# I want a subscription - which one?



## Morningfuel (May 19, 2016)

My main criteria are:

- espresso friendly. I will be using a high end espresso hand grinder, so light roasts are not off the table completely, but maybe worth considering.

- ethical. As ethical as possible. I care a lot about this.

- a variety of blends and single origins.

Hasbean seems a good choice, and square mile also have a subscription but would love to know what you all think I should commit to drinking for the next year


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## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

I am on CrankHouse sub and Dog&Hat sub everyone has their favourite roasters.


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

I'm on a Dog & Hat sub for the variation of roasters.


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

I'm enjoying quite a lot the sub from Obadiah in terms of quality. It is omniroast, but more on the developed side, I can imagine it should work well for espresso. Care to explain what you mean by ethical?


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## Morningfuel (May 19, 2016)

Ethical - sourced in a way that ensures a sustainable economy and ecosystem, ensuring all parties are paid appropriately and minimising the risk of human rights being breached.

Obviously, there is only so far we can go, but I do try to buy sustainably... Even if it does cost a bit more (and so means I need to drink a bit less coffee!).

Pie in the sky?


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## the_partisan (Feb 29, 2016)

I would think most notable roasters & importers (Nordic Approach, Falcon etc) do mostly ethical work and a lot of roasters source coffees from them. I don't think it's necessarily critical that a roastery is buying directly from the farmer.


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## Morningfuel (May 19, 2016)

the_partisan said:


> I would think most notable roasters & importers (Nordic Approach, Falcon etc) do mostly ethical work and a lot of roasters source coffees from them. I don't think it's necessarily critical that a roastery is buying directly from the farmer.


 That's great to hear  hopefully I can be recommended subs and not worry too much about the ethics given this.


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

I was told in Steep & Filter, Skipton, the other day, that North Star are possibly the most ethical roasters in the country.

https://www.northstarroast.com/about-us/


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## Jackabb (Nov 6, 2018)

I'm loving my@DogandHat subscription and loads of roast options..... also believe they have a package that supports charities / slavery but might have been dreaming this as cannot see anything on the website during a quick glance... maybe they could confirm?

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## joey24dirt (Jan 28, 2017)

Dog&hat here too. As well as fantastic variety, Su and Dave are also lovely. Definitely recommend them

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## DogandHat (Aug 28, 2017)

Jackabb said:


> I'm loving my@DogandHat subscription and loads of roast options..... also believe they have a package that supports charities / slavery but might have been dreaming this as cannot see anything on the website during a quick glance... maybe they could confirm?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


 Hi All,

Thank you for all your kind words, environmentally wise we ship in plain cardboard, printed and recyclable, we print on recycled paper and we do not print excessive cards or use colour. In regards to roasters we do check them for ethical practice, North Star are absolutely one of the best, Horsham are also very transparent.

Jack was referring to out 'Initiative' subscription that was on the site, but came off for a proper launch early this year. This sub only includes roasters like Manumit (supporting victims of modern Day Slavery) and then there are New Ground and Redemption who support rehabilitation of offenders. We are launching this is make sure we place regular orders on these roasters.

We also features in The Independent this week, in the top 10 subscriptions and I have to give a huge shout out to EVERYONE who has supported us, so many of them on CFUK. Its a huge achievement for us. And it absolutely rocks that Manumit are up at the top. THANKYOU ALL.

https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/food-drink/best-coffee-subscription-gift-reviews-services-monthly-craft-box-a7484051.html

Su x


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## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

DogandHat said:


> Hi All,
> 
> Thank you for all your kind words, environmentally wise we ship in plain cardboard, printed and recyclable, we print on recycled paper and we do not print excessive cards or use colour. In regards to roasters we do check them for ethical practice, North Star are absolutely one of the best, Horsham are also very transparent.
> 
> ...


 Fantastic and well done ? ? and well deserved ? ? ?


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## Bica60s (Dec 3, 2019)

There's another locally to me which uses ethical sourcing: Ethical Addictions Coffee in Gloucester. Direct from farm to cup with coffee beans sourced from Tanzania and Brazil. Their Machare Kilimanjaro coffee is a good place to start...good coffee at £5.29/225gr bag. They offer subscriptions from betwen 3 and 12 months.


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## Jackabb (Nov 6, 2018)

Bica60s said:


> There's another locally to me which uses ethical sourcing: Ethical Addictions Coffee in Gloucester. Direct from farm to cup with coffee beans sourced from Tanzania and Brazil. Their Machare Kilimanjaro coffee is a good place to start...good coffee at £5.29/225gr bag. They offer subscriptions from betwen 3 and 12 months.


I live very close to here and have never heard of these guys!?

Are they any good?

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## Bica60s (Dec 3, 2019)

I can't speak for any other of their beans (because I haven't tried them) but locally they have a very good name and the Machare beans are deffo to my tastes. Nice guys to deal with.


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

Bit skint after Christmas. So hoping for a January sale subscription!


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## HBLP (Sep 23, 2018)

Jez H said:


> Bit skint after Christmas. So hoping for a January sale subscription!


 Dog & Hat have 20% off first month with code TWENTY


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## Phil104 (Apr 15, 2014)

Definitely Dog and Hat for variety, care, attention and as above, all round wonderfulness.

I get the occasional box from the Coffeevine because of the European focus (Dog and Hat also feature European roasters), and after that it's taste and buying (without a sub) from roasters that never miss a beat so far as I'm concerned. It's a lovely dilemma.


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## birel101 (Dec 28, 2019)

I have just subscribed to dig&hat using the twenty code two bags a month but I also subbed to the roastery for another bag every fortnight

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## Tempest (Sep 19, 2019)

Glad I stumbled over this and all the Dog and Hat recommendations. I like to try different beans so that was the perfect way to sort out getting coffee without needing to think about ordering it each month and get to try new things rather than have a KG of one bean to work through each month. Looking forward to the February delivery from my new Dog and Hat subscription and 20% off the first month was a great bonus.


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## MrWarhol (Dec 13, 2019)

I am on a Gustatory subscription, and I was notified of their February coffee roasters announcement. They're to include Gardelli from Italy, Solberg & Hansen from Norway, Calendar and Cloud Picker from Ireland, and Pharmacie from UK.

...BOY am I so excited to be receiving a Gardelli coffee - theyre regarded as one of the world's best coffee roasters, I am on their Plus87 sub and it has stellar coffees! Feb 2nd can't come soon enough!

100% recommend. When I first subscribed, I compared to Dog & Hat etc, and they're cheaper, certainly more internationally focussed and varied, and also more charitable than all the other sub services. They donate to a reforestation partner, which is cool. Make that 1000% recommend ?

Hope this summary helps anyone!


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## MrWarhol (Dec 13, 2019)

Jez H said:


> Bit skint after Christmas. So hoping for a January sale subscription!


 Copied in what I saw advertised on Gustatory's instagram feed the other day

And their subs: https://www.gustatory.co/pages/speciality-coffee-box-subscriptions

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/index.php?app=core&module=system&controller=embed&url=https://www.instagram.com/p/B7qqnIUB9p0/


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## Chris! (Jan 27, 2020)

I've subscribed to Dog & Hat after seeing the recommendations. Can't wait to receive my beans in the next few days!


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## neologan (Nov 17, 2017)

Chris! said:


> I've subscribed to Dog & Hat after seeing the recommendations. Can't wait to receive my beans in the next few days!


 On the sub i was looking at, it said "Order deadline is the 20th of the month" so i'm wondering if i was to place an order now, when I'd actually receive them?


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## DogandHat (Aug 28, 2017)

neologan said:


> On the sub i was looking at, it said "Order deadline is the 20th of the month" so i'm wondering if i was to place an order now, when I'd actually receive them?


 Hi there, we do still have a handful of this month's boxes left. So if you were to order now we'd get that in the post for you tomorrow.

Su and Dave


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## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

@neologan

There you go


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## neologan (Nov 17, 2017)

Between my post and the answer i sadly have ordered from elsewhere, so now covered for a few weeks, but I'll certainly try to remember to get in for next month.


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## truegrace (Jan 29, 2014)

DogandHat said:


> Hi there, we do still have a handful of this month's boxes left. So if you were to order now we'd get that in the post for you tomorrow.
> 
> Su and Dave


 Tempted to subscribe for next month due to the good reviews, and who doesn't love a dog in a hat?


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## DogandHat (Aug 28, 2017)

truegrace said:


> ... and who doesn't love a dog in a hat?


 We couldn't agree more ??


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## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

truegrace said:


> Tempted to subscribe for next month due to the good reviews, and who doesn't love a dog in a hat?


Newfoundland in a tricorne.


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## truegrace (Jan 29, 2014)

DogandHat said:


> We couldn't agree more ??


 Quick question, how dark is the dialed in darker sub usually? Do prefer the dark side, just maybe not mahogany ?


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## DogandHat (Aug 28, 2017)

ashcroc said:


> Newfoundland in a tricorne.


 ... We do give the roasters extra bonus points when they send us pictures of their own dogs wearing hats - this month we have Lila, who helps run the Cocora roastery in Malaga ?


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## DogandHat (Aug 28, 2017)

truegrace said:


> Quick question, how dark is the dialed in darker sub usually? Do prefer the dark side, just maybe not mahogany ?


 It's really more of a 'Traditional tasting notes and Blends' subscription... But Dialled In Darker had more of a ring to it ?

We focus that subscription on roaster's House blends and single origins with more chocolate, nut, caramel-type flavours (think crowd-pleasing, easy-extracting espresso shots)... And these tend to be a touch darker (but very rarely glossy beans)


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## truegrace (Jan 29, 2014)

DogandHat said:


> It's really more of a 'Traditional tasting notes and Blends' subscription... But Dialled In Darker had more of a ring to it ?
> 
> We focus that subscription on roaster's House blends and single origins with more chocolate, nut, caramel-type flavours (think crowd-pleasing, easy-extracting espresso shots)... And these tend to be a touch darker (but very rarely glossy beans)


 Sounds good, will subscribe later for next months offerings ?


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## Jez H (Apr 4, 2015)

Well I plumped for a 3 month Crankhouse subscription. I would have gone for Dog & Hat, but didn't want 2 random bags every month. I like to choose at least one myself. They do look extremely good though, both choice of beans & customer service. Maybe next time...............


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## Michael87 (Sep 20, 2019)

Just subscribed to the 4x250g espresso box from Dog and Hat, variety looks good and keen on recyclable materials. Crossing fingers it will come this month but I put the order in expecting next month so I won't be disappointed if it doesn't come until then.


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## makinshaw (Jan 30, 2020)

Definitely going to try Dog & Hat after all the recommendations on here. Thanks for the tip!


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## joe07768 (Jan 27, 2020)

Worth checking out Square Mile at the higher end and Rave Coffee for good value / deals.


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## truegrace (Jan 29, 2014)

Finally got my sub done for @DogandHat

Gone for the 2 x darker for now and see how I get on


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