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Driftaway vs Trade Coffee Subscriptions: Pros & Cons

Driftaway vs Trade coffee subscriptions

When you are shopping for the perfect coffee subscription service, there are lots of factors to consider. These include coffee flavors, bean origins, shipping frequency, personalized packaging, gift options, and more! Every subscription offers a different set of options, and there are dozens of subscription services on the market.

If you’ve narrowed your options down to Driftaway and Trade, congratulations! You have already done a lot of the work, and you are guaranteed to get a great bag of gourmet beans. So how do you make that final decision? We’ll show you everything you need to know and more!

Want to learn about other coffee subscription services? Take a look at our comparison of the 10 best coffee subscriptions!

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All About the Driftaway Coffee Subscription

Driftaway Coffee Subscription

Driftaway is a travel-themed coffee subscription service that offers fresh, gourmet beans from all over the world. With each bag of coffee, you get an informative postcard featuring details on the origin, flavors, and best brewing methods.

Driftaway subscriptions start with sample kits featuring four different kinds of coffee. You can figure out your favorite coffee flavors and customize future shipments to match. This makes it a particularly fun gift since you don’t need to know your favorite coffee lover’s exact preferences.

Driftaway coffee bloom

There isn’t much not to like about Driftaway, but if you like to shop for your beans, you might find the curation frustrating. You can’t order specific beans, and there’s no matching quiz to help you explore the coffee world.

Pros
  • Fun tasting kit
  • Stylish design
  • Personalized
  • Great gift options
Cons
  • Can’t choose individual coffee
  • No fun quizzes

All About the Trade Coffee Subscription

Trade Coffee subscription review

And what about the Trade coffee subscription? Trade offers a choice of over 400 gourmet coffees from all over the world. You can shop for each bag individually, sorting by things like single-origin vs blend, and reorder your favorite beans.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can take Trade’s matching quiz, which will expertly curate a selection of three coffees based on your favorite brewing method, roast level, and more. This is one of our favorite parts of this subscription since it’s an easy, quick, and fun way to discover new coffee.

Trade Coffee subscription ready to brew Chemex

On the downside, this subscription isn’t quite as stylish as Driftaway, and the curation is a little impersonal. Plus, that huge library of coffee beans can be a little overwhelming.

Pros
  • Huge range of coffee types to choose from
  • Well-designed, easy to browse website
  • Flavor matching quiz
  • Curation based on your brewing and flavor preferences
Cons
  • A little less stylish
  • Less personalization
  • Can be an overwhelming selection

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Driftaway vs Trade Coffee Subscriptions: How to Choose

The most important difference between the Driftaway and Trade coffee subscriptions is the curation style. Driftaway is fully curated — by humans — based on your ratings of the tasting kit coffee. You have to put in a little extra time brewing and rating all four coffee types, but after that, the subscription is very hands-off. If you want delicious beans delivered to your door without having to put in a lot of time or attention, Driftaway will probably be your pick.

On the other hand, Trade starts with a flavor-matching quiz that directs you to three delicious options. After that, you can continue to order the coffee suggested to you by Trade’s algorithms — or you can go your own way and browse the massive library of coffee. If you like shopping and want to choose each bag of beans, Trade will probably work best for you.

Whichever subscription you choose, we hope you love your tasty, convenient cups of coffee! If you’re still looking for the perfect subscription, take a peek at our ten favorites.

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Kate MacDonnell

Kate is a lifelong coffee enthusiast and homebrewer who enjoys writing for coffee websites and sampling every kind of coffee known to man. She’s tried unusual coffees from all over the world and owns an unhealthy amount of coffee gear.

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