Tested by us” reviews get taste notes, photos or experience-based comments. Our first two orders, placed Oct 8, 2026 with our own money, are an Atlas Coffee Club 2-bag plan (Espresso Roast, ground for espresso) and Volcanica’s USDA Organic Mexican Dark Roast (16 oz, espresso grind). Neither has arrived yet, and we haven’t published a ‘Tested by us’ review. When we publish a review, we’ll update the guides that mention that brand and note the change at the top of each page.
This page explains what we will do for a “Tested by us” review, so you can hold us to it.
Our planned hands-on method
1. We’ll buy it ourselves
We’ll pay with our own money, through the brand’s normal checkout. We pay whatever any new customer would pay that day, including public promotions. If a brand ever sends us free or discounted product, we’ll say so on the page, right where we discuss that product.
2. We’ll log the timeline
For every order, we’ll record:
- Order date
- Ship date
- Delivery date
- Roast date printed on the bag (or a note that there isn’t one)
That will show you how fresh the coffee is when it reaches a real doorstep, and how long you’ll wait.
3. We’ll weigh the bag
We’ll weigh each bag on a kitchen scale and compare it with the label. If a “12 oz” bag comes in light, we’ll say so and use the real weight in our price-per-cup math.
4. We’ll pull espresso at home
We’ll test every coffee as espresso on a home espresso machine. We’ll either grind whole bean fresh right before brewing or use the brand’s own espresso grind, and we’ll say which. Our first two orders are pre-ground for espresso. For each coffee we’ll record the dose, the yield, and the shot time, and then describe what we taste in plain language.
Espresso is one brew method, and some coffees are roasted with other brew methods in mind. We’ll say so when a coffee seems better suited to another method, rather than marking it down for that.
Our ratings are espresso-only. Every rating or verdict in a review will say it reflects espresso brewing only. We won’t use these tests to call anything the overall “best,” and we won’t make claims about how a coffee tastes as drip or pour-over.
5. We’ll work out the delivered price per cup
Using what we actually paid (including shipping and tax) and the weight we measured, we’ll calculate the delivered cost per cup at our standard 15 g comparison dose, the same way our calculator does. We’ll also show the cost per espresso shot at the dose we used.
6. We’ll take our own photos
Unboxing, bag labels, roast dates, and the scale reading. Photos on “Tested by us” pages will be our own unless captioned otherwise.
7. We’ll cancel and write down every step
We’ll go through each subscription’s skip, pause, and cancel process ourselves. We’ll record how many steps it took, whether it could be done online, any cutoff times, and the renewal price we would have been charged.
8. We’ll re-check prices
Prices and offers change. We plan to re-check published prices monthly; every price shows the date we checked it.
What we won’t judge on
- Health or wellness claims. We won’t test for, repeat, or rate any health claims. See our health-claims policy.
- Commission. Whether a brand pays us will have no effect on whether it’s tested or how it’s judged.
How picks will change after a review
Our guides rank subscriptions on published price, price per cup, shipping, and renewal and cancellation terms. Once we’ve published a “Tested by us” review of a product, its freshness, espresso results, delivery, and cancellation findings will be added, and its position in our guides may move up or down. Any change will get a dated note at the top of the page.
Questions about our method? Contact us.