Blue Bottle acquires Tonx

[jgh]

I've been a Tonx subscriber for almost two years now... Not exactly sure how to feel about this, I hope it doesn't really change anything. I really enjoy their service, the coffee they send is always fantastic, and the quantity is perfect for my consumption patterns.

edit: I took a look at the Blue Bottle service just now. While the price point is half of what I pay for Tonx for the same subscription, it seems like you get the same bag every time? Part of the fun of Tonx is the fact that they send you stuff that they think is great from all over the world, and not just the same thing every two weeks.

[acmiller]

I'm a current Tonx subscriber, and I bought Blue Bottle when you could only get it from that hole in the wall on Linden Lane.

But for some reason this announcement still feels like a loss to me. It's probably my aversion to all those SF people who rave about Blue Bottle, but get drinks that drown out the coffee flavor with milk and sugar.

But it'll probably work out for the best.

[mikegreco]

I agree. The beauty of Tonx is that it's all about the coffee itself. No milk, no sugar, no dilution. Blue Bottle seems more about the coffee drink and less about the coffee

[mikegreco]

I'm really conflicted by this.

The good: Tonx is awesome. Blue Bottle is great. I can't imagine coffee quality will decline due to a merger.

The bad: Tonx has lost a lot of agility. Will great and potentially risky campaigns like the recent Starbucks campaign [0] still be possible with a retail infrastructure to support and worry about?

The ugly: Tonx brings to the table two amazing single origin roasts every single month. Blue Bottle seems to be focusing on expanding their digital presence with this deal [1] and at least in my experience, that is NOT what makes Tonx so fantastic.

It will be interesting to see where this goes.

[0]: https://tonx.org/better [1]: http://blog.bluebottlecoffee.com/post/82020818086/welcome-ab...

[xntrk]

I have been using Tonx for about a year and it has been awesome. Hopefully this doesn't change much about the service.

[coloneltcb]

I don't think it will in the short term.

This is a really smart move by Blue Bottle though. Overnight, they have a Web presence and a mail-order/distribution network.

[bradly]

Interesting. Blue Bottle already offers subscription coffee by mail. I believe it is cheaper than Tonx, and much better coffee in my humble opinion with the ability to choose your beans. I'm hoping the quality and pricing flows towards Blue Bottle instead of the other way around.

[prostoalex]

Tonx's selection is broader, with 26 shipments a year you get 26 different single origin beans. On Blue Bottle site I chose a subscription for a drip coffee maker and was given a choice of 4 flavors.

[jafoca]

I have been with Tonx since near the beginning and love their coffee. A friend of mine even worked for a competitor (regular coffee co.) for a while but I couldn't make the switch due to the lack of variety.

I just hope that Tonx won't lose it's laid back 'drink it how you like it' attitude in favor of the coffee Puritanism I experienced at Blue Bottle a year or two back.

[rubiquity]

As I've written on HN before, both of these brands have fallen out of favor with me recently. Blue Bottle is living off of a reputation it soon won't have, and local roasters have better beans than Tonx does, at a better price. For people that don't have roasters in their city I guess Tonx is a good choice, though.

[greesil]

You hipster. It's starting to get a larger following, so you can't like it anymore. Everyone already knows, quality doesn't go downhill until the stock is publicly traded. Then they start "value engineering".

[dailyrorschach]

I’ll be interested to see where it goes. I’ve been with Tonx for almost a year, and I really like it, despite having easy access to great local roasters, who I still visit. Tonx provides some variety and flavors, varietals that I might not normally seek out. I get the smallest possible shipment each month, and its a relatively minor expense that provides something new.

Will be interested to see how it inevitably changes.

[erikpukinskis]

What is your experience with Blue Bottle? I used to live in downtown Oakland, and would get a cappuccino at their roastery down there and it was spot on ever time. Amazing. I've been to their new location in South Berkeley and they made a really bad cappuccino for my friend, but I had a shot that was quite nice.

Just curious what you've seen.

[mhluongo]

And now we know that cash infusion Blue Bottle got is being put to good use.

[vladgur]

Man I wish these companies stopped assigning flavors to the their roasts and just listed them as medium, dark or light.

I like medium roasts, every other is either lost on me or is not guaranteed to be consistent between roasts.

[jknightco]

Almost all "quality" coffee is done at a light roast, as the more you roast a coffee the less of the actual coffee you're tasting. Anything you get from Blue Bottle, Stumptown, Intelligentsia, etc. is going to be a light roast.

[kenferry]

Seems like a merger one can feel ok about.

[hpref]

Blue Bottle -> Broom in Harry Potter (GOF, advertisement at world cup)

Tonx -> Harry Potter character

[jgh]

Explain please.