this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2024
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This is quite exciting in that it removes plastic waste. I see no reason why different companies can't make different shape ones to maintain their lock-in. I expect a knock-off market to pop-up, but that exists with plastic pods too. It's a step in the right direction at least.

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (9 children)

For fast easy machine single-serve, get a machine that takes beans. They cost about three pod-machines but they're worth it. The pod-machines are cheaper because they come with vendor lock-in for the pods, and they just profit more on those instead.

[–] MJKee9 15 points 2 months ago (2 children)

It's not as convenient, but a moka pot makes the best single serving coffee I've experienced. You can get a small version for less than $30. It takes me less than 5 minutes to make a barista level cup, and even the more expensive coffee is going to cost less than 50 cents per serving.

The only downside is the coffee is highly caffeinated--nearly espresso levels. So you're forced to add water if you just want a "cup" of coffee and it's more of an Americano-style. But the taste beats the shit out of drip or Keurig cups...imo.

[–] taiyang 5 points 2 months ago

Ah a fellow moka pot enthusiast! You tell 'em!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

I’ve never been able to get good moka pot coffee, but I’ve gotten good aeropress and french press coffee. I’ve got friends who swear by their moka pot and they’ve served me some excellent coffee.

French press, aeropress, and moka are all good ways to get single servings of coffee. It will always beat kuerig coffee, even freshly ground kuerig coffee.

Unfortunately, french press coffee is often silty, but if you are drinking kuerig coffee, you are probably also drinking silty coffee.

FYI, espresso has roughly the same level of caffeine as a cup of coffee per serving, granted a serving of espresso is a lot smaller than a cup of coffee.

If you want some good coffee you can get somewhat cheaply in bulk, Cafe Zapatista is great, ethical, and you are supporting indigenous mayan communities in Chiapas 😊. I get 3 pound bags every other month. Just know the bag isn’t resealable.

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[–] [email protected] 58 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

I just use the resuable pods. Can throw any coffee grounds in them, dump them in the compost when done, rinse, and use again. Have used these for at least 5 years.

[–] mean_bean279 40 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The biggest area this will be a win in is offices. Areas where groups of different people with different tastes gather and can pick a coffee that’s better suited to their taste. Having reusable k pods is nice, but when people don’t frequently work in there, or don’t realize a keurig is available they might not have one. Although I V60 everyday so this has no real personal impact.

[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Areas where groups of different people with different tastes gather and can pick a coffee that’s better suited to their taste.

Also places where people have different concepts of cleanliness

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Flashbacks of the mold infested coffee machine in my first office that just stood there for half a year with the old grounds still inside. Everyone ignored it and made coffee downstairs where someone else had to clean it 🤢

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

True. In my office, they provided a Keurig but you had to bring your own pods. I'd just fill up 2 or 3 of my reusable ones and bring those with me, but your point is definitely valid (especially for offices that provide coffee pods).

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago (5 children)

This might be a really stupid question, but if you're going to use reusable pods, why not just... Use a classic Mr. Coffee-style coffee maker that has been around for decades?

[–] hoch 25 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Because Jill in accounting has no clue how to make coffee, yet always gets to the coffee pot first.

This see-through abomination was the final straw before I switched to using the office keurig.

[–] rockSlayer 11 points 2 months ago

That's some sparkling coffee if I've ever seen it lmao, did they throw out 3 pots first before using the same grounds for that pot?

[–] Addv4 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Cause a k cup is pretty convenient if you just want a cup and don't want to clean the pot regularly. The main drawback is the actual leftover k cup, if it was made out of some thing that would decompose it would be a lot better for the environment. Not saying that the Mr. Coffee isn't cheaper, but I'm not paying for the coffee, so convenience ranks higher on most priority lists.

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[–] brlemworld 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I WFH and only make 1 cup for myself. I don't want a whole pot.

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[–] RaoulDook 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

So that's just using a normal coffeemaker basically - putting ground coffee in a filter.

I just use a normal coffeemaker, with good coffee. Keurigs are a scam IMO. It's really not hard to learn how much water to pour in and coffee scoops to put into the filter to make a small pot of coffee. Cone filter style is better than the basket style for that and for taste

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

Lol, basically. But it lets me fill up the pods and use it in either my single-cup coffee maker or take it to the office and put it into the Keurig there.

I guess there's the benefit that it doesn't require a disposable paper filter, though.

[–] homesweethomeMrL 42 points 2 months ago

Just to be clear, it was always "finally" able to be sustainable - it just wasn't profitable.

Now that they've saturated the market with makers they can "finally" keep the profits rolling with something that kills the planet less.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yes! We can finally buy our way out of unnecessary waste, and ultimately climate change, with this new thing that keeps us buying. Just gotta buy the ecological things and everything will be good.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I hear you and ultimately we all have our own versions of utopia. But it doesn't stop us celebrating small steps in the right direction just because we're not at our destination.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago (3 children)

Is it a step in the right direction, or is it a refinement to the sinister system that is sending us down the drain?

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Team Aeropress here.

Good to see Keurig try to cut down on plastic waste, but if they really wanted to make an impact, they could open-source the design of the pods so all the alt-cup manufacturers could switch as well. It may be counter-intuitive, but the more options customers have, the more machine sales and goodwill Keurig will create.

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[–] exothermic 19 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (14 children)

“Sustainable”

Coffee can, single piece of packaging for months on end.

Vs.

K-cups, paper, dyes, increased packaging volumes, increased energy in production, increased raw materials, 6 month shelf life = increased trips to the store to purchase more. Sustainable /s

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Make it sustainable in pod form specifically. Pour over, drip, French/aeropress seem pretty sustainable. Especially of you use a mesh filter.

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[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 months ago (1 children)

An here I've been making single serve coffee in a French press my whole life.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Ah finally a sane person. Why is normal coffee no longer an option? It doesn't even take any longer unless you grind it by hand.
And it's so much better.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Keurigs taste like trash though.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)

In Switzerland we got something similar, it's little balls though. It comes packaged in cardboard and you can compost the remains https://www.coffeeb.com/en-ch

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Oh, cool! How's the coffee?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It's actually pretty good, don't own a machine but have tried it a couple times. It's also comparable in cost to normal capsules.

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[–] Gallus2023 6 points 2 months ago

ESE pods have been around for quite a while now, and they've been a great alternative to Keurig.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Would like to see this for more than just coffee. Although, the knock off Keurig I have came with a filter cup thing that acts like a reusable pod, so I don't really need the single serve plastic cup pods anyway. I can just put tea, coffee, hot cocoa, etc in that mesh cup and then clean it afterward.

Do official Keurigs not have that?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago (7 children)

Noone else is using Senseo dosettes ?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I think I've only seen these in France, which is crazy because it's such a simple and elegant solution to this "problem".

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Senseo is everywhere in the EU. Personally, I rank it below homemade filter coffee though.

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[–] Sam_Bass 5 points 2 months ago

Good. Not gonna get me to buy one but good.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

All coffee pods are garbage.

Especially espresso pods. There's a place around here that has a 20,000 dollar espresso machine, that serves over-extracted espresso because the owner felt pods were easier or something.

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