Folly Coffee Subscription Review: Quality Roasted Coffee

There’s nothing better than a coffee subscription with a dedicated head roaster at the forefront of it all. Having someone that takes the time to care for each batch of coffee before it’s sent out to guarantee a high-quality sip makes getting new coffee sent to you even more exciting. Folly Coffee is a company that has just that. They also have some pretty amazing options when it comes to tasty coffee beans. I didn’t know what to expect when I received a subscription box in the mail from Folly, but I can easily say this turned out to be one of my favorites.

Folly Coffee: Company History/Overview

The company of Folly Coffee Roasters was started by the owner and founder, Rob Bathe, who was originally involved in craft beer sales.

Once he was introduced to high-end specialty coffee, he became quickly obsessed. The first cup of truly great coffee he had was full of notes of blueberry and milk chocolate with a nice floral aroma.

After that, Rob dedicated his life to discovering new coffee roasters and trying out different things. His obsession led him to quit his job and move back to his home, Minnesota. There, he began to build Folly Coffee.

Folly Coffee Roasters launched in January 2018 and, since then, Rob has grown the business by forming partnerships and constantly improving the quality of their specialty beans.

In April of the same year, Jeff Mooney joined the Folly team and, as a top 15 coffee taster and a certified Q Grader, has become responsible for all of Folly’s sourcing, profiling, quality assurance, and roasting.

In 2020, Folly Jeff was named Head Roaster of the coffee company and ensures that every cup of Folly coffee is perfect, from selection to roasting and tasting.

Folly Coffee Subscription Review

In the subscription box that I received from Folly Coffee, there were two full 12-ounce bags of beans featuring fun designs. Their House Bean and their S.O.B. (Single-Origin Blend) Espresso. I was very happy to have two different ways to try Folly’s coffee so I got right to brewing.

House Bean

The interesting thing about Folly’s House Bean is that it features a rotating single-origin bean. This means that the beans change based on what’s available of the freshest green beans. Regardless, this bag always has beans that are fruit-forward, chocolatey, sweet, smooth, bitter-free, and well-balanced. At the time of writing, the beans featured in the House Bean bag were Loma La Gloria Red Bourbon Yellow Honey from El Salvador. This coffee was yellow honey processed and grown at an elevation of 1,500 masl. The Loma La Gloria farm is owned by Anny Ruth Pimentel, who’s known for producing delicious honey-processed coffees. The specific tasting notes for this coffee include a great balance of cherry, stone fruit, and sugarcane. These beans are perfect for brewing drip coffee, pour-over, or French Press, and the style of the House Bean overall also happens to be owner Folly Rob’s favorite! As soon as I opened my bag of the House Bean from Folly, I was immediately hit with a very strong fragrance that was fruity and bittersweet. Of course, after I brewed some in my French Press, this came through even more.

The House Bean’s taste was very smooth and sweet, which isn’t something I was expecting with the aroma. It was actually very easy to drink and had a nice sweet flavor to it without being overdone. It was great to get the tang of the cherry and stone fruit notes without the bitterness.

Overall, this is a very good roast to use as an everyday brew, and I can definitely see why Folly made it their House Bean!

S.O.B. Espresso

The other bag of coffee that I received from Folly was just as interesting as the first. Their S.O.B. (Single-Origin Blend) Espresso is a special Folly creation, formed by a single-origin coffee that’s partly dark roasted and partly light roasted. These two roasts are then blended together, hence the Single-Origin Blend title. This espresso bean has a nice rich flavor featuring caramel and nougat and is perfect for use in brewing espresso, Aeropress, French Press, or drip coffee. It’s from Peru Luya, coming from the Amazonas region and Cooperativa Cafetalera Laguna de los Condores farm. The beans are washed processed and grown at an altitude of 1,800-2,300 masl in the Luya Province of Peru. Both hand-picked and hand-pulped, and then fermented for around 40 hours, this coffee includes a tasting profile of milk chocolate, caramel, and light berry acidity. When I opened my bag, I was met with beans that smelt sweet and rich at the same time, really showing off all the flavor notes. I pulled a nice shot of espresso with this coffee and can easily say that the taste was both strong and sweet, providing a good balance. You could really tell that the dark-roasted part of the S.O.B. Espresso brought out the chocolate, and the light-roasted part allowed for the complex fruit-like acidity to come through. While the berry note does add a bit of acidity, the chocolate and caramel balance it out for a nice sweet touch. This was a great roast to drink a straight shot of espresso with, but I’m sure the nicely balanced notes would work just as well with a touch of cream or even over ice.

Folly Coffee: Subscription Options

When it comes to Folly Coffee’s subscription options, you can choose either of the whole beans that I received or another one featured on their website in either 12-ounce or 5-pound bags that are nitrogen flushed with one-way valves that help keep the coffee fresh.

They also have specialized subscriptions, such as their popular Roaster’s Choice Subscription. With this option, you get to receive Head Roaster Jeff’s favorite single-origin coffee each month on a rotating basis.

Whichever subscription you choose, each option is super customizable, letting you change how much coffee you receive or how often you get it delivered to you (every week, every two weeks, or every month).

A few of their other subscription options include a Sampler Pack Coffee Subscription, Folly’s Finest Coffee Subscription, and Cold Brew Coffee Subscription.

Or, you can simply get your favorite bags of beans delivered to you on a subscription-based plan.

Folly Coffee: Roasting

All of Folly’s coffee is roasted in their Minnesota-based roastery, where Head Roaster Jeff takes the time to carefully roast all of their small batch coffee. As mentioned earlier, a whole lot of care is put into every bag of coffee that goes out.

From selecting high-quality fresh coffee, which they pay above fair-trade prices for, to tasting every batch after it’s perfectly roasted, Folly Jeff makes sure that all of their coffee is the best. He was named Head Roaster for a reason!

Folly Coffee: Pricing

The pricing for Folly Coffee truly depends on the coffee itself, as well as the subscription. If you choose to get coffee every week you save 15%, every two weeks you save 10%, and every month you save 5%. Essentially, the more often you buy, the more you save.

At the time of writing, this means that if you were to subscribe to Folly’s House Bean, S.O.B. Espresso, Winer Coffee, Cold Brew, or Folly’s Finest every week, it would be priced at around $16.58 per bag. Folly’s Classic Jo would be priced at $15.73, the Sampler Pack would be priced at $17.85, and the Roaster’s Choice Subscription would be priced at $16.15.

Of course, this all depends on bag sizes and delivery frequency, but considering you can subscribe and save to Folly’s endless coffee options, I’d say that’s a pretty good deal!

What Makes Folly Coffee Unique?

Though I’ve already mentioned him a few times, owner Rob says that Folly’s Head Roaster Jeff is what makes their subscriptions special. Jeff is “a certified Q-Grader, a top 15 coffee taster in the country, and really takes [Folly’s] award-winning coffee lineup to the next level.”

Since he works hard to ensure every bag is carefully selected, roasted, and tasted, he makes all of their subscription options unique and delicious. The Roaster’s Choice Subscription is even one that includes a rotating selection of Folly Jeff’s favorites.

How To Cancel Folly Coffee

To manage any of the subscriptions that you may choose from Folly Coffee, all you have to do is log in to your account on their website and access any of the tabs you need.

If you need to adjust your order, delivery address, or payment method, there are tabs for easy management.

If you find that you no longer want to be subscribed to Folly Coffee, you can always cancel in the Subscription tab on your Folly account. Though, with beans so tasty, it’s hard to imagine that you’d want to cancel!

Folly Coffee: Final Thoughts

Though it wasn’t originally expected, Folly Coffee quickly became one of my favorite coffee subscriptions. If not for the subscribe and save options, then absolutely for the delicious beans. Having a dedicated Head Roaster on hand is definitely shown in the quality of Folly’s tasty coffee.

The House Bean is unique because of the rotating beans, but it’s always made to feature a fruity and chocolatey profile that’s well-balanced and smooth. Personally, I loved this brew and would highly recommend subscribing to it.

The S.O.B. Espresso is also a unique creation from Folly because of the blend of two different roasts. Again, this was a well-balanced coffee, one that was both strong and sweet.

Folly’s goal of high-quality delicious coffee that’s ethically sourced is well met and you can even taste the care that goes into each batch.

Happy Caffeinating!