Intelligentsia Coffee Subscription vs Volcanica Coffee Club

A Chicago roaster's own rotating single origins, shipped free and roasted to order

Scores higher on cancelling, skipping & getting out.

A flat monthly rate for three or six coffees, with shipping and oat milk included

Scores higher on cost per bag, and per kilo, delivery & straight answers.

• +Always roasted to order, stated plainly as one of three headline promises rather than implied.
• +Always free shipping on subscriptions, with no bundle or spend threshold.
• +From $18 for 12 oz on Intelligentsia Classics, about $53 a kilo.
• +Skip an order or move the next one to any future date from My Subscriptions, and gift subscriptions are sold.
• +20% off the first four orders with code 20OFFFOUR, which is a longer discount runway than most.

• −Prices sit on each subscription's own page, not on the subscriptions page that compares them.
• −One roaster, so there is no discovery beyond Intelligentsia's own range.
• −No money-back guarantee is stated.
• −Gift subscriptions cannot be paid for in full up front.
• −No shipping destinations are stated on the subscriptions page.

• +$12.67 a coffee on the three-count box, about $56 a kilo, cheaper per kilo than Trade or Blue Bottle.
• +Coffee is roasted fresh before each shipment, stated on the Coffee Club page.
• +Pause or cancel your membership anytime, and skip a delivery, from Volcanica's own pages.
• +Free shipping on every box, against a $60 threshold or a $6.95 flat rate on ordinary orders.
• +Twenty coffees to mix and match each month, plus oat milk with every order and 20% off the first subscription order.

• −Each coffee is an 8 oz box, smaller than the 12 oz bag most roasters sell, so the per-bag price flatters it.
• −One roaster, so the twenty coffees are all Volcanica's own.
• −A flat rate means a cheap coffee and an expensive one cost you the same, which suits the roaster more than the buyer.
• −No number of days between roasting and despatch is given.