Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n Freshness<\/em> Background\/information Cons:<\/strong><\/p>\n Timing<\/em> Incidentally, this is why I almost always do online coffee ordering on Sundays, because I’ve found most coffee roasters roast on Mondays or Tuesdays and I want to be sure my order is in the queue in time!<\/p>\n Lack of guidance<\/em> Ordering via a subscription service<\/strong> (Examples: Driftaway<\/a>, Raw Brews<\/a>, Craft Coffee)<\/p>\n Pros:<\/strong><\/p>\n Convenience<\/em> Guidance<\/em> Cons:<\/strong><\/p>\n Lack of choice<\/em> Freshness<\/em> The cons are why my membership with a particular coffee subscription service back in 2015 was short-lived, and I haven’t come across another company that provided what I was looking for: a carefully curated collection of coffees from nationally respected coffee roasters, that I could guarantee would arrive freshly roasted, with no commitment required.<\/p>\n Enter Javaya<\/a>.<\/p>\n Javaya reached out to me through the contact form on my blog. When I checked out their site, I was very pleasantly surprised to see that they partner with some VERY respected coffee roasters – as soon as I saw Metropolis and Onyx Coffee on the list, I knew I was dealing with people that knew what great coffee is! I haven’t heard of all of the roasters that they feature, but I know enough of the ones that I have heard of to know that Javaya has a high standard for what roasters they’re going to recommend to customers.<\/p>\n So how does Javaya work?<\/p>\n Here’s how it goes: You start on the home page and click “Find Your Perfect Roast” which will take you to their Virtual Barista page. The Virtual Barista will ask you 3 questions which will help them determine what makes up your ideal cup of coffee. The format reminds me a bit of a Buzzfeed quiz, with the square boxes and fun fonts\/colors.<\/p>\n
\nWith rare exceptions, almost every coffee roaster I’ve ordered beans from online have roasted to order and shipped the coffee within 1 day of roasting (the only exceptions have been LaMill and La Colombe).<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>You’re ordering directly from the roasters themselves so you’re likely to get more information about the coffee you’re drinking (things like tasting notes, background on the farms, etc.), and occasional promotional offers if you sign up for their mailing lists (free shipping offers, discounts, etc.).<\/p>\n
\nSome roasters roast 5-7 days a week, and some smaller roasters only roast 1-2 days a week. If a roaster only roasts on Mondays and Thursdays, and you place an order on Thursday night, they won’t roast your order until the following Monday, ship perhaps Tuesday, and you might not receive your beans until Thursday or Friday (in the US). That’s over a week between “oh no I’m almost out of coffee!” and actually receiving it.<\/p>\n
\nIf you don’t have a handle of what sort of coffee you like, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the options. Craft coffee can be intimidating and it’s nice to get advice from someone knowledgeable. This is a great reason why buying at a coffee shop is a good idea – the baristas are often happy to “talk shop” and give their opinions on what sort of beans you might like best.<\/p>\n
\nThey will ship coffee on a predetermined schedule (biweekly, monthly, etc.) that you can alter as you wish.<\/p>\n
\nYou tell them your taste preferences and they’ll pick a coffee for you – either one of their specially formulated blends\/roasts, or they’ll pick a coffee roaster they think you’ll like. Great for indecisive folk or for people that don’t feel they know enough about coffee to choose their own.<\/p>\n
\nYou typically won’t get to select a particular roaster or origin if you’re wanting something specific. Only really a problem if you’re already very knowledgeable about coffees and origins.<\/p>\n
\nGood subscription companies will endeavor to have the coffees shipped to the customer within days of roasting but sometimes it takes a bit longer, and the coffee might arrive at the end of its peak freshness window.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG-4226-e1534133341339.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG-4225-e1534133366697.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/coffeecantata.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/IMG-4227-e1534133299219.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n