A box from the Podium Coffee Club. All images courtesy of Podium Coffee Club.
A new online specialty coffee subscription service called Podium Coffee Club is sending customers roasts exclusively from companies that have won national roasting awards from one of three different sources.
Launched on January 14, Podium Coffee Club promises one curated monthly coffee selected by Podium Coffee Club Co-Founder Sam LaRobardiere, a certified Q Grader and founder of Theory Coffee Roasters. Coffees are shipped automatically within 24 hours of roasting, and the Club requires no contract for membership nor any early notice of cancellation.
“Our goal is to take the guesswork out of finding amazing coffees from the best roasting talent in the U.S.,” LaRobardiere told Daily Coffee News. “The word ‘best’ is often used very subjectively and largely based on preference, so Podium uses results from the most reputable coffee roasting competitions in the U.S. to select roasters that can, with confidence, be referred to as the ‘best.'”
Currently Podium limits its selections to roasters that have won: either an “overall” title, gold or silver medal in the Golden Bean North America roasting competition; a first through sixth place finish in a US Roaster Championship (USRC); or a Good Food Award.
“We are also open to partnering with roasters that have won Roast Magazine’s Roaster of the Year award, as well as roasters that have been featured in Coffee Review’s top coffees of the year,” LaRobardiere told DCN.
The coffees sent to subscribers will not necessarily be the award-winning coffee, although the selections are not random. All are cupped by LaRobardiere for both quality and categorization. Podium Coffee Club reflects the shared vision of LaRobardiere and Podium’s co-founder, digital media and marketing professional Paul Piggott.
Subscribers to the Podium Gold series receive what Podium considers “crowd pleasers,” which are coffees of a more classic, chocolatey or caramely comfort-oriented character. Podium Platinum selections delve further into experimental processing methods, prized varieties and fruitier, more floral and complex flavor profiles.
The platform plans to expand further this year with a service called Podium Flash, which will offer purchase opportunities for rare and limited coffees via text message. Coffees for this service are more likely to be the actual award-winning roasts, or coffees used in other barista competitions.
Said LaRobardiere, “Our mission is to be a strong and positive voice for specialty coffee and bring awareness to the incredible roasting talent in the U.S. that may not have a mainstream following yet.”
Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here. For all the latest coffee industry news, subscribe to the DCN newsletter.
Related Posts
Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
Comment