Driftaway Coffee Review 2024: Step Up Your Game!

Overview

Driftaway Coffee is a beans-by-mail service that turns your kitchen into a global café by delivering coffee beans from all over the world. The beans are ethically sourced and arrive freshly roasted at your doorstep. Simply brew and enjoy a wide range of flavors.

Partnering with small-scale farmers from every corner of the coffee-growing world, Driftaway Coffee keeps things fresh with a new lineup every month. If you’re bored of the regular coffee available in stores and want to try something new and exciting, Driftaway Coffee is a fantastic option for your morning or afternoon ritual.

I was immediately sold on the idea and launched into a deep dive into the company and its service. I gathered all my findings in this Driftaway Coffee review, so if you want to learn more, stay tuned until the end.

What’s on Offer?

Driftaway Coffee features a selection of 91+ freshly roasted and curated single-origin beans from over 26 countries. New coffees are added each month, especially from lesser-known regions like Congo, Vietnam, India, or Myanmar.

At the time of writing my Driftaway Coffee review, the offer included varietals from Peru, Mexico’s Triunfo Verde, Brazil's Eduardo And Roberta Soares Paraiso Natural, Burundi, or Guatemala. 

The company strives to bring forth ethically sourced specialty beans harvested by small farmers around the world. Depending on your preferences, you can choose between Whole Bean, Ground, Decaf, or Cold Brew Bags.

If you’re not sure what you like (hey, it happens to all of us), Driftaway Coffee encourages you to get started with the Coffee Explorer Box. You’ll receive 5 2-oz bags containing fresh-roasted, single-origin coffee from around the world.

The bags are accompanied by tasting notes and information about the coffee’s place of origin, but these are hidden in an envelope. The main goal of the Explorer Box is for you to blind-taste each coffee and identify your profile.

The brand offers 5 different profiles: Fruity, Classic, Balanced, Bold, and Extra Bold. Use the Tasting Form and Flavor Wheel (also included in the Explorer Box) to record your tasting notes and identify the profile(s) that fit your preferences – it can be only 1 or all 5.

Establishing your preferred profile(s) is important if you want to subscribe to Driftaway Coffee. That’s because the most common type of subscription has the company send you coffee based on your taste profile. 

Since the offer changes every month, it’s a lot more convenient to indicate a taste profile rather than coming back for every new delivery in search of new beans to add to your box. It’s also a great way to discover new flavors that fit your overall palate.

You can still request a specific coffee for the following delivery by going to the Single Bags section of the site. Here, you’ll find all the available coffees for the given time period, and you can make a la carte purchases or add to your subscription.

Besides single bags, Driftaway Coffee also offers Coffee Sets that include the Explorer Box, Coffee & Chocolate Pairing Boxes & Kits, Single Serve, Corporate Gifts, Cold Brew, Coffee Gear, and a Coffee Tasting Kit.

You can also offer a Driftaway Coffee subscription as a gift and there are lots of educational materials on the website and within each box or kit. Additionally, the Driftaway Coffee team offers exclusive Coffee Tastings for subscribers on Zoom with renowned experts in the field.

Unboxing

The Driftaway Coffee box looks and feels high-end, but its content is even more impressive. In addition to the coffee pouch(es) or bag(s), you also get elegant cards with tasting notes and information about the origin of each coffee and its roasting journey.

Each pouch is clearly labeled and includes all the information you need about brewing and storage. These pouches are designed especially for freshly roasted coffee as they block out moisture, oxygen, and UV rays to ensure the beans stay fresh. They’re also equipped with a degassing valve.

Driftaway Coffee doesn’t use any plastic for packaging and transport. All the packaging materials are 100% compostable, so you don’t have to worry that your purchase adds to the world’s pollution problem.

Shortlist of My Favorite Coffees

While working on this review, I noticed several coffees I would definitely love to try. I am an avid coffee drinker, so I focused my attention on varietals that were marked as rare or beans originating in less-known areas of the world. 

So, here are the top 3 beans that put their charms on me:

ESP | Burundi Turihamwe and Guatemala Ella

This is a medium roast espresso blend that combines Burundi Turihamwe and Guatemala Ella coffees into a deliciously flavored cup. It is a 100% women-produced coffee with a sweet and bright taste that features hints of Lemon, Caramel, and Graham Cracker (according to the Driftaway Coffee tasting notes).

If you’re not in the mood for espresso, the coffee is just as delicious as any other type, from French Press to electric drip. You can find this blend in single-serving coffee bags as well, so don’t be afraid to experiment!

Brazil Eduardo And Roberta Soares Paraiso Natural

Originating from a major coffee nursery in Brazil, in the Minas Gerais region, this coffee features a balanced profile with flowery notes and hints of strawberry and vanilla. The farmers who produced these beans are known for developing cutting-edge cultivars, like Paraiso – which is used for this coffee.

Paraiso combines the Timor Hybrid and the Yellow Catuai varietals and produces yellow coffee cherries when ripe. The beans were lightly roasted to keep the floral aromas and natural berry-like acidity of this varietal.

Nicaragua SACACLI Cooperative

This medium-dark roast comes from Nicaragua and features taste notes of Dutch chocolate, walnuts, and apples. The beans are obtained from regenerative, organically grown coffee, and you can buy them as Single Serving bags (just like tea bags).

Prices

If you want to subscribe, you have the option to choose between 5 main box sizes (8 oz, 12 oz, 1 lb, 2 lbs, and 5 lbs). You can also skip the Small Coffee Explorer box if you’re already aware of your tastes regarding coffee.

There is also the option to subscribe on a monthly basis, where you pay for every shipment or choose between a 6-month and a 12-month subscription. If you opt for any of the latter 2, you’ll pay everything upfront with a discount of 5 and 10%, respectively.

2. Select coffee type: Decide whether you want Whole Bean, Ground Coffee, Cold Brew, or Decaf. You can change this preference at a later date, so it’s best to go with what’s most convenient for now.

3. Decide on the delivery details: If this is your first time with Driftaway Coffee, it’s best to start with an Explorer Box. However, you can skip this step and start the subscription directly if you know what your taste profile is.

Regardless of your option, Driftaway Coffee will ask you to make choices about your future deliveries. During this step, you have to decide on the box size and the frequency of deliveries and billing (you can change everything at a later date).

4. Choose a delivery method and day: Driftaway Coffee offers 2 shipping options – First-Class and Priority. The first option is free and takes 1 to 7 days, and the second promises a shorter delivery time (1 to 3 days) for a $3 flat fee.

5. Create an account and proceed to Checkout:

Managing Your Subscription

You can also use your account to skip or delay a delivery. If you’re on a prepaid subscription, your remaining deliveries will also get pushed back.

You can cancel both pay-per-shipment or prepaid subscriptions, with the mention that prepaid subscriptions can only be canceled (and refunded) within the first 30 days from purchase or renewal. You also have full freedom to decide whether to leave the automatic renewal in place for any type of subscription.