The coffee industry is developing ways to make recycling single-serve coffee pods easier for consumers. If you want to reduce waste from your daily coffee habit, consider switching to recyclable or compostable pods.
One-time-use coffee pods are mostly made up of plastic, aluminum, or a mix of both. In a landfill, these materials can take up to 500 years to disintegrate organically. Reusable coffee pods for Keurig are a much better option. Here’s how.
Choosing Reusable Coffee Pods
While Keurig invented the K-Cup, other coffee machine makers rapidly copied it, and manufacturers began producing Keurig-compatible K-Cups, often known as pods.
A standard K-Cup is made up of plastic and foil (can be used just once). Small needles puncture the foil cap and bottom of the pod, letting in hot pressure water and brewed coffee out. Empty pods are trashed and disposed of.
Using reusable coffee pods, you fill them with ground coffee. Once filled, a reusable K-Cup delivers the same single-served ease and allows users to create their unique blend. Reusable K-Cups can even survive for years if properly cared for and hand-washed or dishwasher.
The reusable coffee pods for Keurig vary in capacity, material, and accessories. When choosing reusable K-Cups, keep in consideration the following aspects:
The Capacity of the Pod
A single serving of reusable K-Cup holds two teaspoons or tablespoons of ground coffee. Some K-Cups have multiple fill lines for different cup sizes.
Don’t be tricked into thinking that more ground coffee in the K-Cup means better coffee. Overfilling a reusable cup can result in weaker coffee due to water not penetrating the grounds.
Material Quality
The reusable coffee pods for Keurig are made of plastic and stainless steel. Look for BPA-free and eco-friendly plastic versions to avoid harmful chemicals. The stainless steel to plastic ratio varies the most.
Some variants include a plastic lid and frame with a stainless steel mesh K-Cup basket. These models feature a plastic lid but are mostly metal.
Stainless steel baskets cost extra, but they endure dishwasher heat better than plastic baskets. Every type, metal or plastic, can function nicely.
Size of the Mesh
Mesh impacts the grind and, eventually, coffee flavor. A fine mesh works better with finer grounds and has a richer flavor. It also prevents grinds from entering the coffee.
The machine determines the mesh size. A larger mesh works well with coarse grinds and slower extraction devices. A coarse grind takes longer to penetrate and extract flavor. A machine that extracts faster requires a finer grind, and a medium grind works well in any generic coffee machine.
Beyond mesh size, the ultimate flavor is determined by the grind, extraction time, temperature, and quality of the coffee.
Available Accessories
Accessories for reusable coffee pods for Keurig include paper filters and coffee scoop. Paper filters keep grinds out of the coffee, while a scoop measures the amount precisely.
Compatibility
Even within Keurig models, not all reusable coffee pods fit in all machines. Even within the same manufacturer, some reusable K-Cups may not fit all machines. Manufacturers of reusable K-Cups list machine compatibility.
Carefully select to avoid buying reusable cups that don’t function with your coffee machine.