What is Intelligentsia Flavor Profile Variety Bundle?
Three coffees chosen to cover Intelligentsia's three flavour profiles in one purchase.
Intelligentsia file every coffee under one of three flavour profiles: chocolate and molasses, caramel and stone fruit, or apple and raw sugar. That is the axis their whole range is organised on, and it is more useful than a roast scale for deciding what to drink.
This bundle exists to let somebody taste all three. The roaster describes it as a way to experiment with their various flavour profiles, aimed at the curious. It is $56.00.
What's in the Intelligentsia Flavor Profile Variety Bundle box
The three profiles are genuinely different cups, not three shades of the same one.
Chocolate and molasses covers El Gato, Frequency, El Diablo and Sublunar; caramel and stone fruit covers Illumination and Summer Solstice; apple and raw sugar covers House Blend and El Gallo. Those are recognisably distinct coffees rather than a graded set.
Buying across the axis rather than up and down a roast scale is the better way to find your own taste, because most people who think they want a medium roast actually want a particular flavour direction.
Is it better value than buying the bags?
$56.00 for three bags, which is close to what three of their blends cost bought separately.
The blends run from $17.50 to $20.00 for 12 oz, so three of them come to somewhere between $52.50 and $60.00 depending on which. At $56.00 the bundle sits inside that band rather than below it.
What it buys is the selection rather than a discount: three coffees picked to cover the axis, chosen by the people who built it. For somebody who does not yet know what they like, that is worth more than a few dollars off.
How it arrives, and what you choose
A bundle rather than a gift box: three bags in one shipment.
The roaster calls it a bundle and frames it around experimenting, which is a description of a purchase rather than of a present. Anyone buying a gift should read it that way and look at the Season's Best Bundle, which is packaged as one.
Three retail bags do arrive together and do look like a set, so it will pass as a gift for somebody who cares more about the coffee than the box.
Intelligentsia Flavor Profile Variety Bundle vs Cooper's Cask Cold Brew Box Set
Against the Season's Best Bundle at $78.00, this is the cheaper box and covers the flavour axis rather than the seasonal range.
Season's Best gathers three of their seasonal blends and is described as perfectly packaged. This one gathers three flavour profiles and is described as a way to experiment. Different jobs at a $22.00 difference.
Against buying three bags yourself, the saving is negligible and the selection is the point. Anyone who already knows they want chocolate and molasses should just buy El Gato.
For a first order from this roaster, this is the most efficient way to find out which of their three directions is yours.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Right for a first order or a curious drinker; wrong for somebody who already knows what they like.
Buy it if you are new to Intelligentsia and want to work out which of their three flavour profiles suits you before committing to a bag. Three coffees across the axis answers that faster than three months of single purchases.
Take a single bag instead if you already know your direction, because the bundle carries no real discount. And take the Season's Best Bundle if this is a present rather than an experiment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is in the Flavor Profile Variety Bundle?
Three coffees chosen to cover Intelligentsia's three flavour profiles: chocolate and molasses, caramel and stone fruit, and apple and raw sugar. The roaster describes it as a way to experiment with their various profiles, aimed at the curious drinker. It is $56.00.
What are Intelligentsia's flavour profiles?
Three: chocolate and molasses, which covers El Gato, Frequency, El Diablo and Sublunar; caramel and stone fruit, which covers Illumination and Summer Solstice; and apple and raw sugar, which covers House Blend and El Gallo. Every coffee they sell is filed under one.
Does the bundle save money?
Barely. Their blends run $17.50 to $20.00 for 12 oz, so three bought separately come to roughly $52.50 to $60.00 and the bundle is $56.00. What you are buying is the selection across the flavour axis rather than a discount.
Is this a good gift?
It will pass, but the roaster frames it as a bundle for experimenting rather than a present. The Season's Best Bundle at $78.00 is the one described as perfectly packaged, and it is the better choice if the box matters as much as the coffee.
Which bundle should I buy first?
This one, if you are new to the roaster. Working out which of the three flavour profiles suits you is the decision that makes every later purchase easier, and three bags across the axis answers it faster than months of buying one at a time.
How long will three bags last?
Three 12 oz bags is around 60 cups at a 15 gram dose, which is a month or more for one person. Work through them one at a time rather than opening all three, since coffee starts losing aroma from the day the bag is broken.
