We give the Larry’s Coffee subscription a rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars:
Larry’s Coffee Subscription Review: At a Glance
The Larry’s Coffee subscription is a basic service that allows you to choose from a wide range of fresh, complex coffee beans. You will get a discount and have your chosen coffee shipped to you on your schedule, but there isn’t a curating service, so you’ll have to do all of the shopping. Larry’s Coffee prides itself on sustainability, with many certifications and an eco-friendly office.
Without preference quizzes or curation, this subscription club is a less fun but very practical choice. The packaging and website are functional but not very stylish. Though Larry’s offers gift subscriptions, this club may be better suited to buying coffee for regular home or office use.
But wait, there’s more! Keep reading for our detailed Larry’s Coffee subscription review.
Larry’s Coffee Subscription Quick Look:
- Complete control over the coffee you receive
- Organic, Fair Trade, and Shade Grown, with an eco-friendly office
- Many types of coffee benefit a variety of causes
- 5% subscription discount and cheaper shipping fees
- Choice of seven grind sizes, including whole bean
- Ships on your schedule
- Decaf and recyclable K-cups available
- Charges shipping fees
- No curation service
- Packaging and website are functional but not stylish
- Less fun as a gift
- Less variety
- Not much included information
- Three-bag minimum
- No resealing features or pull-tab opening
The Company
Larry’s Coffee prides itself on being socially and environmentally-friendly. It’s a Certified B Corporation, and all of the company’s coffee is certified Organic, Fair Trade, and Shade Grown.
The company’s office in Raleigh, North Carolina is designed to be eco-friendly, with solar- and rainwater-powered features. Larry’s also recently launched a line of recyclable K-Cups.
Larry’s Coffee roasts and ships its own beans but doesn’t offer any curation.
The Ordering Process
The website for Larry’s Coffee is functional but not especially attractive. You can shop among the many coffee varieties, sorting by categories like roast level, origin, micro-lots, and For-A-Cause blends. Each coffee has a detailed description, with information like tasting notes, roast level, and coffee bean origin.
Once you’ve chosen a type of coffee, you can make an account and set up a subscription, choosing the coffee type, number of 12-ounce bags, shipment frequency, and grind size. Conveniently, you can choose between the seven major grind sizes, whole bean, flat bottom drip, cone filter drip, french press, percolator, espresso, and Turkish. Larry’s Coffee will then send you the same type of coffee on your schedule. If you’d like some variety, you can set up multiple subscriptions and have them ship on alternate weeks. Once you’ve set up your account, you can edit your subscription through a basic portal.
Though you can buy coffee on a per-bag basis through the online store, Larry’s offers discounts when you set up a subscription. You’ll get 5% off each bag, though there is a three-bag minimum. You’ll also get a discount on the company’s shipping fees, which are otherwise a pricey $9 to $11 per shipment. When you buy coffee through a subscription, Larry’s charges a flat $5.95 shipping fee for each shipment. If your order is over $75, they’ll waive the shipping fee.
If you’re local to the Raleigh area, you can save the shipping fees and pick up your coffee at Larry’s offices. You can order and pay online and have the company notify you when your beans have roasted.
The Coffee
We ordered the Awake In Class coffee, which is a fragrant dark roast with notes of chocolate, apricots, and cherries. Our whole beans arrived fresh and flavorful, with a strong, chocolatey aroma and complex, delicious flavors.
This is one of Larry’s For-A-Cause Blends, benefiting teachers in the company’s local community. Teachers in Wake County, North Carolina can apply for $500 grants funded by a portion of the profits from this coffee.
The Packaging
Larry’s Coffee isn’t as strong in the packaging department. Our coffee arrived in an oversized cardboard box without any additional information like tasting or origin notes. With the coffee bag came a bright green printed receipt.
The coffee bag itself has a one-way degassing valve and wires to hold it closed. There isn’t a pull-tab opening, and the bag doesn’t reseal. The bag’s design is somewhat cluttered, but it offers quite a bit of information about the company and the cause.
Extras
You can set up gift subscriptions through the Larry’s Coffee website, though you’ll have to pick the coffee. The packaging isn’t personalized or particularly stylish, so it may be more practical than fun.
Larry’s Coffee Subscription: The Verdict
Larry’s Coffee is a solid subscription service that offers you full control over the coffee you’ll receive. You can choose among a wide range of freshly roasted beans in the full complement of roast levels and grind sizes. There are also decaf, tea, and environmentally-friendly K-Cup options. This subscription service could be a good pick if you’re looking for regular shipments of fresh, tasty coffee, but it’s not as adventurous or fun as some other companies.
Larry’s Coffee is very eco-friendly and socially conscious, making it a great choice if you’re interested in sustainable coffee. They don’t offer any curation or sample sizes, and you’ll have to pay shipping fees on every order. The website is functional, and the packaging is fairly basic.
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