The world of chocolate is dominated by the easy access to low-quality chocolates found on the shelves of most supermarkets. Often packed full of cocoa butter, emulsifiers and other unnecessary ingredients, they diverge away from how chocolate really tastes.
Bean Bar You lets you, or a friend / loved one, rediscover real chocolate.
At least, that’s what they promise, as Australia’s first independent chocolate subscription service.
I’ll explore their service, the chocolate, and the hit to your wallet throughout this Bean Bar You review.
Bean Bar You Chocolate Subscription Review
Summary
The perfect way to explore new chocolate producers, flavours, and textures. Incredibly well packaged and presented boxed, making Bean Bar You an incredible gift or treat for yourself.
Overall
-
Ordering - Website - 7/10
7/10
-
Products - Quality & Experience - 10/10
10/10
-
Ordering - Delivery - 7/10
7/10
-
Value For Money - 9/10
9/10
Pros
- Explore chocolate you won’t have tried before.
- Access bars that can’t otherwise be purchased in Australia.
- Well packaged and presented.
Cons
- Mostly focussed on dark chocolates.
- Hard to get to the free shipping threshold.
Explore Bean Bar YouCheck out their subscription options
Bean Bar You is Australian founded and run by Alison Pearce and Chris Brown. Their mission is to make craft chocolate more available to consumers across Australia. Since starting in 2016, they’ve sent out over 500 unique bars so they really know what they’re talking about.
All I can think is that tasting chocolate must be a terribly hard job.
Contents
Getting Started with Bean Bar You
The premise of Bean Bar You is simple. Subscribe to their chocolate box and you’ll receive 4 full-sized bars of chocolate every month, delivered to your doorstep. Each chocolate is hand-selected from boutique producers across the world.
One awesome note is that each box always contains at least one bar from an Australian chocolate producer. Immediately, I felt more knowledgeable about Australia’s chocolate industry. They even have this awesome list of Australian chocolate makers.
The website is simple and easy to use, albeit a bit basic and occasionally has out-of-date information.
Their subscription is the primary product. You can subscribe to any mix of dark or milk chocolates:
- All Dark
- Mixed
- All Milk
There’s also a unique subscription option for vegan chocolates that contain no milk or honey. This is a great offering to cater for all different kinds of dietary needs.
How is it delivered?
Like most food subscription services, Bean Bar You post their monthly boxes at the start of each month (the first Monday). This means they confirm orders and take payment on the 20th day of the previous month.
Unfortunately, if you order after the 20th you may have to wait for over a month before getting your first box. It’s a bit painful as a customer, but I understand they need to have this policy to manage their business.
In good news, Bean Bar You will deliver anywhere in Australia.
My Bean Bar You Subscription Box
My box arrived as expected at the start of the month, packaged into a small but weighty little cardboard box. I thought it was really tastefully branded.
The size of the box is definitely deceptive for the amount of chocolate you receive. Your box will naturally have a different selection of chocolates, however you can understand the type of bars you’ll get with a Bean Bar You subscription.
I opted for a mixed box, with a preference for dark chocolate. So, I received 3 dark chocolate bars and 1 milk chocolate bar. These were:
- Crow & Moss Camino Verde 70%
- Tobago Estates 70%
- Atypic 55%
- Marou Ba Ria 76%
Firstly, can we all appreciate how beautiful the packaging is on these artisan chocolates. They’re so unique and definitely form part of the experience.
With each chocolate comes a short card providing more details about the bar, its origin, and its producer. These definitely come in handy when trying to understand the complex flavours that are present in each bar.
Tasting the chocolate
Are you a chocolate lover? Do you know anyone who’s a chocolate lover?
I can guarantee they will love sitting down and tasting each bar, enjoying the flavours, and learning more about the types of chocolate they enjoy. I spent an evening with my partner doing some blind taste tests and exploring our chocolate tastes.
For me, it confirmed my love of dark chocolate and the complex flavours it brings. These bars even started to convert my partner who was previously only obsessed with milk chocolate.
Top Tip: Pair this box with a bottle of nice red wine and you have an amazing date night.
Personalisation
On the back of each card is an empty tasting notes section, ready for you to document your thoughts.
Share these with Bean Bar You in their follow-up survey each month and you’ll start to receive a selection of chocolates that are unique and personalised to your tastes.
That’s a service you won’t find anywhere else.
I don’t think I’ve ever savoured every bite of chocolate as much as when trying these Bean Bar You bars. The experience changes when you’re trying to find individual flavour notes and textures.
Not dissimilar to a wine tasting experience really.
Cost of Bean Bar You
Each Bean Bar You subscription box costs $44.95 at the standard price. This price runs on a rolling subscription that can be cancelled at any time (before the cutoff on the 20th each month).
Unfortunately, there is no option to buy multiple months of subscription in one go. This means there’s no discount for longer subscription.
Shipping costs
Bean Bar You charge a flat $10 shipping rate on all orders, which is fairly reasonable compared to other subscription services. This is, however, an additional 20% onto the price of the box, so it’s important to consider.
There is an offer to get free shipping on orders over $70, so you can arrange individually to buy a few extra bars and receive free shipping. I’d like to see them offer a larger box that automatically qualifies for free shipping.
Is Bean Bar You good value?
The service Bean Bar You provides extends further than just the chocolate, as each bar is personalised to your tastes and hand-selected before being packaged and sent to you.
You’re also getting access to chocolate brands that can be difficult to get in Australia.
However, I can compare the price of purchasing each bar individually versus the Bean Bar You subscription box to give us a sense of value.
| Chocolate | Supplier Price |
|---|---|
| Crow & Moss Camino Verde 70% | $11.98 |
| Tobago Estates 70% | $14.65 |
| Atypic 55% | $12.50 |
| Marou Ba Ria 76% | $13.00 |
| Total | $52.13 |
It’s a rough calculation, however Bean Bar You is already 15% cheaper than buying each bar individually.
Add on the extra benefits of subscribing such as personalisation and access to chocolates that aren’t even sold in Australia, and I think you have a bargain. You can’t compare it to picking up 400g of chocolate from the supermarket.
Bean Bar You Review Conclusion
Who doesn’t like high-quality chocolate?
Bean Bar You is a great way of exploring different craft chocolate brands and flavours. At a reasonable price, you can explore beautiful chocolate from producers around the world each month.
Expect 4 great chocolate bars to try and useful information about each bar, packaged in a smart box.
That makes Bean Bar You perfect as a gift for a chocolate lover, or simply as a treat for yourself.