What is the Driftaway Coffee Subscription?
A Brooklyn roaster's own plan that starts by finding out what you like, using coffee rather than a questionnaire.
The first delivery is an Explorer box: five coffees at four ounces each, spanning light to dark, with access to a free virtual tasting that is either live on Zoom or self-guided. You then choose the profiles you preferred, and each shipment alternates between them - pick two light and one medium and the deliveries run light, medium, light, medium.
Driftaway's own line is that this is more fun than a taste quiz, and the method is better for a reason beyond fun: a quiz asks what you think you like, and a tasting box finds out. You can skip the Explorer box and start on a full-size bag if you have had their coffee before.
What you get, and what it costs
$22 for the first delivery and $17 for renewals, which is the reverse of how this market normally prices.
Almost every subscription here leads with a discounted first box and settles at a higher standing price. Driftaway does the opposite: the Explorer box costs more because it holds five coffees, and the ongoing price is lower. Nobody has to warn you about the number going up in three months.
Sizes run from 8oz to 5lb, grinds from whole bean to coarse, and paying six or twelve months in advance saves 5% or 10%.
What is not published is which weight the $17 refers to, so there is no price per kilo for Driftaway and we have not estimated one.
How fresh is the coffee?
Roasted weekly on named days in Brooklyn - Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays - which is a real answer, and a weaker one than roasting to order.
Driftaway is specific where most are vague: it names the roasting days. That is more information than Peet's, Blue Bottle or Black Rifle give. It is also a different claim from the one Trade, Misto and Intelligentsia make, which is that roasting happens after you order.
In practice the gap is small for a weekly roaster, and being told the actual schedule is worth something. No roast date on the bag is promised.
Can you cancel it?
Yes, and it is written into the product description rather than hidden: update your preferences anytime, and pause or cancel whenever you like.
No minimum number of deliveries is stated and no notice period is required. Preferences, pause and cancel sit together in one sentence on the page you buy from, which is where they belong.
The one thing worth knowing is the prepay option. Six or twelve months in advance buys 5% or 10% off, and committing to twelve months of anything is the opposite of the flexibility the rest of the page offers. The discount is small enough that the pay-per-shipment option is the safer buy.
Driftaway vs Atlas Coffee Club
Two roasters who send their own coffee and both start you with a tasting. Atlas is cheaper and refundable; Driftaway matches better.
Atlas sends a different single origin every delivery with a postcard, at $58.82 a kilo, with a thirty-day money-back guarantee and everything priced before you sign up. Driftaway sends a tasting box, learns what you liked, then sends that - at $17 a delivery with no published weight to compare.
The difference is what varies. Atlas varies the origin and keeps choosing for you. Driftaway varies nothing once you have chosen, which is the point: it is trying to find your coffee rather than show you the world's.
Atlas has the better guarantee. Driftaway has the better method, and the 2026 Roaster of the Year title to go with it.
Is Driftaway worth it?
Worth it if you do not yet know what you like. That is precisely who it is built for.
The Explorer box plus a guided tasting is the most useful onboarding in this comparison, and it costs five dollars more than a normal delivery rather than being sold as a premium add-on. Renewals then cost less than the first box, which almost nothing else here can say.
The reservation is the missing weight. $17 a delivery could be excellent or ordinary depending on a number the page does not give, and until it does, Driftaway cannot be compared on the measure this site cares most about.
Who should subscribe (and who should not)
Subscribe to find out what you like. Do not subscribe if you already know.
Good fit: a new specialty drinker who would rather taste five coffees than answer questions about them; anyone who wants a plan that settles down rather than surprising them forever; somebody who cares about carbon-neutral operations and published price transparency, both of which Driftaway states.
Poor fit: anyone comparing on price per kilo, since the weight is not published. Anyone who wants a full-size bag on delivery one without opting out of the Explorer box. And anyone wanting a roaster they have not met, since Driftaway roasts all of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is a Driftaway subscription?
The All Roasts subscription is $22 for the first delivery and $17 on renewal. Sizes run from 8oz to 5lb, and paying six or twelve months in advance saves 5% or 10%.
What is the Driftaway Explorer box?
The first delivery: five coffees at four ounces each spanning light to dark roasts, with access to a free virtual tasting either live on Zoom or self-guided. You then pick the profiles you liked and the plan is built from them.
Can I skip the Explorer box?
Yes. There is a skip option that starts you on a full-size bag instead, which Driftaway suggests for anyone who has had their coffee before.
When does Driftaway roast?
Weekly, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays in Brooklyn. That is a fixed schedule rather than roasting after each order, and Driftaway is unusual in naming the days at all.
Can I cancel Driftaway at any time?
Yes. The subscription page states that you can update your preferences, pause or cancel whenever you like, with no minimum number of deliveries.
Does Driftaway do decaf?
Yes, a dedicated decaf subscription, currently a Colombian El Nevado del Huila with published tasting notes.
