Fellow Coffee Subscription Review: Deliveries Designed To Educate

There are plenty of coffee subscriptions out there that can throw you into an ever-changing rotation of coffee bean offerings, but not all of them can also provide you with exceptional brewing tips and equipment.

Fellow Coffee is most prominently known for the coffee gear they sell, from kettles to grinders and more. However, they also have a pretty solid coffee subscription that gives customers intricate brewing tips along with every delivery.

Fellow Coffee: Company History/Overview

The company of Fellow Coffee began in 2013, with the goal of bringing the cafe experience to the home, sans big equipment. The gear they wanted to create was simplistic, beautiful, and completely functional.

Their first brewing equipment piece was the Duo Coffee Steeper, which was a brewer that acted as a combination of what a pour-over and a French Press could give you. A year later came their Stagg Pour-Over Kettle, which quickly became one of the most popular kettles among baristas.

Since their mission is to give their customers not only high-quality gear but also delicious coffee and guidance, Fellow also sources some of the best beans in the world. Through their subscription, they’re able to offer their favorite world-class roasters in an ever-changing lineup.

Fellow Coffee Subscription Review

For this review’s purpose, Fellow offered to give me a three-month subscription so that I could truly experience how it would be to be subscribed to the service. Through this, I was able to get a first-hand look at how easy it is to manage a subscription with Fellow.

This review doesn’t contain every coffee I received from them, but still covers a good portion to show what you can get with Fellow and how their service works.

Equator Coffee

The first bag of beans that was delivered to me from Fellow was Equator Coffee’s El Salvador Los Pirineos Black Honey Pacamara. This is a single-origin coffee that comes from producer Diego Baraona, is grown at an elevation of 6,200, and is pulped natural/black honey processed.

Baraona has been partnered with Equator for over a decade. The coffee farm can be found on Tecapa Volcano in central El Salvador. Tasting notes include lychee, pomegranate, and rose hips. It features a red wine acidity alongside the fruity notes and a smooth creamy body.

The brewing tips that Fellow provided for this coffee contained a pour-over recipe that suggested giving this coffee a slightly coarser grind to avoid over-extraction and bitterness.

This coffee’s aroma was very interesting, presenting a sweet and fruity smell that was inviting and delicious. The taste of the coffee brewed on a French Press held a good, mellow, and sweet combination of fruits that made for a really delicious sip.

I also used the provided pour-over recipe and found that the fruity notes were brought out even more and I could really detect that red wine acidity.

Metric Coffee

My second Fellow delivery included a bag of Metric Coffee, the Ethiopia Halo Hartume. This is a light roast coffee that comes from producers Mijane Worasa and Daniel Mijane, is grown at an elevation of 2,000 masl, and is washed processed.

The Halo Hartume washing station, in Gedeb Woreda, is operated by Ato Mijane and his sons. They use specialized farming practices in order to produce clean and structured coffee. There are 396 smallholder coffee farmers that contribute cherries to this station.

Tasting notes for this coffee include honeycrisp apple, white grapefruit, and sweet sugarcane. In Fellow’s brewing notes, they mentioned that they tasted blueberry, sweet cream, jasmine, peach rings, and green apple, with an aroma of confectioner’s sugar and berries. The notes also contained a nice little pour-over recipe.

Upon brewing, I noticed the aroma was a nice sweet, fruity, and citrusy combination that worked to drive my curiosity about the brew. Its taste had a great crisp and sweet flavor with a slightly acidic finish. Overall, it’s a well-balanced and warm cup.

Bird Rock Coffee Roasters

The last bag that I’ll review from Fellow is one of Bird Rock Coffee Roasters’. The Rwanda Sholi Natural is a certified organic single-origin light roast coffee. It’s a coffee that Bird Rock selected to represent Women’s History Month 2023.

This is because it’s produced by Sholi Cooperative, which was established in 2008 out of a women’s association called “Kundwa,” meaning “love.” This Cooperative is Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance certified and half of the 386 members are women.

The Rwanda Sholi Natural coffee comes from the Muhanga Region, is grown at an elevation of 1,800-2,000 masl, and is processed naturally. Tasting notes include chocolate malt, nutmeg, and raisin, while Fellow’s brewing tips indicate that they also tasted apple, licorice, dried cherry, prune, honey, and baking spices.

The brewing tips also contain both a recipe for pour-over and a recipe for espresso. The Bird Rock Coffee Roasters bag is fully compostable but isn’t resealable.

This light roast coffee’s aroma was dark and sweet, giving a warm and enchanting scent. It tasted very strong, warm, and chocolatey. There’s a tang from the raisin note and the brew had a surprising darkness to it. I could definitely see how well these beans would work for espresso brewing.

Fellow Coffee: Subscription Options

When it comes to Fellow Coffee’s subscription, every whole bean delivery is a surprise. Though, you can choose between a Classic subscription or a Premium subscription in either lighter or darker roasts. For my subscription trial, I chose the Premium option.

The Classic subscription is a mix of single-origin coffees and blends that include seasonal picks and year-round highlights. The Premium subscription is a mix of only fresh crop single-origin coffees that are exclusively seasonal. With either choice, you can decide to only get light-medium roasts that have bright, floral, and fruity notes or medium-dark roasts that have rich, chocolatey, and nutty notes.

You can always change between Classic and Premium, as well as which roast level gets delivered to you at any time during the subscription. Shipments can go out every two weeks or every four weeks and you can purchase up to four bags for every delivery. There’s even an option to send it as a gift!

Fellow Coffee: Roasting

Since Fellow Coffee select the coffee featured in their subscription from several other world-class roasters, they don’t actually do any of their own roasting. Instead, their in-house Q Graders sample several different coffees from some of the best roasters in the world and choose only the most delicious hard-to-find ones of the bunch.

Every coffee selected is small batch, ethically sourced, curated for you, and freshly roasted before it’s delivered to your door based on your frequency choice. Fellow then takes the time to give you their own thoughts and brewing tips on how to bring out the best of each bag of beans.

Fellow Coffee: Pricing

At the time of writing, pricing for a Fellow Coffee subscription depends on which of the two options you pick. For the Classic subscription of seasonal and year-round single-origins and blends, it ranges from $16-$20 a bag. For the Premium subscription of exclusively seasonal single-origins, it ranges from $20-$24 a bag.

These prices also vary because different roasters charge different amounts for bags of beans, so you don’t know the exact amount of each delivery based on this. Fellow also adds a shipping fee of $5 for every shipment.

What Makes Fellow Coffee Unique

Fellow Coffee is unique because while they have a focus on providing high-quality and efficient coffee gear to home baristas, they also make home brewing easy for their customers by providing extremely helpful brewing tips along with each coffee delivery.

These come in an email before your new coffee is delivered, listing Fellow’s own notes and even brewing recipes to help you along. Through this, you can truly learn more about the coffee you’re receiving and make the most of each brew.

How to Cancel Fellow Coffee

It’s super easy to manage everything about your Fellow Coffee subscription. On your account page through Fellow’s website, you can access your subscription through the named tab. From there, you’re able to manage everything from delivery date, frequency, product option, roast level, shipping address, and payment information.

If you want to skip a delivery or cancel your subscription altogether, you’re able to do so under the same tab. There are two large buttons on the right that either let you skip a shipment or cancel your subscription at any time.

Fellow Coffee: Final Thoughts

A subscription through Fellow Coffee is one that allows you to not only try a new high-quality coffee from some of the best roasters every delivery, but it also guides you through trying these brand new brews with helpful tips and recipes.

Fellow works hard to provide customers with an easy-to-manage and educating coffee subscription that delivers delicious top-notch beans on their own schedule. Plus, the emails from the company are super informative!

Happy Caffeinating!