You don’t need to be in Seattle to drink the finest coffee that Starbucks has to offer.
The coffee giant today debuted a new monthly subscription program that allows customers in the U.S. to order premium coffee beans made exclusively at the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room in Seattle, which opened in December.
The program lets people sign up for 1-month ($24), 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month ($288) subscriptions. Each month, Starbucks will pick a new “Reserve” coffee to make in small batches, and ship 8.8-ounce bags to customers within 48 hours of roasting.
“Starbucks Reserve Roastery subscriptions are — aside from visiting the Roastery and having our partners scoop the coffee right in front of you — the freshest, fastest and most innovative whole bean coffee experience in the marketplace,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said in a statement.
With the subscription service, Starbucks is hoping to reach coffee fans that prefer high-quality brew. The program reminds me of Bean Box, a new service in Seattle that ships four 1.7-ounce bags of fresh roasts from premium, independent roasters in Seattle once a month for $20.
Other independent coffee companies, like Portland, Ore.-based Stumptown Coffee, Chicago-based Intelligentsia, and Bay Area-based Peet’s also have their own subscription programs.
Starbucks, which plans to open at least 100 new stores that highlight the small-batch “Reserve” coffee beans, is also aiming to reach customers at their homes and offices with a new delivery service that will roll out in the second half of 2015.
Starbucks reported record revenue for the most recent financial quarter. Here’s a look inside the new shop in Seattle, which Schultz described as the “Willy Wonka of coffee.”
