Personal Product Reviews
Cometeer Review: A Money-Saving Specialty Coffee Source?
My relationship with coffee has really evolved over the years. Like many people my age (presumably), my first experience with drinking coffee with any frequency came thanks to the Starbucks Carmel Macchiato. Yet, when I wasn’t drinking sickly sweet beverages like that, I’d drink my coffee black.
Somewhere along the way, I found myself gravitating more to simpler drinks, such as drip coffee or perhaps an Americano before then taking an interest in specialty coffees. The only problem? Single-origin, pour-over coffees in cafes can sometimes cost more than those over-the-top lattes! Thus, we started buying whole beans of roasts we liked and making pour-overs at home… which, while tasty, takes a bit of time and somehow always creates a bit of mess.
Enter Cometeer: a unique subscription service that delivers frozen specialty coffee extracts for easy consumption at home. It may sound crazy, but it’s real — and I’ve tried it for myself over the past year.
So how do Cometeer’s coffees come to be, how do they taste, and how much does it all cost? Let’s take a look at what you should know about Cometeer along with some of my thoughts as a subscriber.
What is Cometeer and How Does it Work?
What is Cometeer and How Does it Work?
The Cometeer process and packaging
Cometeer works with some of the best roasteries in the country to source their coffee. Using a proprietary method, they brew and extract these coffees before freezing them with liquid nitrogen at -321°F. If all that sounds intense, the process is much simpler on the consumer end: all you need to do is pour the frozen contents into a cup, add 8 ounces of hot water, and stir.
As for how Cometeer coffees are packaged, each “puck” (as they call them) is contained in what looks to be a standard K-Cup but is actually made of aluminum. This means that the capsules can be recycled afterward instead of being thrown into the trash like most pods. Also, in case you were wondering, Cometeer orders are shipped with dry ice, so that they arrive frozen and can then be placed into your freezer.
Roast and pack options
When you order Cometeer for the first time, you’ll be presented with a (very) short quiz about how you prefer your coffee. This will help the site determine which of their roast options you should try first. However, you can always override their default pick by clicking “Edit your box.” You’ll then be able to select from these options:
- Mixed Box (light, medium, and dark roasts)
- Light Box
- Light/Medium Box
- Medium Box
- Medium/Dark Box
- Dark Box
- Decaf Box
- Half-Caff Box
Each box will include four selections with 8 capsules each, for a total of 32 pods.
One great addition is that Cometeer now allows you to select boxes based on roaster instead (we’ll talk about who all those roasters are in just a moment). The only potential downside here is that most roasters may only have two current offerings at a time, so you might end up doubling up instead of getting four different options. Luckily, the site will tell you that this is the case so you can decide whether that’s what you want to do.
Personally, I first tried the Light/Medium Box and ordered the Light Box afterward. Since then, I’ve moved to the roaster-specific boxes so that I can sample new brands.
Something I should note is that, while you may see example roasts in the photos, you won’t see exactly which coffees you’re getting upfront. Instead, in my experience, this will only be displayed once your order is ready to ship. This is because Cometeer is regularly updating its offerings. So, while you might not know exactly which brews you’re getting, they will fit the description of what you ordered (light roast, medium roast, etc.).
Currently, the regular price for a subscription box is $64 + tax and $9.99 shipping.
Roasting partners
By the way, here are Cometeer’s current roasting partners, as of July 2023:
- Counter Culture
- Bird Rock
- George Howell
- Equator
- Birch
- Joe Coffee
- Red Bay
- Go Get Em Tiger
- Klatch
- Onyx
- Square Mile
- Black & White
- Intelligentsia
Add-ons and special packs
While your Cometeer order will include 32 pods by default, you can add a fifth box (for a total of 40 pods) to any order for an additional $15. Previously, these $15 add-ons only featured Decaf or Half-Caff packs. However, Cometeer has since added a Barista’s Choice option, adding a fully-caffeinated selection to your box. Like with the rest of your order, you won’t know exactly which roast this Barista’s Choice will be until it ships.
Looking outside of the regular Cometeer packs, the company has also experimented with offering limited-time specialty packs. For example, in 2022, Cometeer offered its Stellar Series featuring a number of Cup Of Excellence winners. Notably, this special edition pack came at a cost of $100 and only included 26 capsules instead of 32 (two packs of 5 and two packs of 8).
I’ve also seen the company offer special packs from George Howell, Square Mile, and, most recently, Black & White. So, if you really enjoy what you’re already getting with your Cometeer subscription, you may want to keep an eye out for those limited edition offerings as well.
Preparation method options
There are several different ways you can prepare your Cometeer coffee — including various options for both iced and hot coffee. The first option (and the one I used most often) is to place my sealed pod under warm water until the puck is able to move around in the pod. Then, I put the puck into my mug, heat up water, and stir once the water is poured.
Alternatively, you can leave your Cometeer pods out to thaw, pour the liquid into your cup, and follow the same steps for hot coffee or simply add to cold/ice water for cold coffee. Meanwhile, the Cometeer pods can also fit into most Keurig machines, with the hot water provided by the machine doing the job for you.
Storage
As you might expect, the primary mode of storage for your Cometeer pods is in the freezer. There, the company says they’ll stay fresh for 14 months.
However, if you’d like to pre-melt your pods, you can keep them fresh in the fridge for up to three days or leave them at room temperature for 24 hours. This offers a bit of flexibility, although you’ll likely want to keep your pods in the freezer when possible.
Delivery schedule options (and skipping)
Something important to keep in mind is that Cometeer is a subscription service. However, you do have some flexibility when it comes to how often you receive deliveries. Here are the current delivery schedule options when you first sign up for Cometeer:
- Every week
- Every 2 weeks
- Every 4 weeks
Interestingly, while 4 weeks was the longest option initially offered, now when I go into my profile, I’m able to opt for an “every 6 weeks” or “every 8 weeks” schedule as well. I presume this discrepancy is just because Cometeer wants to encourage more frequent shipments at first but is willing to bend the rules later in order to keep customers.
Meanwhile, you can also adjust the date for your next order processing date. However, you can currently only select Mondays, Tuesdays, or Wednesdays for this. Still, this adds even more flexibility to what could have been a very rigid subscription product.
On that note, in some more good news, it’s very easy to skip a Cometeer shipment if you need to. In my experience, I’ll get an email about an upcoming billing, giving me time to head to my profile and elect to skip. I’ve also skipped two in a row now without any issues.
Canceling
Finally, if you decide Cometeer isn’t for you or you don’t want to have to remember to skip shipments, you can cancel your membership. This option is found in Account Settings under Manage Subscription. Down at the bottom, right next to “Skip Shipment,” you’ll find “Cancel Subscription.” Obviously, I haven’t gone through with actually canceling yet, but I definitely appreciate that the option is easy to find.
Gift boxes
Whether you want to share Cometeer with a loved one or you don’t even like coffee but know someone who does, you may be happy to know that Cometeer now offers gift box options. Currently, these start at $79.00 for 32 capsules (meaning they’re a bit pricier than a regular subscription box), but I have seen promos from time to time.
There are also a few ways to go about ordering your gift. First, if you know the person’s address and what you want to get them, you can have it shipped like any other order. However, if you don’t know the address or want to give them more options, you can have Comeeter email them what is basically a gift card so that they can choose their roasts and such.
What’s also kind of cool is that you can add coffee accessories to your gift to make it a set. For example, two Stagg tasting glasses are $40 while a Fellow electric kettle is $165.
I’ve actually used this option for a friend last year and was pretty pleased with it. Plus, considering that you don’t need to be a Cometeer subscriber to order gift boxes, this could even be a decent option for those looking to try the coffee without worrying about the commitment — although, keep in mind, you will pay a premium given the higher price.
Referral
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Cometeer currently offers a referral promotion as well. When you invite friends to try Cometeer, they’ll get $20 off their first two orders (for a total of $40) and you’ll get two $20 credits off of a future order (only one credit to be used at a time, limit 10 credits total — and it seems that these credits only work on regular subscription orders and not any specialty boxes you may order). If you’re interested, you can try my link as well.
My Experience with Cometeer (So Far)
My Experience with Cometeer (So Far)
The taste
Let me start by saying I’ve enjoyed the taste of every Cometeer cup of coffee I’ve had. Moreover, I can definitely taste a difference from the regular Keurig cups I’m accustomed to having on a mostly daily basis.
However, one thing that I was a little disappointed in at first was that I couldn’t really taste much of a difference between the different Cometeer brews nor pick up on the stated notes. To that point, I also felt like a lot of the listed notes for the picks in my initial delivery were fairly similar. Thus, I opted for a Light Box the second time around and indeed found a bit more variety.
Having now had several different Cometeer cups, I am finally starting to notice more of the differences between them. And, to be fair, I’ve never been great about tasting the notes the roasters say I should find in any cup of coffee, so it’s more of an “I know what I like” sort of thing for me. Because of this, I’m going to go ahead and blame my pedestrian pallet for this one. In any case, I definitely still enjoy the coffees I’ve had so far and do see them as a step up from the standard Keurig cups.
I will also add that one of my most recent orders from Cometeer — most notably the Gamatui from Black & White — is the best I’ve had from them so far. Plus, I also enjoyed the variety of the Intelligentsia roaster box I ordered delivered, including my first Cometeer dark roast experience. So, I definitely look forward to ordering from them in the future and continuing to try new roasts.
Price and serving size
The main reasons that we’ve primarily relied on K-Cups for our morning coffee are that they’re not only easy but also cheap. Thus, while Cometeer fits the convenience aspect, how do they compare on price?
Well, using some simple math, it breaks down to $2 per cup ($64 for 32 pods). Plus, in mid-2022, Cometeer announced that it would begin charging a flat rate of $9.99 for shipping, so it’s really $74 for 32 pods, or about $2.31. Granted, since shipping is a flat rate, you can bring down the price per cup a bit with the $15 add-on — a total of $89 for 40 pods, or $2.10 per cup before tax.
On the whole, that’s not so bad… but it’s still far more than the $0.25 to $1 per cup you’ll spend for regular Keurig pods.
What’s more, Cometeer’s pods are meant to be used with 8 ounces of water. While that’s fairly standard, I tend to get a bit more from the K-Cups I usually use. And although I could certainly dilute my Cometeers if needed, I notice much more of a taste difference between 8 ounces and 12 ounces with them than I do with other K-Cups. Thus, not only am I spending more, but I’m getting less.
On the other hand, if you’re comparing Cometeer to preparing a pour-over of specialty coffee, you might be in about the same ballpark — depending on how expensive the beans you’re using are, of course. Still, in our case, I’d say that the pour-over comes in at a lower price point most of the time.
Of course, a cup of single-origin coffee at your local coffee shop will assuredly set you back more than $2.31. And, it’s worth acknowledging that shipping must make up a huge portion of Cometeer’s costs. Thus, while this might not save you money, I do see it as a nice in-between treat, somewhere above K-Cups but below cafe quality.
Delivery Schedule
For as much as I’ve enjoyed Cometeer, the truth is that I don’t need to be drinking their pricier cups of coffee every day. Thus, the four-week delivery schedule was proving too fast for me. That’s where the skip shipment option has really come in handy — along with the ability to extend to an 8-week schedule so I’m skipping even fewer deliveries.
While there’s still the chance that I could miss an email and end up with a delivery I don’t need, I’ve been able to keep good enough tabs on my subscription status that I don’t feel the need to cancel and can just let my reorders go through when I’m ready for a refill.
Storing my pods
Lastly, one slight downside with Cometeer in my book is the need to (mostly) keep them frozen. See, while my apartment has plenty of cabinet space, freezer space is a bit harder to come by at times. In fact, if they didn’t need to stay frozen, I suspect I’d actually be more inclined to let myself stock up on Cometeer instead of skipping.
With that said, perhaps it’s actually better this way — but, for those with similarly packed freezers, this might prove to be a major drawback to Cometeer’s innovative product.
On the other hand, I have actually found some success traveling with Cometeer. According to Cometeer’s site, the capsules are TSA-compliant, so you could technically take a few in your 3-1-1 bag if you’re flying.
However, in our case, we decided to take a pack with us when we drove up to Chicago. Luckily, the hotel we were in had a fridge, so we could store our pods and then use our electrical kettle to make our morning coffee. Honestly, I thought this worked quite well… although I’m still not sure I’d try taking too many on a plane.
On that note, with that “72-hour in the fridge” fresh rating, you’ll likely only want to bring some pods along for a shorter trip. From there, I’d recommend that you supplement your coffee plan with an Aeropress.
Overall, I think Cometeer is a very interesting product and one I’ve enjoyed using so far. Compared to making traditional pour-overs — which require me to grind the beans, measure them out, and then wait for the coffee to drip — making coffee with Cometeer is much more convenient.
Alas, as people who don’t order coffee on-the-go daily and, instead, make K-Cups at home, we’re actually spending more to add Cometeer to our mix overall. Still, much in the way that EveryPlate meal kits have added some variety and a good “middle ground” to our dining budget, Cometeer is proving to be a nice once-in-a-while alternative to our other coffee options.
Of course, if you do subscribe, you’ll want to be sure to keep an eye on your inbox so that you can skip shipments if needed. But, if you’re a coffee fan and want to try something different, I think it’s worth giving Cometeer a shot.
Author
Other Articles by Kyle Burbank
Quick Tips
Travel Tips
Travel Tuesday: Transferring Points Between MGM Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy
Last year, MGM Resorts announced that it was breaking off its long-standing partnership with Hyatt... but then nearly immediately revealed a new deal with Marriott Bonvoy. At the time, I was hopeful that pact would mean enticing status matching as it did with Hyatt, but that sadly turned out not...
Quick Tips
