How Better Beans works

A directory for discovering coffee

Better Beans helps people discover small batch roasters in the United States and compare their coffees. The roaster is the seller: purchases, final prices, shipping, returns, and availability are handled on the roaster’s website. Our coverage is a growing selection, not a complete census or a quality certification.

Where the information comes from

Catalog information comes primarily from roaster websites and product pages, with automated collection and editorial review. Existing catalog descriptions may not yet have field-by-field verification. Missing information means unknown. Tasting notes describe flavor impressions; they do not establish added ingredients or allergen safety. Certification claims need evidence from the source or certifier.

How results are organized

Filters use recorded coffee attributes. Search can match names, origins, tasting notes, and other catalog fields. Default discovery ordering uses featured selection, information completeness, and variety across roasters; the selected sort can change that order. Featured is an editorial flag, not a scored tasting review, independent certification, or claim that a coffee is best for everyone.

Prices, availability, and freshness

Supported product sources are checked on a daily collection cycle, spread across hourly batches. Coverage is partial: unsupported, ambiguous, or failed checks do not become fresh prices or sold-out claims. A recorded price is a source observation for a particular size and purchase context. Shipping, tax, subscriptions, and promotions may differ at checkout.

Unavailable pages can retain last-listed prices and useful product details. A catalog maintenance timestamp is not proof that every fact was checked. We preserve dated price observations for future analysis; we do not yet publish a coffee inflation index.

Accepted changes invalidate cached catalog data through our refresh endpoint. A five-minute cache fallback refreshes on subsequent visits and may briefly serve an older response during refresh. Source collection and editorial review take separate time; changes are not guaranteed to appear instantly.

Corrections and responsibility

Better Beans is responsible for catalog inclusion, publication decisions, and editorial review. Automated collectors gather evidence; they do not approve public correction requests. An editor reviews the source and records the decision before a correction is applied. We retain an audit history for reviewed changes. A replacement URL must represent a genuine equivalent; temporary stock loss alone does not justify deleting a product page.

Send a correction with its source. Please avoid personal or sensitive information.

Commercial disclosures

Our disclosure policy requires paid placements and affiliate relationships to be identified where they appear. A featured flag alone is not a commercial disclosure. Questions about a listing or relationship can be sent to hello@betterbeans.com.