To find your favourite roast with a drip coffee sample box, brew each roast the same way, taste it black first, then add your usual milk if you use it. Write down what you enjoy and which cup you'd have again, then repeat your favourites before choosing your next pack.
Our family started roasting coffee in our garage in 2014. We founded Grounded Drops in 2018 with drip bags, and we roast to order in NSW, with the roast date on every label. This is how I'd use our Sample Box for coffee tasting at home.
Giving the selection as a present? Our DIY Christmas coffee hamper guide helps you choose what to include and pack it for one person.
Which roasts are in the GD Sample Box?
Our Drip Coffee Bag Sample Box contains 21 drip bags: seven Wayfarer, seven Nemophilist and seven Hodophile. All three are medium dark roasts, so this tasting compares their different origins and blend rather than a range of roast levels.
These are our tasting notes, not a promise that you'll taste every flavour listed.
| Roast | Origin | Roast level | Our tasting notes | Black or milk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayfarer | Colombia single origin | Medium dark | Dark ripe plums, cherry, subtle chocolate, fruity | With milk or black |
| Nemophilist | Kenya single origin | Medium dark | Full-bodied, pleasantly acidic, black currant, walnuts, cocoa | With milk or black |
| Hodophile | Blend of Colombia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala and Brazil | Medium dark | Not listed: taste it with your usual milk and write your own | Made for milk-based coffee |
Gadabout decaf and Bunji aren't in this box. Bunji is our Australian single origin, available in Pantry Bags and beans. If you're after decaf, browse our decaf range; Gadabout comes in Pantry Bags and beans.
How do you keep your tasting fair?
Keep your mug, water source, water amount, brew time and milk choice the same for each roast. That gives you a clearer comparison than changing the recipe with every cup. Start with about 200ml of water in total, including the first pour if you add a bloom, poured in stages. That's the water you pour through the bag, not the amount you'll finish with.
Use your normal drinking mug for a daily tasting. For a side-by-side tasting, use matching mugs and label them before brewing. Leave the same amount of room for milk in each cup. Measure your usual milk addition so one roast doesn't get a splash while another gets a generous top-up.
Use water at about 93°C. If your kettle can't be set, heat and cool it the same way each time; consistency matters more here than precision. Record how long your first brew takes and aim to repeat the same pouring pace and draining time with the others, without rushing a filter that's still draining. If a brew goes differently, note it and try that roast again before judging it.
- Open the drip bag at its printed opening line, unfold the handles and secure them over the mug.
- Pour water at about 93°C slowly in stages, letting each pour drain before adding more. Keep the water below the filter's top edge.
- Let the bag finish draining and lift it away. Taste black first, then add your usual milk if that's how you drink coffee.
Our step-by-step drip bag brewing guide covers the full method. For other home brewers, keep our brew guides handy when you move to beans.
Should you try one roast a day or compare them side by side?
Either works: one roast a day fits your usual routine, while side by side lets you return directly to another cup. Choose the plan you'll actually follow.
For a daily plan, try Wayfarer, Nemophilist and Hodophile on separate days at your usual coffee time. Write your notes before reading yesterday's entry. Then repeat the roasts you liked, using the same recipe, to see whether your preference holds.
For a side-by-side plan, label matching mugs with the roast names and brew each using the same method. If someone's home, ask them to label the bottoms of the mugs so you taste without knowing which is which. Note the order you brewed them in, since the first cup will have cooled while you finish the others. Taste each black, then compare again with the same milk addition. On your next session, reverse the order. We built Hodophile for milk, so if you drink black, give it a fair go with milk at least once before ruling it out.
You don't need to finish every cup to make a useful comparison. And you don't need to decide after the first round: seven bags of each roast leave room to revisit a cup you're unsure about.
What should you write on your tasting sheet?
Record body, sweetness, brightness, flavour impressions and how the coffee sits with milk. Finish with the most useful question: would you have it again?
Body means how light or full the coffee feels in your mouth. Brightness is your impression of its acidity; describe whether you enjoy it rather than treating more or less as better. For sweetness and flavour, your own words are enough. “Reminds me of fruit” is useful even if you can't name a particular fruit.
Copy this sheet into a document or print it in landscape layout. Fill in a fresh row for each tasting. Write the date, mug, water amount, brew time and milk type and amount above it, so you can repeat the setup.
| Roast | Body | Sweetness | Acidity or brightness | Flavour notes | With my milk | Would I have it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayfarer | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Nemophilist | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
| Hodophile | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ | ________ |
Try writing your impressions before looking back at our tasting notes. Leaving a flavour cell blank is fine. You aren't marking an exam, and matching our words isn't the goal.
How do you read your results and choose your next pack?
Look for the roast you repeatedly want to drink in your usual way. Your favourite black coffee may differ from your favourite with milk, and there's no universal winner.
If two roasts tie, repeat them on separate days with your usual milk choice. Give “I'd happily have this again” more weight than finding the longest list of flavours. If every cup seems too light or too strong, adjust your recipe and repeat the comparison consistently before deciding. Use less water if you prefer a stronger cup, especially when adding milk.
Once you've picked a roast, reorder it in Pantry Bags in 12, 24 or 36 bags, or in Travel Packs in 10, 20, 40 or 100 bags. Travel Packs are individually wrapped. Pantry Bags come in a shared nitrogen-flushed pack. For more on the packaging choice, see our guide to choosing drip coffee bags.
If you've got a brewer at home, choose the same roast from our coffee beans, whole for your grinder or ground for your brewer. Use your tasting sheet as a starting preference, then make notes for that brewing method too.
Quick answers: how do you taste the Sample Box?
What's in the Grounded Drops Sample Box?
The box contains 21 drip bags: seven Wayfarer, seven Nemophilist and seven Hodophile. All three are medium dark roasts.
Should I taste the coffee black or with milk?
Taste each roast black first, then add your usual milk if you use it. Keep the milk type and amount the same across the comparison.
Do I have to taste all three roasts on the same day?
No. Try one roast a day with the same brewing setup, or compare them side by side in matching mugs. Repeat your favourites before deciding.
Does the Sample Box include decaf?
No. Gadabout decaf is available in Pantry Bags, but it is not in the Sample Box.
What should I buy after the Sample Box?
Choose your favourite roast in Pantry Bags or Travel Packs. If you use a home brewer, you can also choose that roast as whole beans or ground for your brewer.
Richard