Tavour experiences

I have used Tavour. The first crate of beer was good. After that, it was steadily declining. They say they offer beer which is hard to find in your area. This was true at first however after looking at the beers they offer for a while, they became more common and were actually more expensive than what I could get the same beers for at my local store. I also noticed that the second and a half crate I ordered, the beers were covered in dust and filth, which is a good indicator that these beers were neglected for a while and left to sit. I have since stopped using Tavour and don't recommend it for a good source of beer.

 

What I like about Tavour is I get introduced to breweries not available to me in Portland OR(But no Bell's!) Having Toppling Goliath and Allagash delivered to my door is awesome! After indulging myself in many offerings I'm now pretty selective, knowing what breweries I like and what I can get at home that is comparable or better. The biggest value to me is the overseas selections: Rodenbach, La Trappe, De Garre... some breweries you can get hear but definitely not everything Tavour has access to. The delivery service has greatly improved since Fall 2017. I will say, I have never before bought a single beer in my life with chucks floating in them and through Tavour it is a regular occurrence which makes me wonder if some breweries pawn off beers to Tavour that they might have a hard time selling retail. I now mostly avoid IPA styles except for selective breweries like Toppling Goliath.

 

Some cans are purchasable as singles. Some are minimum 2. It’s probably 50/50. I’ve used it a number of times this year. Pretty addictive product and it’s definitely nice to have access to breweries I have never tried before and would never be exposed to without Tavour. So overall I’m pleased and have done 7 boxes this year. That said, my cons would be:

Freshness: I probably drink 75% IPAs. Tavour tells you the can/bottle on date of every beer before you decide to purchase it. Super helpful. However as a freshness nut you are going to end up drinking these IPAs 4-6 weeks after bottling date, which is certainly not ideal. It just takes that long to fill a box and get it delivered.

I have a box finally arriving tomorrow that I closed out with Tavour on September 24. This is typical it takes 10ish day’s to deliver and I live in Vegas and Tavour ships from Seattle so this could I imagine be much worse if you live further away. In this box most IPAs were canned in late August or first week of September. If you’re a nut on freshness, you’ll be disappointed compared to buying from your local brewery or quality bottle shop.

Price: you’re paying an obvious premium which you have to understand going in. Generally it feels like Lower end beers under $10 per are marked up $1-$2 and pricier bottles probably marked up $3-$5. Then you’re also paying for shipping, which is less of a big deal at $16 flat rate. This is a premium, high end service so be ready to pay above market.

Unlucky Streaks: if you’re into all styles then this isn’t as much of an issue. The mix of beers that come available are probably 50% IPA, 25% stout / Barley wine and 25% Sour / Saison. If you’re like me and you don’t like sours / saisons then it can sometimes be annoying when you’re closing out a box trying to get that thing delivered as fast as possible to preserve freshness and you’re hoping to add a few more beers to it and then get days straight of beers you don’t like. Then right after your box gets locked up to ship, you get a streak of beers you really want so you’re forced to start a new box. This is part of the allure of this service and why it’s so addictive but also it’s very annoying. Theres a randomness and volatility of only 2 beers coming up to buy per day, which can occasionally be frustrating when you hit some bad runs.

 

I’m waiting for my 4th shipment myself. It takes laziness to a whole new level (open app, view/buy beer), and is a good way to try beers you won’t always find locally. You do pay a premium for convenience. As to freshness for IPAs, I try to only buy beers you don’t need to drink right away when I first start building my box, then aggressively load up on IPAs the last couple weeks prior to the shipment.

 

I gave up after my second purchase. Not fresh enough for me. That’s why I stopped trading also. Freshness. Now I just go to the source if I really want it.

 

It’s usually two per day. Sometimes it will be 1 or 3. More often 3 than only 1. So yes 60ish beers per month is a good estimate. There are combo packs they do once or twice a month. For instance, I purchased a three set of Fremont B-Bomb variants (coconut, coffee / cinnamon, regular) that you had to buy as a package.

There’s definitely certain breweries that pop up regularly. Clearly they have cultivated relationships with a number of breweries and get their beers regularly. Anchorage comes to mind, they primarily now distribute their IPAs only through Tavour outside of Alaska. You’ll get about an IPA a week from Anchorage that’s available to buy. A number of Washington breweries come up repeatedly (Fremont, Reubens, Matchless) no surprise since Tavour is located there. Adroit from Virginia, Drake’s and Barebottle in California. It’s a lot of variety though, out of 60 beers in a month probably 40 come from different breweries.

I think they do force you to ship a box after a certain amount of time. You can change your ship date by week, it closes out every Monday morning essentially and you can toggle the ship date whenever you want but yes I think 30 days or something like that is max you have.

 

I've been using them for several years and at first it was great because the prices weren't as high as they are now and the good / great beers could be had after a few days. Now the prices are much higher and usually the "great" beers sale out pretty quickly. The last time I got a box it was a big box of Maui Brewing Barrel Aged stuff that is amazing..

 

Just wanted to throw my two cents in here: I've used them three times for big stouts/ba stouts and sours that I can't get in my area and I'm loving the service so far. I'm weary of ordering IPAs because I don't see any canned/bottled dates advertised.

My local courier leaves a lot to be desired, but that's not Tavours fault.

 

It is purchased once in your box.

 

I got a Tavour box today, and a bottle was missing from the shipment (of course, it was the one I was most interested in trying). I called rather than emailed, and was immediately offered a refund or credit. Its the second time in several years that I've had to deal with Tavour customer service, and the first for a missing bottle, and both times they were quick to respond and set things right.

 

tried searching online for an answer to this...

what shipping service do they use?

also, I'm in PA...anyone know generally how long a package from them would take to reach me?

 

Ok, wondering if the courier in my area would be DHL

 

In California it is Golden State Overnight, so I think this is the case.