I received a box in the mail with a 25 gram serving of Bella Donovan with instructions on the back saying to add 250 grams of hot water and enjoy a single cup. It’s a promotion for Blue Bottle’s upcoming service where they mail you a box of sealed oxygen free packs of pre-ground beans. According to FoodAndWine.com, the packs sell for $17.50 in boxes of 5 or about $3.50 a cup and that’s before tax or shipping (I assume).
By comparison, I pay $21 for 12 ounces of single-origin beans every 2 weeks including tax and shipping and this gives you 340 grams of coffee that lasts 2 weeks and I end up paying $1.90 a cup for a volume that’s about twice what each of these bags gets you so I pay $1 for what Blue Bottle is selling for $3.50. Over the course of a year, this program costs $1200 and mine costs $500. With that $700 you saved, you can buy two insanely awesome coffee grinders every year and throw them in the trash after 12 months and still save money.
I know this program isn’t for me but my problem with is is that every single online retailer that offers pre-ground beans doesn’t charge double for the process. Blue Bottle is spending more in packaging by making these individual servings. My guess is a lot of companies are going to buy these for employees as single-serving coffees and a lot of people who don’t know any better will go for this. The pricing is downright outrageous.
Then again, I’m a guy with an Espresso grinder, pour-over grinder and hand-grinder that work great.
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On the topic of Blue Bottle supposedly eliminating what makes pre-grinding so awful, I’ll be making this cup tomorrow to see. I’ve been drinking Bella Donovan for years and there’s no way Blue Bottle can avoid using some kind of chemical preservative and yet keep the aromatics / essential oils in and oxidation out. I highly doubt this will come anywhere close to grinding before brewing.
