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Beans & Grounds

Mistobox Review: The Largest Coffee Sub Assortment?

Coffee subscriptions are a highly individual managed service, and there is truly one for every coffee drinker around the country. Coffee subscription reviews are a good tool for finding the right service for your needs, but sometimes the best option is to try a few for yourself and see what works best.

Mistobox is one such service, setting itself apart from the competition by offering a more personal touch and more customization than some other subscriptions allow. To find out if this is the right choice for your coffee needs, let us guide you via this Mistobox review.

Who Are Mistobox Coffee

MistoBox launched in 2012, making them practically an old-timer in the coffee subscription services world. Founders Connor Riley and Samantha Meis originally created the company as part of a project for their graduate school class. The premise was and is simple: connect subscription customers with coffee roasters through a personalized program to offer a constant flow of coffee they’ll love.

Huge Variety
Mistobox Coffee Subscription

Take a quiz and get matched with a personalized order. Interestingly, if you want you can simply ask Alexa to reorder your favorite roast or create a queue of beans you want delivered at a frequency decided by you.

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We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

PROS (+)

  • Incredible coffee selection featuring hundreds of coffees 
  • Easy to change your preferences at any time with a few quick clicks
  • Freshly roasted coffee beans arrive within a few days, straight from the different roasters

CONS (-)

  • You have to pay for shipping
  • Only one bag size available

The pair developed the brand, eventually taking their idea to Shark Tank to not only showcase it to the world but also obtain external investment. 

They succeeded: Mark Cuban bought in, and after some tweaks to the company and some further development, MistoBox has grown to 50 thousand customers and over 500 coffees and counting for their subscription boxes.

The company sets itself apart from the competition by offering a truly staggering variety of beans handled by the best coffee roasters, personalized recommendations based on subscriber-submitted preferences, flavor profiles, and consultation with a coffee curator. If you’re looking for coffee subscription boxes with a personal touch and plenty of new coffee, MistoBox is a solid option.

Mistobox Subscription Box Review 2021

MistoBox is a great coffee subscription for coffee aficionados who want to try a wide range of coffees from around the world, and who want that sweet spot between personalized customer service and ease of use. 

MistoBox partners with more than 50 different artisan coffee roasters around the world, along with producers from all of the growing regions. This allows them to source specialty coffee for just about every taste preference there is. In total, MistoBox offers over 500 different coffees, which is kind of an amazing level of variety to choose from.

As touched on earlier, the company sets itself apart from other coffee subscriptions via a personalized service to help you figure out what to buy.

Each subscriber has access to a MistoBox curator to consult with on their coffee selections. The curator makes selections and offers suggestions based on taste preferences, and you can either make your own choices or let the coffee curator shop for you. 

After setting your preferences, you can start building what MistoBox calls the Brew Queue, a list of upcoming brews you want to try. This way, you can keep trying new coffees while also making sure you know what beans are shipping to you in the future.

For subscribers who own an Amazon Echo, there’s another perk to choosing a MistoBox coffee subscription. The company recently released a downloadable skill that makes it possible to use Alexa to adjust deliveries and otherwise manage your subscription and get updates on your orders. 

Yup..Just talk and get updates on your order. Easy!

When it comes to the subscription itself, there are three levels: basic, deluxe, and exclusive. Basic gives you access to the most straightforward options, set to the frequency you want and the volumes you choose. Deluxe adds in more exotic, rarer coffees for those looking for a bit more adventure. Exclusive is the priciest option with very limited specialty coffee roasts and rare beans.

But, It’s not always rosy. 

Some subscribers have noted that the customer service level suffered somewhat as the company started growing more explosively–but those critiques have faded as MistoBox has more fully come into its own, smoothing out the kinks in the process. Another small annoyance is shipping. MistoBox does not offer free shipping but instead flat rate prices.

If you’re looking for deep dives on tasting notes, there’s also not a huge amount of information with the coffees, but MistoBox does offer some basic details and brewing guides to get the most out of your beans.

Coffee Assortment

As we’ve already mentioned, MistoBox has the kind of coffee selection that aficionados dream of. The coffee roasters that the company works with include some of the biggest names in the industry, like 1000 Faces Coffee, Barefoot Coffee Roasters, and Anodyne Coffee Roasting, just to name a few.

The sheer volume of producers and roasters that MistoBox works with guarantees a huge variety of some of the best coffee beans in the world. They offer several different roast levels: light medium and dark alike, even for similar beans. This includes a range of brews from single-origin beans to blends created by their own people.

The partnerships that MistoBox coffee has with some of the most renowned coffee roasters in the US, along with their work with different producers, means that you’re guaranteed to continually find new coffees to sample, review, and keep your brew queue topped up. With over 500 coffees perfected by more than 50 roasters, you are also certain to find blends or regional coffees you love.

In order to help subscribers make sense of the range of coffee options available, MistoBox pairs each subscriber with a coffee curator. The curator is a living, breathing person you can talk to to make your selections and build up your coffee queue. The curator asks questions and takes input, and gives suggestions on what you’d like based on your preferences and reviews of previous bags.

MistoBox recently began offering ground coffee in addition to whole bean, which opens things up even more for subscribers. While, of course, it’s best to grind your coffee fresh, sometimes it’s more convenient to have your coffee pre-ground for the sake of convenience. Of course, depending on how much coffee you go through, you can get a combination.

If you’re a coffee fiend but looking to avoid the boost, Mistobox also offers a generous selection of decaf coffee. Both single-origin and blends, for coffee lovers who may not always want the caffeine. It’s noteworthy that MistoBox’s decaf selection isn’t just a few options but a broad collection in its own right.

Huge Variety
Mistobox Subscription

Take a quiz and get matched with a personalized order. Interestingly, if you want you can simply ask Alexa to reorder your favorite roast or create a queue of beans you want delivered at a frequency decided by you.

LEARN MORE NOW
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

Ordering & Delivery Experience

The personalized approach that MistoBox takes to its coffee subscription service begins as soon as you sign up. Before you place your first order, you start with a quiz that helps better define what you might be looking for. The quiz asks about how you take your coffee (black, cream, sugar, both, or none of the above) along with other questions to set your tastes.

From there, you’re able to set your initial grind preference, your roast level, and what type of coffee you want, whether specialty blends or from one region each, espresso or a combination. Finally, you set your delivery frequency and which tier of membership you want.

A convenient feature of the introductory quiz is that it allows you to determine just how much control you want over your first shipment. Your first order of quality coffee can be almost as much of a surprise as you wish, just by choosing the “not sure” options for roast level and coffee type.

For delivery options, MistoBox gives the choice of every week, every two weeks, every three weeks, and every four weeks. Since each shipment contains one 12 oz bag of coffee, you also choose your membership tier, and then your coffee plan–options include pay per coffee, a 6 coffee plan, and a 12 coffee plan. 

One intriguing possibility for your first order is to buy the MistoBox discovery box, which provides a few different samples to help you narrow down what you prefer.

MistoBox shipments are not just convenient and tasty. They’re also beautiful. Another nuance of the personalized experience is the packaging, which is colorful and special for each bag of coffee you receive. MistoBox also provides tasting notes and brewing tips to get the most out of your beans.

If there’s someone in your life you want to help get into coffee, MistoBox also has gift subscription options that are well worth digging into. You set the preferences the same way as you would for yourself, with an additional setting for how long the gift subscription will last. Finally, they also offer t-shirts, thermoses and other stuff that make great gifts.

The access that MistoBox provides to a coffee curator is a major perk. If you’re not sure what you want to try out, or even if you know your preferences, the curator gives you a chance to explore based on specialized knowledge and helps you to narrow down what you really want in your upcoming shipments and make your brew queue something special.

Pricing

Passionate coffee drinkers know that the best coffee tends to come at a high price. Fortunately, MistoBox is able to keep prices reasonable for subscribers through the sheer number of roasters and producers they work with. There is also a benefit to ordering more coffee rather than less, if you can make use of it.

An important thing to keep in mind as you’re weighing the decision on the best coffee subscription service for you is shipping costs. Unfortunately, MistoBox does not offer free shipping. The $5 shipping cost isn’t excessive, and especially for fresh roasted bags of coffee its reasonable, but it does mean that costs can mount unexpectedly if you don’t keep an eye on the shipping.

On the other hand, the cost for the coffees themselves are really quite reasonable, and get better at higher volumes. As you’re setting up your subscription, MistoBox offers a 10% savings on the 6 coffee plan and a 15% savings on the 12 coffee plan. Even the “per coffee” rate is reasonable at less than $12 per bag for the most basic level.

The pricing depends, naturally, not just on how much coffee you buy but what level of membership you’re at, which determines the kinds of beans you get. Deluxe and Exclusive memberships are a bit pricier depending on what other options you select, but even then, they are within the realm of reason.

It’s important to consider what you get for what you’re spending. MistoBox offers specialty coffees freshly roasted by some of the most qualified artisans from around the country. Matched to your flavor profiles and coffee preferences, at a delivery schedule you set, the bags of beans are top of the line. For that kind of service, the per-bag prices are a great value.

Mistobox Isn’t For You If…

When it comes to coffee subscription services, there’s something for everyone, and choosing the best coffee subscription depends on your individual preferences. The MistoBox coffee subscription has a lot of strong points to recommend it, but there are some factors that might make it less of a good choice for you.

For the coffee lover who is looking to try something new monthly or weekly, MistoBox is a good option to review coffee from all over the world while still having a solid guarantee that the coffee is going to be to your tastes. It can also be exciting to try different roasts of the same region, which is another MistoBox benefit.

You’re After A World Tour

If you’re looking for a coffee subscription that will take you on a virtual tour of the world through coffee, trying different beans from one single region, Atlas Coffee Club is potentially a better match than MistoBox. Atlas has less of a selection than MistoBox, but they are specialists in providing coffees from one origin at a time.

You Like Suprises

It’s also potentially not a good fit if you are interested in being surprised and letting someone else take the wheel when it comes to your coffee. MistoBox has something really great in their brew queue, but you might be looking for a coffee subscription for the purposes of getting a total surprise in the mail each month or week–and MistoBox is not that. Instead, check out our review of alternative coffee subscriptions.

The Final Verdict

Given the high quality of roast beans that a MistoBox coffee subscription brings to your place, and the value added by personalized features, it’s no wonder that Mark Cuban of Shark Tank chose to invest.

Huge Variety
Mistobox Subscription

Take a quiz and get matched with a personalized order. Interestingly, if you want you can simply ask Alexa to reorder your favorite roast or create a queue of beans you want delivered at a frequency decided by you.

LEARN MORE NOW
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

If you want to hand over control over your coffee selections to someone else, or if you want to take a tour of the world’s coffee regions one at a time, you may not find MistoBox coffee to be the best option.

But for coffee lovers seeking a broad variety of beans handled by roasters who are at the top of their game, MistoBox is an excellent option.