MistoBox

What's in the box: Each shipment is a bag of freshly roasted specialty coffee from an independent US roaster, chosen to match your quiz answers or picked by you from the catalog.

MistoBox, now branded simply as Misto on its website, is a coffee subscription that sources beans from more than 60 independent US roasters. Clive Coffee, the Portland espresso equipment retailer, took a majority stake in the company in November 2020, and the service is still running. New subscribers take a short quiz about how they brew, what they like to drink and how adventurous they feel. An algorithm then picks bags to match. Each coffee is roasted to order and ships straight from the roaster, so beans should arrive much fresher than anything off a store shelf. If you would rather choose for yourself, you can browse a catalog of 600+ coffees. The site lists pricing from $20 per bag with free shipping, and you can pause or cancel at any time. The roaster lineup is mostly small, well-regarded shops from around the country, such as a Black-owned roaster in Atlanta and a fair-trade pioneer in Traverse City, so variety is a real strength. The tradeoffs are typical of multi-roaster services. Buying direct from a local roaster you already like may cost less per bag, and quiz-based matching can miss, especially in the first few shipments. The marketing copy is very jokey, which some readers will enjoy and others will not. Overall, it is a solid, established way to explore specialty coffee.