Help and FAQ

At Blue Bottle Coffee, we strive to provide products that you fall in love with every time you brew. But, we understand that sometimes things just don’t work out.

If you would like to return all or part of your order, please reach out to our Guest Experience team within 30 days of purchase with your order number and the item(s) you want to return.

We ask that you package up the items to return and we will send you a prepaid shipping label to send back to us.

Once the order is received and processed at our warehouse, we will process a refund minus a $9 flat fee for the cost of the shipping label. Items purchased online or in cafes can only be returned through the mail.

Can I return coffee products?

Coffee is perishable and our whole beans are roasted to order, so we're unable to accept returns on coffee. But don't worry; we're here to help! If there was an error with your order, please contact us at [email protected] within 30 days of your purchase. If you’re dissatisfied with your coffee, our expert Guest Experience team will help you track down your soon-to-be favorites.

What should I do if my order arrives defective or damaged?

Please email our Guest Experience team with your order number (or shipping address) and a photo of the damaged item (along with a photo of the shipping box) so we can assist you and report this to our warehouse and product team. We'll get you sorted right away!

Can I return Blue Bottle Coffee products that I purchased at a grocery store?

While we can't refund your purchase directly in cafe or online, we can offer a similar replacement product shipped directly to you from one of our roasteries. Just reach out to our Guest Experience team here and we'll ensure you are taken care of.

If the order in question is a subscription shipment or a purchase made while signed in to your Blue Bottle account, you may check on the status of any of your orders after logging in by going to the 'Order History' section of your account dashboard.

If your purchase was made as a guest user, you can track your order once it has shipped with the tracking number provided in the shipping notification email that is sent to the email address you provided at checkout.

Please email our support team at [email protected] with

• your order number or shipping address
• a photo of the damaged item
• and a photo of the shipping box

so we can assist you and report this to our Warehouse. We'll get you sorted right away!

We process orders frequently to ensure they get shipped out to you as quick as possible but once they are processed we can no longer make changes. We try to accommodate when we can but we can't guarantee changes, like cancellations or address updates, to orders once they are placed.

Our goal is to have your coffee passed into the hands of the shipper within 48 hours of its roast date.

Many coffees we offer have a limited set of days during the week on which they roast. Those item’s product pages will indicate either the next day that particular coffee will ship or an estimated number of days past ordering that the item will ship.

Otherwise, for those coffees with a M-F roast schedule, you can expect orders placed via our online shop will roast:

• the next day if ordered by 1:30 PM PST
• two days later if ordered after 1:30 PM PST
• the forthcoming Monday if ordered between 1:30 PM PST Thursday and 1:30 PM PST Sunday.

For subscription coffee orders, the roast date for your current or upcoming subscription order can be seen by heading to the Subscriptions section of your account dashboard.

A newly created or resumed subscription's order follows roughly the same schedule as above, and so will roast either the day after creation or resumption, or on the next available roast day after that.

Please Note: Our shipping partners (USPS or FedEx) provide estimates for shipping timelines based on best efforts by the shipper and packages may arrive later due to logistical delays.

Please reach out to us with any questions.

For all orders

We process all orders Monday through Friday. Our goal is to have your order passed into the hands of the shipper within 48 hours of when it is processed.

Webshop Coffee Orders

Many coffees we offer have a limited set of days during the week on which they roast. Those item’s product pages will indicate either the next day that particular coffee will ship or an estimated number of days past ordering that the item will ship.

Otherwise, for those coffees with a M-F roast schedule, you can expect orders placed via our online shop will roast:

• the next day if ordered by 1:30 PM PST
• two days later if ordered after 1:30 PM PST
• the forthcoming Monday if ordered between 1:30 PM PST Thursday and 1:30 PM PST Sunday

Subscription Coffee Orders

The roast date for your current or upcoming subscription order can be seen by heading to the Subscriptions section of your account dashboard. A newly created or resumed subscription's order follows roughly the same schedule as above, and so will roast either the day after creation or resumption, or on the next available roast day after that.

Please Note: The shipping dates provided are estimates based on best efforts by the shipper and packages may arrive later due to logistical delays. Please reach out to us with any questions. If this is a time sensitive order, we recommend checking out the selection of beans at one of our cafes.

Most likely, it's still on its way.

In our experience, when there are no tracking updates, it means the shipper has yet to scan your package but it's still on its way. We've even seen orders show no tracking updates right up until the date of delivery, so don't worry if you still don't see one a few days after ordering.

Our standard shipping estimate is approximately 1-6 business days for U.S. addresses, so if you haven't seen any tracking movement within 5 business days after your order has shipped, please let us know so we can help.

Sometimes there are mix-ups with USPS and FedEx and packages arrive shortly after it is indicated they were delivered.

If you don't see your order 24 hours after it was marked as delivered, please reach out to us at [email protected] so we can assist.

Items in your order may ship separately depending on what was ordered. For example, because not all of our coffees roast and ship on the same day (the day a coffee will roast and ship should be listed on a coffee's individual page), the items onsome orders will roast, and so ship, on multiple days.

Additionally, some of our merchandise items ship out of a separate warehouse from our coffee.

If you have any questions on whether the items in your order will ship together, just reach out to us at [email protected] with the items you're considering and we can help.

Our recurring subscriptions charge per-order. You can change any aspect of the subscription at any time and can also have more than one recurring subscription active at any one time.




If you’re the interactive type, you can head straight to our Subscriptions page and check out all of our recurring subscription options. Feel free to play with the amount and frequency. You’ll see the prices for each subscription change accordingly.




SUBSCRIPTION OPTIONS



Amount of Coffee:




We offer 6oz “Half Bag” (this size not available for our New Orleans subscription) and a 12oz “Standard Bag”.




Note: for different coffees at once, multiple subscriptions can be added. You can have more than one recurring subscription active at any one time.




Frequency of Shipments:




We offer order processing cadences of every one, two, three, or four weeks. Once orders are processed, they are queued for roasting. We aim to ship out within 48 hours of roasting and our shipping partners estimate a 5-7 day shipping timeline.




Coffees Avaiable:




We offer several subscription plan types and you can subscribe to one or several concurrently. See all the options at our Subscriptions page.

The Espresso subscription pulls from a rotation that includes our espresso blends as well as an occasional single origin we think works exceptionally as espresso.

Our standard brew parameters for SO espresso call for a longer pull than we spec for our blends, bringing out more of the bright and vibrant flavors single origins have to offer.

SO brew parameters:

• 20g in
• 40g out
• 200º F

Modifying settings on a currently active subscription is easy; You can change the amount and type of coffee, as well as the timing of shipments, all at your Subscription Dashboard.

Options Available

• Changing the amount per shipment
• Changing the frequency of shipments
• Changing the Coffee Type
• Changing the roast date
• Skipping a Shipment
• Pausing your subscription

Modifying The Amount Of Coffee, Shipping Frequency, Coffee Type, Or Roast Date

1. Click on “Update” next to the subscription option you’d like to change
2. Choose a new option
3. Click ”Confirm” once you’ve selected your choice
4. And you're set!

Skipping a Shipment

Skipping a shipment on your subscription cancels the very next scheduled order, while preserving your chosen cadence, leaving the subsequent order date in place. There are a couple ways to access the “Skip Next Shipment” feature.

Via the “Pause” function in your subscription dashboard

1. Click “Pause Subscription”
2. Select “Skip Next Shipment”
3. Done!

Via the “Manage Your Next Shipment” link

We present this link both at the top of the front page of our site, as well as send it via the “It’s Time to Customize Your Coffee Order” email, around 24 hours before a subscription order is placed

1. Click on the “Manage Your Next Shipment” link via the site or email
2. Click on the “Skip Next Shipment” button
3. Congrats: Your next subscription shipment has been skipped!

Pausing A Subscription Until A Specific Date

You can also pause your subscription and select a future resumption date of your choosing.

1. Click “Pause Subscription”
2. Click “Resume on” and pick a resumption date
3. Click ”Confirm”
4. Done!

We’ll let you know via email when your subscription starts up again.
Resuming, Or Changing The Resumption Date On, A Paused Subscription

Paused and want to resume early, or want to change the resumption date?

1. Click on “Resume” on the subscription
2. Choose “Resume now” to get your coffee flowing as soon as possible (you’re all done!) Or choose “Resume on” and pick a new resumption date
3. Click “Confirm” and done!

Subscription Types

Blends Assortment

Our Blends Assortment subscription rotates between five classic blends:

• Giant Steps
• Bella Donovan
• Beta Blend
• Three Africas, and;
• Playlist

Each coffee on the Blends Assortment is roasted within a week-long window, before we then move on to the next. Given this week-long roast window for each coffee, depending on the frequency with which you are getting coffee, you may not get the coffees in this exact order.
Espresso Assortment

The Espresso Assortment subscription rotates between four evergreen offerings and a changing single origin espresso selection. Here are the rotating espresso blends:

• Hayes Valley Espresso
• 17ft Ceiling
• Dandy
• Opascope

Just like on the Blends Assortment, each coffee on the Espresso Assortment subscription is roasted within a week-long window, before we then move on to the next. Also similarly, given this week-long roast window for each coffee, depending on the frequency with which you are getting coffee, you may not get the coffees in this exact order.

What you receive for your subscription order depends on where we are in the above rotation on the day your order is placed.

Regardless, our goal for both subscriptions is to switch up the coffee for each of your shipments, with little to no back-to-back repeats.

Single Origin Assortment Subscriptions

Our Single Origin Assortment subscription rotates through select single origin coffees on a roughly two week cadence.

For subscribers on our every week cadence, you’ll receive the same single origin for two shipments in a row, before it changes to the next coffee on the subscription.

For subscribers on our once every two, three, and four week cadences, the goal is to send you a completely new, unique single origin selection each time, with little to no back-to-back repeats.

Single-Coffee Subscriptions

We also offer single-coffee subscriptions for our classic drip and espresso blends, as well as for our New Orleans-Style coffee and Night Light Decaf.

On any of these subscriptions, your coffee will (by design!) be the same each and every time.

Just a couple notes:

For any amount-per-shipment chosen, each bag will contain the same coffee. For different coffees at once, multiple subscriptions can be added. You can have more than one recurring subscription active at any one time.

Head to our Subscriptions page to check out all of our subscription options and please reach out to [email protected] for any questions.

We don't normally focus on roast level as a taste factor because our intention is to roast each coffee to the degree of development we think effectively expresses that coffee's best intrinsic qualities.

That said, the bulk of our coffees are roasted to what could be considered a medium place on the spectrum, with our espressos being on the darker end, single origin coffees on the lighter end, and our blends being more in the middle.

"Freshness is key and coffee’s full awesomeness is fleeting.”

The bags that we ship our coffee in are excellent at keeping the coffee fresh by keeping out the three major factors of coffee aging which are light, moisture, and air. So as long as they remain unopened, your coffee will remain delicious for 60 days after being roasted.

Once opened, we recommend using the coffee within 20 days. In our experience, the distinct and complex flavors that characterize our coffees will tend to have faded after that point.

Store your coffee in a cool, dry place, away from heat and light, and either in its original packaging, or in an airtight container.

We don't recommend storing beans in the refrigerator and can only recommend storage in the freezer under specific circumstances (namely long term, uninterrupted periods). The levels of moisture present in the refrigerator and freezer can greatly accelerate flavor loss.

All Blue Bottle Coffee roasteries in the US are Certified Organic by CCOF, following all protocols and systems required to maintain this certification.

Over 85% of the coffee we buy is Certified Organic. Most of our blends are Certified Organic.

In our online shop, certifications are listed in the details for each coffee. In our cafes, they are stamped on the bags themselves.

Our coffee buyers proudly place a great amount of emphasis on quality and sustainability, both from an environmental and economic standpoint. We purchase a number of coffees from Fair Trade certified cooperatives; however, many producers decide it’s in their best financial interest to channel their resources toward continued advances in quality and sustainability instead of the expensive process of certification. We like to factor a producer’s efforts toward greater quality as well as environmental and economic responsibility into our purchasing decisions, regardless of their certification status.

Moving forward, it is our intention not only to maintain but to expand our efforts to search for the best sustainable coffees the world has to offer.

We source and roast beans that have great versatility across many devices, so the right method often comes down to personal preference.

To help with whichever method you choose, we have a variety of resources for your brewing edification.

Our preparation guides cover a variety of brew methods in detail. There are also a number of excellent articles on our blog, covering a number of brewing methods.

As always, we're also available through the magic of the internet to answer questions, give tips, and provide support. We’re happy to get geeky with you if your brew setup could use a little tweaking!