Coffee Subscription Recommendations? (Mainland Europe)

H

Hedomystico

Messages
207
Location
Torino, Italy
Greetings fellow stubble-vanquishers,

As some of you may be aware of (from my incessant coffee-related nagging), I've recently started my home-espresso adventure with my Gaggia Classic.

Unfortunately, I've come to the sad realisation that Italy (my native country and my current nation of residence), while excellent at providing countless cafes were to buy some of the best (if not the best) espresso out on the streets, is certainly not the best place for home-brewers.

Most of the quality coffee here (and there's a lot of great coffee mind you!) is sold wholesale and destined for the plethora of Italian 'bars' (i.e. cafes), which doesn't leave much choice for budding home-baristas such as myself.

Case and point, my experience of buying coffee from the reputable and internationally renowned Caffe' Vergnano roaster, which I am lucky (?) to live very close to. Two of the three coffee varieties I tried were quite undeniably stale, so much so that the lady working at the counter didn't remember the roast date of the beans (admittedly, the third coffee bean was rather good - but my issue is more related to sourcing consistently fresh beans).

The only real solution to this problem that I could think of brings me to my main question: can anyone recommend any freshly-roasted coffee subscriptions that deliver to mainland Europe (at a reasonable price)?

I know Has Bean offers this service for a 'reasonable' €12.50 / delivery (monthly or fortnightly). Any other options I should be considering?

Thanks in advance folks!
 
Do Rave and Pact deliver to europe?

I use both, and while Pact are the freshest (They roast 2 days before sending), they also tend to under roast for my tastebuds.
Rave is quite simply stunning coffee.

Edit: Just checked and Rave say this: Delivery is to UK only, for International postage please contact us directly.
 
cruciate said:
Do Rave and Pact deliver to europe?

I use both, and while Pact are the freshest (They roast 2 days before sending), they also tend to under roast for my tastebuds.
Rave is quite simply stunning coffee.

Edit: Just checked and Rave say this: Delivery is to UK only, for International postage please contact us directly.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. Rave do indeed deliver to Europe - I have gotten in touch with them and they will soon notify me regarding the prices.
Would you recommend their single origins? They seem to be the only ones included in their espresso subscription.

Tried a promotional bag of Pact a while ago with my Aeropress, and for some reason, I could not get consistent coffee. Sometimes good, sometimes much less so.
 
Out of interest, have you asked cafes if they would sell you a couple of kilos of their beans? It's got to be cheaper than buying from Britain. Italian roasters often get a rough ride on UK/US forums since the beans are well past their best by the time they hit the supermarket shelves, but in Italy they are apparently a different world.
 
PhilD said:
Out of interest, have you asked cafes if they would sell you a couple of kilos of their beans? It's got to be cheaper than buying from Britain. Italian roasters often get a rough ride on UK/US forums since the beans are well past their best by the time they hit the supermarket shelves, but in Italy they are apparently a different world.
Click to expand...

PhilD that's actually a route that warrants further investigation - I'll try and ask some of the better cafes in my area.
The only issue with this solution is one of variety: cafes here are known for selecting a good coffee and then sticking exclusively to that bean.
I also agree that most Italian coffee is well past its prime by the time it reaches the stores (apart from some roasters, such as Illy, which seem to be able to conserve their beans astonishingly well in the packet - but they do go stale very quickly once opened).
 
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