Atlas Coffee Club immediately captured my attention when the company’s representatives emailed me to ask if I wanted to try some free coffee. After all, free is my favorite price for a cup of coffee — and just about anything else.
Overall, I was impressed with the bags of specialty coffee I received, and I realized there’s a lot to like about Atlas Coffee Club. So, settle in, Roasty reader, and we’ll walk you through the entire experience.
Related: The Best Coffee Subscription Box
Atlas Coffee Overview
Atlas Coffee is neither a little coffee shop nor your typical coffee company. The brand sets itself apart by offering monthly coffee subscription services that give you the luxury of trying a different type of coffee each month.
This approach to coffee sales keeps consumers like you from getting bored of their daily cups, and before long, subscribers end up with a pretty impressive and diverse collection of coffee beans.
The Austin, Texas-based Atlas Coffee Company, co-founded by Michael Shewmake and Jon Miller, introduces itself this way:
“Atlas Coffee Club was founded to tell the story of coffee from around the world. Exploring a new country each month, our coffee subscription is a journey of exotic discovery, highlighting the regional differences in every cup. Curating only the finest coffee, we roast each batch to accentuate tasting profiles distinctive to their native growing region.”
Atlas Coffee Club
A coffee of the month club that curates amazing micro-lot coffees from around the world.Tanzania, Kenya, Colombia & beyond.
What is a coffee subscription?
I’m going to throw around the phrase “coffee subscription” many times in this review, so it’s helpful to understand what that means before we go deeper.
Purchasing a coffee subscription service means signing up to receive a batch of beans in your mailbox on a consistent schedule. These deliveries usually occur once a month, though this varies based on which of the many coffee subscription companies you use.
Details like how much and what kind of coffee you receive depend on the brand, too. However, since Atlas Coffee Club is the star of this review, I’ll specifically highlight what its coffee subscription entails.
Do coffee subscriptions save money?
Whether or not a coffee subscription will save you money is determined by a few variables, including how much coffee you drink and how much you care about the beans you brew.
If you drink multiple cups of coffee daily and are accustomed to paying slightly higher prices for the best beans, then the 28 dollars plus shipping costs you’d pay for a double bag Atlas Coffee delivery might be worth it.
However, if you don’t care very much about the quality of the beans you brew — as long as they’ve got enough caffeine to get you through the day, you’re game! — you probably won’t save too much with a coffee subscription service. If you aren’t super concerned about flavor profiles and freshness, that jumbo canister of cheap ground joe at the grocery store will last just as long and satisfy you just as well.
How does Atlas Coffee Club’s subscription service work?
Purchasing an Atlas Coffee Club subscription is like signing up for a tour of the world’s exotic coffees. Plus, it gives you something to look forward to every month!
These subscription boxes also make fantastic gifts for the coffee lovers in your life. Even if you’re unsure of their personal preferences — whether they like joe from Costa Rica or are more likely to brew Guatemalan coffee — one of their Atlas deliveries is bound to contain a batch of coffee they’ll love.
Here’s how you can get yourself (or a fellow coffee fanatic) an exciting coffee haul every month:
- Select your preferred brewing method. Then, choose whether you want to receive whole or pre-ground coffee beans. Unless you don’t own a burr coffee grinder, I recommend going the whole bean route for maximum freshness. However, if you opt for pre-ground coffee, it’s worth noting that Atlas Coffee offers multiple grind-size options to accommodate whatever brew method you’ll be using.
- Then, decide on your coffee roast preference. No worries if you aren’t particular about how long your beans were in the roaster or if you’re prone to switching things up often; there’s an “all roast types” option.
- Finally, decide how many coffee bags per delivery you’ll receive and select a delivery frequency between every two or four weeks. There are three quantity options:
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- Double Bag*: Two 12-ounce bags of coffee that make about 60 cups
- Single Bag: One 12-ounce bag of joe that brews about 30 cups
- Half Bag: One six-ounce bag that makes approximately 15 cups of coffee
*This is Atlas Coffee Club’s most popular option.
What do you get?
Whether you opt to receive your Atlas delivery every two weeks or monthly, you get the same things each delivery:
- Single-origin coffee beans*
- Colorful postcards from the beans’ country of origin and a fun Coffee Country information card
- Info on the coffee’s tasting notes and brewing tips to help you make the most of each coffee’s flavor notes
*These premium coffee beans come from the top five percent of the world’s most amazing coffee. Because the good folks at Atlas roast the joe to order, every bag of beans you receive will be super-fresh and flavorful.
Atlas Coffee subscribers can access online tools like a coffee passport and a coffee journal for rating and making notes of their favorite coffees. The coffee passport is an especially fun perk; you earn points for each coffee origin you explore and the amount of money you save by brewing at home.
The company has gained quite a reputation for occasionally gifting subscribers fun surprises like free beans or cool coffee gear. These little freebies show up randomly, so you shouldn’t count on them being there in every delivery. But when they show up, they’ll no doubt put a smile on your face.
How many countries do you get coffee from?
The occasional freebies are a nice touch, but the real reason so many call Atlas their favorite coffee club is that the company showcases beans from all over the world. Atlas sources beans from coffee growers in places like Ethiopia (a.k.a., the birthplace of coffee), Burundi, and Colombia.
With beans coming from more than 50 countries, you and the other coffee drinkers in your household aren’t likely to get bored anytime soon.
Why does the coffee’s origin matter?
Coffee has over 800 flavor and aroma compounds that vary based on where the coffee beans grew.
That there is diversity in coffee flavors probably isn’t news to you. You might even be familiar with the coffee flavor wheel (if you aren’t, I highly recommend looking at it). The more dedicated coffee drinkers among us might already be using their own sheets to identify the bold flavors their taste buds detect as they sip.
In short, knowing where your coffee came from matters because its origin plays a role in how it tastes. And when your collection includes exotic coffees from places like Indonesia, Rwanda, and Mexico, it’s fun to compare the range of flavors and aromas in each cup.
Atlas Coffee Club Review: Taste Test
Atlas sent several boxes of coffee to help me better sense what potential subscribers can expect. The cute packaging that made the unboxing experience much more fun caught my eye first.
Some of my favorite details were the postcards from each batch of beans’ country of origin and the matching designs on the coffee bags and the summary card’s border. I know these things don’t affect the flavor of the joe — crappy coffee can have cute packaging, too — but those little touches show how much care goes into assembling subscribers’ boxes.
First, I dug into the brand’s Ethiopian coffee and immediately noted that these beans boasted a beautiful light brown color. The suggested brewing method is pour-over, so I went with that. I loaded my filter, grabbed my gooseneck kettle, and, a few minutes later, embarked on a journey to Ethiopia full of light berry and chocolate flavors.
The second selection I tried hailed from San Salvador, and it layered lots of sweet caramel notes and bright green apple freshness atop a nougat-like base. This coffee was very balanced, but it still boasted plenty of fun tasting notes that shone in each sip without overpowering each other. The verdict: this one has plenty of personality for a traditional brew, and I’m a fan.
The next stop on my coffee tasting tour was Mantiqueira de Minas, where the beans had peanut butter and jelly tasting notes. The processing method and roast development allowed this joe to show off its flavors, so kudos to Atlas for bringing this one on.
I ended my Atlas Coffee journey with a Guatemalan cold brew, a medium roast with raisin, red wine, and oatmeal notes. I’m a big fan of cold brew, so I had high hopes for this one. I’m pleased to say it didn’t disappoint. The complimentary coffee filter bag made it easy for me to whip up a batch of joe in a mason jar, and the rich, flavorful brew made me feel more awake from the first sip.
Pros and Cons of Atlas Coffee Club
Things We Like:
- Whether pre-ground or whole bean, Atlas Coffee sends fresh coffee to you, and the deliveries arrive on a schedule that works for you. There’s the freedom to skip or change the delivery date when needed.
- You won’t find these delicious coffee beans anywhere else, as they’re exclusive to Atlas subscribers.
- The types of coffee this company offers fall into the top one percent of the world’s joe, so you know whatever you get will be excellent coffee. Each box also includes brewing tips to help you make the most of your java.
- There is a cold brew coffee subscription option for those who can’t pass up a chilled coffee experience. These bags of beans, all roasted perfectly for cold brew, come with coffee filter bags for easy, mess-free brewing.
Atlas Cold Brew Coffee Subscription
Explore the globe with Atlas Cold Brew Coffee Subscription. Enjoy a new single-origin coffee each month, complete with curated delights and a coffee match guarantee.
Room for Improvement:
- Customization options are limited, so you can’t choose the beans you want to receive every month based on your flavor preferences. You can only control the roast level, delivery frequency, and quantity, and whether you get whole or pre-ground joe. More adventurous taste buds won’t mind a surprise since they know Atlas will send high-quality beans no matter what, but those with specific coffee preferences may not be big fans of not knowing what they’ll get until it arrives.
- The 12-ounce bag of beans in the base package is small if you drink a lot of coffee daily. Unless you dish out the extra dough for the more expensive double-bag package, you’ll likely run out of coffee before your next delivery arrives.
Atlas Coffee Factory Tour
Roasty Coffee has been fortunate enough to have a special partnership with Atlas Coffee Club for several years, and the Austin, Texas-based company has been kind enough to provide insanely good deals to our readers. Though there is no official factory tour, the “Willy Wonka of Coffee” gave Roasty a full rundown of the company’s daily process.
This brand is a first-rate organization that cares about its work and consistently brings hard-to-find specialty coffee beans to Texas. Once the joe arrives in the Lone Star State, the good folks at Atlas roast it to perfection and ship it to you the next day. This kind of commitment to providing top-notch coffee is how Atlas developed relationships with coffee farmers in countries like India, where the company imported a particular grower’s coffee to the U.S. for the first time.
Here are a few photos from the tour, including one with co-founder Michael Shewmake (right).
How to Choose the Right Coffee Subscription
Before joining a coffee of the month club like Atlas Coffee, you need to ask yourself what you hope to get from your purchase. Ask yourself the following questions:
- How often do you want to get new beans, and can the coffee subscription service you’re considering make that happen?
- How much are you willing to pay?
- Do you want to choose the kinds of coffee you get, or are you willing to brew whatever the company sends that month?
Beyond looking inward to determine what your coffee subscription non-negotiables are, you’ll also need to research the company thoroughly to be sure it’s a good match. Find out whether the beans come from farmers who use sustainable practices and do some digging to discover if the coffee selection is high-quality.
What other coffee subscription services are out there?
Though I’m an Atlas Coffee fan, I recognize not everyone will feel the same way. If you need or want something this company doesn’t offer, you’re in luck, as several other coffee subscription services are worth trying.
You can do your own research and look into brands like Driftaway Coffee, MistoBox, and Blue Bottle Coffee or let Roasty’s breakdown of the best coffee subscriptions give you all the information you need.
Pro-tip: whenever possible, take advantage of coffee subscription companies’ samples. Perusing online reviews is helpful, but nothing is as effective as trying the product firsthand.
Is Atlas Coffee Club all it’s cracked up to be?
I certainly think so!
Thanks to the wide variety of single-origin beans, an Atlas Coffee Club subscription can appeal to anyone, from the most discriminating coffee critics to newbies who are just learning what they like. You can even gift subscriptions to the coffee lovers in your life, too, because who doesn’t like having something fun and delicious to look forward to each month?
It’s also important to note that you can cancel an Atlas subscription anytime. However, I’m guessing you won’t want to.
Happy Caffeinating!
Atlas Coffee Club Subscription
This article reviews Atlas Coffee Club's popular coffee subscription service. Read about the options available to you. Learn why this subscription club is so popular.
Product Brand: Atlas Coffee Club
Product Price: $4.95 & Up
Product In-Stock: InStock
4.9
