Comparing Coffee Subscriptions – Offerings From Has Bean and Square Mile

I’ve been meaning to get around to this post for a while now, but I decided that I would hold off on writing it until the last coffee in my Square Mile subscription arrived, which it now has. It is a bit awkward as well, mainly because I don’t really want it to sound too much like an “I’m Judging you” review, so I’ve spent a bit of time thinking over how I should write it. I also don’t want it to sound too much like a promotional piece. As we all know, I love Has Bean and – big disclaimer – I don’t pay for my current subscription, I won it as a prize in the Irish heats of the Brewer’s Cup this year. Although in my defence I had already worked through three of the three-month In My Mug subscriptions when I got the prize.

What I want to do is compare the two subscriptions, Square Mile’s filter roast subscription and Has Bean’s In My Mug coffee subscription, not in a critical ‘this one is better manner’ but rather to act as a guide for people new to coffee (just like me a year ago) in making what can be a daunting first investment (right up there with your first really good grinder) in speciality coffee. That said, either of these two subscriptions would be a great starting point and overall I could not recommend one over the other. The two subscriptions are however, at least in my experience, quite different both in terms of the package as a whole and the contents, and depending on your own situation or interests, suitable for different purposes.

So first off, the packages themselves:

Square Mile’s filter roast subscription comes in two flavours, a six month sub and a longer twelve month version, each of which includes a different coffee each month for the duration, posted on the first Thursday of the month, roasted specifically for filter brewing. The prices vary depending on region, so I would suggest looking up the site for your own location (subscription site). A nice touch is the use of 350g bags instead of the usual 250g, it makes it a tad more expensive but is very much worth it, in particular with a months wait between each delivery. There are also espresso subscriptions available, but as I lack a machine I cannot comment on it.

Hasbean’s subscription package is quite different. Here I will be talking about the In My Mug subscription packages, but it is handy to bear in mind that Has Bean also have a monthly package similar to Square Mile’s available. So, the In My Mug subscription (available in three and twelve month packages) provides you with a different coffee each week, roasted and shipped on Friday, to coincide with the weekly In My Mug online tasting show that the owner Stephen Leighton films, for the duration of the subscription. So for the three-month subscription you receive twelve coffees and for the twelve month version, fifty-two. A nice touch here is the inclusion of a ‘green’ version of the subscription whereby you are sent a bag of unroasted green beans to roast yourself if you have delved that deep into the hobby, although this option is not for the fainthearted. Coffees come in 250g bags, but arriving on a weekly basis you will probably not find yourself short, in fact you will probably soon find a buildup of coffee, especially if you buy the odd bag or two individually. Prices and ordering information available here.

So that’s the basic package, now for the content:

Anyone who has heard James Hoffmann speak has probably heard him use the word delicious, over and over and over. After six months of my Square Mile subscription I can hardly blame him for doing so. Each of the coffees has been, quite frankly, delicious. If there has been an overriding theme of my experience with the Square Mile subscription, it has been one of elegant balance. Each coffee has been clean, lively and supremely balanced in terms of flavour. In a word, yet again, delicious. Having yet to delve into the sixth bag, only arrived this morning, and expecting something quite different (this one’s a natural!), the first five, were light, clean and delicate, but in the manner of a great wine, the Talapo is still a great favourite of mine, even two months later. In a word, once again, delicious.

If there is anything slightly less positive that can be said about the selection, and after only six months, this may have been entirely due to the run of coffees (coffee six certainly seems to buck the trend), it is that they were safe. There was nothing crazy, nothing shocking, nothing perception shaking, nothing dangerous or edgy. Every one at the absolute top of the game in their respective origins, but nothing pushing the boundaries. For sheer enjoyment and consistency, the subscription delivered far more than I had initially expected. Each one an absolute gem, leaving a felling of loss and satisfaction as the last beans were ground and brewed. In terms of learning or palette development, less so. But sometimes, in fact for me all of the time, it is about experience and the joy and warmth that only a well produced, roasted and brewed coffee can bring. This subscription has for me delivered on all of these levels.

So what to say about In My Mug. If the Square Mile subscription specialises in consistent deliciousness then the Has Bean subscription relishes in teaching and perception changing. I think I have lost track of the number of times I have had the thought ‘I really didn’t think coffee could taste like this’. Not only do Has Bean stock some of the best coffees in the world, Stephen Leighton goes out of his way to surprise and change perceptions. His recent run has included a Mexican Natural that is probably one of the most exquisite examples of natural processing I have ever tasted and a Kenyan that was gorgeous because it didn’t have a single berry in sight. Not to mention his recent natural pacamara from Nicaragua that was just simply immense. I could go on, a coffee a week makes this so easy to do. In terms of learning and experiencing huge variety, the Has Bean subscription has this in spades.

However the trade-off for this variety and perception challenging is that sometimes you hit an awkward run. Recently this was with naturals, lots and lots of naturals. I love natural processed coffee, but some people don’t. It is quite divisive, one man’s funk is another man’s burnt rubber. Every coffee is great, a brilliant example of region, varietal, process, but the sheer volume of coffee means that every now and again, something not quite to your taste appears. This is not a major issue, over the course of the year I have had two coffees I struggled with, and everything else was gold. Coffee arriving weekly also adds some pressure in terms of consumption. I myself have accumulated about twelve bags as of time of writing, although I do tend to acquire bags from other roasters on a frequent basis.

So, to conclude? I am not quite sure what to say. Both subscription packages are quite different in terms of what they bring to the table. If you are looking for a consistently delicious coffee experience, but only consume one brew a day, or just want great coffee and have less of an emphasis on expanding your palette to extremes, the Square Mile subscription is a great thing. These coffees tend to be my mid-afternoon, sit with a book brews. This is not a bad thing at all and has been (ignore the pun please) a welcome addition to my brewing.

If you are more interested in expanding your palette, or even consume a large amount of coffee, with family, co-workers, or your own overcaffeinated bloodstream, the Has Bean subscription is probably a more useful choice. You will certainly learn and experience far more variety with this subscription and a bag a week means that you will very rarely run short of coffee, if at all. You will probably soon have a nifty little stash in your kitchen.

I don’t want to appear negative, nothing in life is perfect, and the benefits of both of these subscriptions far outweigh the negatives, even if you can class remarkably consistent deliciousness and ridiculous variety as negative trait. In any case, I hope this is helpful. Taking out a subscription can be a scary investment, particularly the first time, but it is well worth the cost if you are looking for great (and sometimes really rare coffee, microlots that disappear from webshops incredibly fast have long been staples of both subscriptions).

If I was forced to make a recommendation I would gladly cop-out and say both…oh wait, I already did that.

Tags: Coffee