Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Mugged: Crema.co


Subject: Crema.co
Coffees Mugged and Rating [see key]:
- Toby's Estate: Brazil Santa Ines 5+
- Bold Bean: Finca La Esperanza 5+

Coffee subscriptions are becoming more and more a part of the coffee drinker's arsenal. Years ago, you were pretty unique if you were willing to subscribe to one coffee roaster's coffee for a several months, but now, with the numerous subscription services that offer all kinds of coffees from all kinds of roasters, it's increasingly conventional. Chances are that if you like coffee, there's a subscription out there that fits you just right.

For those who like the Netflix model of queueing up cinematic selections to be mailed out at various intervals, there's a coffee company called Crema.co that provides a similar method of coffee distribution. You simply create an account, choose the coffees you like from their copious list of expanding roasters and then choose the frequency of how often you wish to receive beans. Plus as a bonus, your preferences and mailing frequency are all changeable as often as you would like. 

As a person who drinks more than a pound of coffee a month, my intrigue was captured by Crema.co and over the period of two shipments, I had the chance to test out their subscription. My two shipments, spaced about two weeks apart, were Bold Bean's Finca La Esperanza, a greatly revered coffee from Hoja Blanca in Huehuetenango Guatemala, and Toby's Estate's Brazil Santa Ines, a coffee coming from a Cup of Excellence winning farm. I sampled each via pourover, french press and siphon. 

Bold Bean's coffee was first to arrive and hence first to dance. The pourover produced a molasses-esque coffee, with notes of chocolate, wheat ale, figs, walnuts, asian pear and carrot. The french press made a brew balanced between sweet and sour, demonstrating chocolate, lemon, roasted peanuts, asian pear, carrots and mozzarella. The siphon made for the heaviest of the three brews; a thick body full of similar notes of chocolate, wheat, nuts and molasses. All in all, the coffee proved tasty, sweet and easily devoured, with my only dislike stemming from the molasses-ish, syrupy quality of the coffee which made the brews a little thick for my taste (though still a good coffee).

Next to run the gauntlet was the Brazil from Toby's Estate, a medium roast of high repute. Flan, cream and raisins dominated the initial flavor of the pourover, filling out with pancakes, almond milk and a little clove. A slighty sweeter infusion came from the french press, with notes of pear, almond, cream, birch beer and nutmeg. Lastly, the siphon finished out with a full-bodied brew overflowing with raisins, cream, brazil nut, birch beer and a bit of clove and nutmeg. Similar to the first coffee, this Brazil produced a sweet coffee with confectionary delights and darker fruits amidst a touch of spice.

Regarding the customer experience with Crema.co, the website was very user-friendly and when I had a question, customer service responded toot sweet. I personally liked the customization as well as the immediate control I had over the coffees I received and the frequency of deliveries. Thus, if you seek a coffee subscription with a growing list of coffee roasters and lots of user control, check out Crema.co today.





note: coffee was provided free of charge and the above review is objective feedback.

2 comments:

Nespresso Coffee Pods said...

Check out subscription service at TaliaUSA.com - we offer both coffee and tea Nespresso capsules.

Molly said...

With so much choice on the coffee market now, its blogs like these that help me discover new ranges I know I'll love - thanks for sharing!