# Roasters



## Cloud (Mar 9, 2019)

Hi

Just a quick question, I'm currently on coffee subscription-union hand roasted company I consider switching to another one. Is there a true difference in quality /taste if you opt for more expensive coffee?

I can imagine that truly expensive coffee is significantly better quality, but what is the difference between 6£ 250g and 10£ 250£ in subscriptions.

While I understand that microlot is more expensive, roasters offer each of their coffee packs in that price, is there a good reason to opt for more expensive subscription?

Many thanks.


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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

Hi @Cloud - let me speak for my company and me personally on this topic.

When we price our coffee we largely price it proportionately to its cost to us. We haven't yet come across a situation where we've bought a more expensive coffee and found it lacking in enough quality to justify a higher retail price. But if that ever does happen, we will likely have to take the hit on the cost price so that the retail price is lower, or possibly blend it with other beans. There is always the option to remove it from sale altogether, of course, but if quality was that bad I think we would be going back to our importer with some questions.

Does that mean automatically that a higher-priced coffee will be better? Not automatically, no, but that's the aim and the hope. Now that I've been buying coffee as a consumer for a number of years, I tend to find that each type of coffee I buy has its own range that I'm prepared to pay. If I want a nice, coffee-tasting-coffee like a good Brazilian, I expect to pay no more than about £7 per 250g. If I want a nice floral or fruity coffee which is distinctive, then I'm probably looking at Kenya, Ethiopia etc and I know that I should be expecting to pay more than that - maybe up to £10 per 250g *for my tastes*. But the higher price is what I pay to access the type of coffee that I prefer, and not automatically "better" coffee.

Is there a good reason to for a more expensive subscription? Yes - if you can afford it, if it gives you what you are likely to enjoy, and if it's the best option available to you.

That's my take on it, anyway. I don't know if that has helped you in any way at all. Feel free to ask more questions.


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## Cloud (Mar 9, 2019)

Coffee by the Casuals said:


> Hi @Cloud - let me speak for my company and me personally on this topic.
> 
> When we price our coffee we largely price it proportionately to its cost to us. We haven't yet come across a situation where we've bought a more expensive coffee and found it lacking in enough quality to justify a higher retail price. But if that ever does happen, we will likely have to take the hit on the cost price so that the retail price is lower, or possibly blend it with other beans. There is always the option to remove it from sale altogether, of course, but if quality was that bad I think we would be going back to our importer with some questions.
> 
> ...


 Thank you for your answer.

So basically, if I don't have any specific preferences then there is absolutely no point in paying more?

I was considering curve coffee roasters which offer 10£ per pack with their subscription, but going with 6£ subscription won't get me lower quality coffee, I'm not loosing anything regarding taste quality. That's all I wanted to know.

Thanks.


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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

It's more or less impossible to say on a broad brush basis. Members of this forum will be able to point you to dozens of roasters who they would trust to charge the right amount for the right coffee. Equally, I know some who charge extortionate amounts for standard coffee. For example, there was a London roaster that popped up during lockdown that was selling 150g of a bargain-bin coffee (£5 per kilo, as per the wholesale lists at the time) for £12, which is equivalent to £80 per kilo.

There's a huge amount of trial and error to find what you like. All of us will have stories of having great expectations go unfulfilled.

The best advice I could offer is to take recommendations from people on here or other people that you trust. I do believe that Curve is a well-respected roaster on this forum capable of some excellent coffees. I know that @Scotford has served me excellent Curve coffee at the London Coffee Festival a couple of times. Will you enjoy it? Impossible to predict, sadly. But would the majority say you're in good hands with Curve? I think that's a strong yes.

It would be remiss of me not to plug our own subscription - £16 for 2 x 250g delivered once a month.  https://www.coffeebythecasuals.com/collections/featured-collection/products/the-casuals-choice-subscription


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Cloud said:


> Thank you for your answer.
> 
> So basically, if I don't have any specific preferences then there is absolutely no point in paying more?
> 
> ...


 I'm not sure that was the point he was making . 
not all£6 coffeee is equal, half of the places today dint even roast , half won't even give you some traceability of where the coffee is from ,


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## Cloud (Mar 9, 2019)

Mrboots2u said:


> I'm not sure that was the point he was making .
> not all£6 coffeee is equal, half of the places today dint even roast , half won't even give you some traceability of where the coffee is from ,


 All major subscription based retailers offer same day roast as well as card with traceability. I'm talking about pact coffee, 200°,union roasted, coffee factory.... These are the cheaper subscription. All of them, well at least promise to roast the coffee same day, and provide a card with info about the coffee. These prices range from 6-8£ per 250g my point was if I opt for 10-15£ per pack do I get better taste quality. I don't really care about single origin, sourced etc. Just taste quality.


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## Cloud (Mar 9, 2019)

Coffee by the Casuals said:


> It's more or less impossible to say on a broad brush basis. Members of this forum will be able to point you to dozens of roasters who they would trust to charge the right amount for the right coffee. Equally, I know some who charge extortionate amounts for standard coffee. For example, there was a London roaster that popped up during lockdown that was selling 150g of a bargain-bin coffee (£5 per kilo, as per the wholesale lists at the time) for £12, which is equivalent to £80 per kilo.
> 
> There's a huge amount of trial and error to find what you like. All of us will have stories of having great expectations go unfulfilled.
> 
> ...


 Thank you very much for your offer but I guess I stick with curve for now, while I drink both espresso and filter they can deliver each roast with separate subscription every two weeks. 1x250g espresso roast and 1x250g filter roast every two weeks is just perfect for me.


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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

Cloud said:


> Thank you very much for your offer but I guess I stick with curve for now, while I drink both espresso and filter they can deliver each roast with separate subscription every two weeks. 1x250g espresso roast and 1x250g filter roast every two weeks is just perfect for me.


 I hope that you will enjoy them! I think odds are that you will


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

Nobody can tell you what "taste quality" is because it's subjective. Aside from objective measures of quality a coffee may be more sought after than another because it offers rarer flavours e.g pineapple, strawberry compared to chocolate and plum. Pineapple and strawberry will cost more but you might prefer chocolate and plum. Generally, exotic cupping notes aside, from the same origin if you spend more you should get better quality objectively (measured by number of defects) but there are plenty of exceptions ranging from unscrupulous roasters using marketing and buzz words on commodity grade or old coffee that's sold at a discount, rare and sought after coffees that don't necessarily taster better, experimental processing and micro lots, competition winners, famous producers (e.g Daterra) etc etc. It's more a matter of setting expectations, and if a roaster wants repeat business they're better not disappointing. You can get a cheap Brazilian that has a chocolate/sweet/light fruity acidity that costs less than a fruity/floral Ethiopian. If you don't like floral/fruity but do like chocolate/low acidity then the Brazilian will have better taste quality. More expensive Brazilians aren't necessarily better than cheaper Brazilians....I'm talking green price here. Once roasters roast it it becomes much harder to use price as a guide by itself, but if you try the roaster and like them you can probably work within their price structure, but then as soon as you start comparing roasters there are other things to take into account (prestige, marketing, batch size, employees, location). You'll find not all roasters are equal and £10 for 250g from one will not disappoint whereas £10 for 250g from another will, find a roaster that uses tasting notes you find yourself agreeing with more often than not and you'll be better of spending your money with them.


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