Angels' Cup
Angels' Cup is a direct-to-consumer blind coffee tasting subscription service that ships weekly or bi-weekly unlabeled 1oz or 2.75oz samples from 200+ US roasters to specialty coffee enthusiasts in the US and Canada, with a companion mobile app for recording and comparing tasting notes.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersBrooklyn, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Angels' Cup does
Angels' Cup, operated by Pour Over, Inc. and founded around 2014, runs a direct-to-consumer blind coffee tasting subscription service targeting specialty coffee enthusiasts in the United States and Canada. Subscribers receive weekly or bi-weekly shipments containing four unlabeled 1oz or 2.75oz samples drawn from the company's network of 200+ US roasters; the company samples approximately 2,080 coffees annually to select the roughly 208 (up to 500+) it actually ships. Three subscription tiers (Cupping Flight at $27.50/box, Black Box at $22.99/box, and All Stars at $82.49 for three 12oz bags shipped direct from roasters every two weeks) plus one-time gift boxes form the revenue base. A companion iOS/Android app records blind tasting notes and compares them against roastmaster-authored notes and the broader community, while a separate Roastmaster Notes web portal enables roaster partners to publish professional tasting notes.
The business is monetized entirely through subscription and gift-box e-commerce on angelscup.com, with no retail or wholesale channel. Customer acquisition is product-led and community-led: a quiz-based onboarding flow on the website funnels visitors into the subscription funnel, while a Coffee Hunters podcast, blog content, an active Facebook group, and four city-level Meetup chapters (NYC, Atlanta, Philly, Bay Area) drive top-of-funnel awareness and word-of-mouth. Subscription billing and fulfillment are operationalized through Recharge Payments. Headcount is reported at 1–10 with a meaningful remote share, the company is privately held with no disclosed venture funding, and Jeff Borack serves as co-founder and CEO.
The competitive premise is the elimination of brand bias through blind tasting, combined with a crowdsourced curation mechanism (All Stars) that surfaces top-rated coffees based on aggregated community assessments. Press coverage in GQ, Eater, USA Today, Uncrate, Gear Patrol, Cool Material, Trend Hunter, and Urban Daddy provides earned-media validation, but the company operates without publicly disclosed revenue, subscriber count, or funding metrics.
Angels' Cup firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Angels' Cup
- Legal name
- Pour Over, Inc.
- Website
- https://angelscup.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Angels' Cup is a direct-to-consumer blind coffee tasting subscription service that ships weekly or bi-weekly unlabeled 1oz or 2.75oz samples from 200+ US roasters to specialty coffee enthusiasts in the US and Canada, with a companion mobile app for recording and comparing tasting notes.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Angels' Cup industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Specialty Coffee Subscription
- NAICS
- Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Coffee, Tea & Cacao Experiences (Roastery Tours, Tastings) (THAJAGAH)
Keywords
Where Angels' Cup is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brooklyn
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Angels' Cup business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Cupping Flight Subscription: Weekly or bi-weekly subscription delivering four 1oz coffee samples for blind tasting. Base subscription with option to prepay for multiple shipments at discounted rates.
- Black Box Subscription: Subscription delivering four 2.75oz coffee samples for blind tasting, providing larger sample sizes than Cupping Flight for more thorough evaluation.
- All Stars Subscription: Weekly or bi-weekly subscription shipping 12oz full bags of community top-rated coffees. Ships directly from roasters to maximize freshness.
- Gift Box Purchases: One-time prepaid gift purchases of 3, 6, or 12 coffee boxes. Not a subscription and will not renew after order ends.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Cupping Flight - Pay Per Shipment |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Cupping Flight - Subscribe & Save 6 |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Cupping Flight - Subscribe & Save 12 |
| Subscription | Monthly | Cupping Flight Original |
| Subscription | Monthly | Black Box |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | All Stars - 3 Boxes |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | All Stars - 6 Boxes |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | All Stars - 12 Boxes |
| Subscription | Monthly | All Stars - Individual |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Gift Box - 3 Boxes |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Angels' Cup product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Angels' Cup operates a blind coffee tasting subscription club that curates and ships small-batch coffee samples from over 200 specialty roasters across the US. Subscribers receive numbered blind tasting flights (Cupping Flight, Black Box) or full bags of community top-rated coffees (All Stars), accompanied by a companion mobile app for recording tasting notes and comparing assessments with roastmasters and the broader community.
Product overview
Angels' Cup is a blind coffee tasting subscription club that samples thousands of coffees from hundreds of roasters across the US, shipping only the highest quality and freshest beans. The core product portfolio consists of three subscription tiers: the Cupping Flight (four 1oz blind samples), the Black Box (four 2.75oz blind samples), and the All Stars (full 12oz bags of community top-rated coffees). Gift box options provide one-time purchases. A companion mobile app enables subscribers to record tasting notes, compare assessments with roasters and community members, and track palate development. The company also maintains a roaster portal (Roastmaster) for partners to upload tasting notes and manage their featured coffees.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Cupping Flight: Subscription option including four 1oz samples for $10.99
- Black Box
- All Stars
Products and services
- Cupping Flight Subscription A blind coffee tasting subscription delivering four 1oz coffee samples per shipment, accompanied by tasting cards with roaster notes revealed after tasting. Designed for specialty coffee enthusiasts seeking palate development through unbiased, comparative tasting.
- Black Box Subscription A blind coffee tasting subscription delivering four 2.75oz coffee samples per shipment, providing larger sample sizes than the Cupping Flight while maintaining the blind tasting experience with tasting card guidance.
- All Stars Subscription A subscription service shipping full 12oz bags of the highest-rated coffees from tasting flights, curated based on community tasting notes and ratings. Coffees ship directly from roasters for maximum freshness, with weekly subscribers receiving 52 different coffees per year.
- Gift Boxes One-time prepaid gift purchases of 3, 6, or 12 coffee tasting boxes. Not a subscription and does not renew after the order ends. Recipients receive the same blind tasting flight experience.
- Blind Tasting Mobile App A companion mobile application that allows subscribers to record tasting notes, compare their assessments with roaster notes and the broader community, and track their coffee tasting journey and palate development over time.
Quantifiable outcome
- Try more than 200 blends in one year
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Angels' Cup
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Angels' Cup technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration1 record
Feature4 records
Angels' Cup partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Angels' Cup competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Blue Bottle Coffee: Blue Bottle is a leading third-wave specialty coffee brand with its own subscription and broad retail/cafe footprint — a much larger incumbent operating in the same specialty coffee category.
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Stumptown is an established third-wave specialty coffee roaster with subscription and wholesale distribution — operates in the same specialty coffee category but at materially larger scale and with deeper retail presence.
- La Colombe: La Colombe is a national specialty coffee brand with cafes, retail distribution, and subscription offerings — a broad incumbent serving overlapping specialty coffee consumers.
- Counter Culture Coffee: Counter Culture is an established specialty coffee roaster and educator with subscription offerings — comparable specialty coffee positioning and educational ethos, but at significantly larger scale.
Direct peers
- Mistobox: Mistobox is a coffee-of-the-month club that curates single-origin and specialty coffees from a network of roasters — comparable subscriber economics and roaster-partnership structure to Angels' Cup.
- Bean Box: Bean Box is a Seattle-based coffee subscription and gift service curating roasters from across the US — same curated-coffee-club model and gifting use case as Angels' Cup.
- Crema Coffee: Crema operates a specialty coffee subscription and marketplace featuring curated roasters — overlaps with Angels' Cup's multi-roaster curation and e-commerce subscription mechanics.
- Atlas Coffee Club: Atlas is a world-coffee subscription that curates single-origin coffees with origin storytelling — comparable subscription cadence, roaster curation, and discovery-focused positioning.
- Driftaway Coffee: Driftaway is a personalized coffee subscription that ships curated roasts with tasting cards and detailed flavor profiles — overlapping with Angels' Cup's discovery-plus-tasting-notes framework.
- Trade Coffee: Trade is a curated DTC coffee subscription that matches subscribers to roasters based on a tasting quiz — the closest direct analogue to Angels' Cup's quiz-driven onboarding and curated subscription model, though without the blind-tasting methodology.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Angels' Cup social profiles
Digital presenceAngels' Cup financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Angels' Cup leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Angels' Cup funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Angels' Cup M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Angels' Cup
What does Angels' Cup do?
Angels' Cup operates a blind coffee tasting subscription club that curates and ships small-batch coffee samples from over 200 specialty roasters across the US. Subscribers receive numbered blind tasting flights (Cupping Flight, Black Box) or full bags of community top-rated coffees (All Stars), accompanied by a companion mobile app for recording tasting notes and comparing assessments with roastmasters and the broader community.
Is Angels' Cup a public or private company?
Angels' Cup is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Angels' Cup founded?
Angels' Cup was founded in 2014. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Angels' Cup based?
Angels' Cup is headquartered in Brooklyn, United States, in the North America region.
How does Angels' Cup make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Cupping Flight Subscription is the primary driver. The others are black Box Subscription, all Stars Subscription and gift Box Purchases.
Who are Angels' Cup's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Blue Bottle Coffee, Stumptown Coffee Roasters, La Colombe and Counter Culture Coffee. Direct peers are Mistobox, Bean Box, Crema Coffee, Atlas Coffee Club, Driftaway Coffee and Trade Coffee.
Does Angels' Cup have an API?
No public API is recorded for Angels' Cup.
What industry is Angels' Cup in?
Angels' Cup's product category is Specialty Coffee Subscription. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJAGAH, Coffee, Tea & Cacao Experiences (Roastery Tours, Tastings). Its NAICS code is 722515 and its SIC code is 5810.