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Single-Serve

 
 
 
 

I saw this over at Home-Barista, talking about a recently article that was posted in the New York Times.com  entitled "With Coffee, the Price of Individualism Can Be High."  The writer of the article is making the observation like many have done before that the price per pound of these single serve can be very high, if you priced out how much coffee was actually there you are topping out at 50 dollars a pound in a lot of cases.

Now obviously, you are paying a big premium for being able to toss a pod in the machine and press a button and presto chango you got coffee Batman. I don't think anyone ever thought that wasn't the case with any of these machines, and the writer is trying to compare this price with artisan roasters you get here on Roaste and else where that charge typically under twenty dollars a pound. Begging the question, why buy pre-packaged stale coffee over the really good stuff?

I believe that he is generally right in his assumption that people who are coffee drinkers on the habitual level should not own a single serve machine like the k-cup ones. It just doesn't make sense to pay a dollar or so a pod when you are drinking a few a day, just get a grind and brew if you are very reluctant to do any more work than you have to.

However, where I believe he fails to address are the type of people that only drink a cup of coffee a day or less than that. For them I think that the k-cup justifies an existence. Now are most people that own a k-cup machine in this category of people? I do not know, but since the cups are single serve they are going to keep a long time.

There are painstaking ways to get around this if you can only have a cup of coffee at a time and still want the best. Namely get yourself a grinder, kettle and single pour over machine and some mason jars to freeze your coffee into sizes that will be used in a few days time could alleviate this.

In the end I think it's a little judemental not to think that the K-cup has it's place, but I do think that there are probably people out there that could benefit from using another method of preperation since they are drinking more than one a day. And in that regard he is right, why not have a cup of excellence coffee fresh from the roaster instead of stale folgers in a k-cup!

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REVIEWS & COMMENTS

  • SURE

    Wakeknot | Mon, 02/13/2012 - 15:22

    I do think it very much has its place, but it is not directed at the coffee fanatics of the world who would be better served to put the money they save on beans towards a good grinder and machine.

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  • @HOONCHUL

    intrepid510 | Sat, 02/11/2012 - 14:00

    I think it has it's place but if you are drinking more than one cup of coffee a day I think you should look into something else. It helps my parents beceause they don't drink coffee a lot and a pod is fresher than a half open stale can of 2 month old coffee.

  • @SON TON

    intrepid510 | Sat, 02/11/2012 - 13:59

    I know can you believe that? 50 dollars a pound is a lot for being able to just toss a pod or a cup in.

  • FOR SURE THE PRICE OF

    hoonchul | Fri, 02/10/2012 - 11:03

    For sure the price of convenience is high. And some people I work with think that single-serve machines make the best coffee in the world. For them the machine would be well worth the cost.

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  • WOW $50/LB

    Son Ton | Thu, 02/09/2012 - 21:56

    Wow fifty dollar a pound can buy me some really good roasted coffee here on Roaste, Hawaiian or some COE stuffs.

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  • @AVASERFI

    intrepid510 | Thu, 02/09/2012 - 11:49

    Well I don't think he is ignoring the convenience factor, but that there are really some better alternatives if you can take the extra few minutes in the morning.

  • @GMAN

    intrepid510 | Thu, 02/09/2012 - 11:48

    I think you bring up some really good points and go against some the things that he was trying to rationalize against. Obviously, you could just have an auto dripper and some flavored syrups for your wife. However, I am not sure how much coffee you go through because a quarter to half used pot of coffee is pretty wasteful.

  • @JBVIAU

    intrepid510 | Thu, 02/09/2012 - 11:45

    Well if your partner likes flavored coffees you are probably doing something wrong! =P In all seriousness you are right there are places for them to be used.

  • SINGLE SERVE

    avaserfi | Wed, 02/08/2012 - 23:40

    A couple I know got a k-cup machine recently and love it. Prior they didn't drink any coffee, now they have a cup every morning. They also love the fact that they can do much more than coffee with the machine and plan on getting the refillable cups shortly. It really does seem like the author decided what they wanted to say and ignored the facts that stated otherwise.

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  • TIRED ALREADY

    GmanJenks | Wed, 02/08/2012 - 23:13

    I am already tired of these articles that ignore some of the basics of single serve coffee.
    1. I can get a fresh hot cup in under a minuted anytime of day or night.

    2. There is more to single serve than K-Cups.

    3. Pods offer an incredible selection of coffees, blends or single origins. There is no way with whole bean I could ever have
    6 different Ethiopian coffees on the shelf ready to go but with pods I can.

    4. With single serve I get the same quality of cup every time I brew, not something that is easily done with brewing fresh yourself.

    5. My wife likes flavoured coffee and I don't, without single serve we would need 2 of everything...

    6. The cost to fill my travel mug is essentially the same with single serve pods as it is with fresh whole bean using a CCD type device.

    Yes, I like single serve coffee and own pod, k-cup and nespresso brewers. Are they the best coffee out there, no, but they can provide a pretty cup, better than many local coffee shops and better than I could do without spending another mint on machinery.

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  • YES!

    jbviau | Wed, 02/08/2012 - 22:51

    Some good points. I have to echo what Chamie said about variety. What if your partner likes flavored coffee and you don't? Have a Keurig or pod brewer? No problem. Otherwise, you'll probably need *two* grinders, and so on.

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  • @CHAMIE

    intrepid510 | Wed, 02/08/2012 - 22:08

    No you're totally right and its something that writer failed to consider or think about, especially those refillable k-cups.

  • K-CUP COFFEE ISN'T GREAT...

    Chamie | Wed, 02/08/2012 - 18:37

    ...but it isn't horrible, either. We own two different single-serve machines, and they offer a few things along with convenience. As I've noted before, my roomie has trouble brewing coffee because a stroke and a congenital condition has left him with a weakened grip -- as in, he can't carry a pot of water safely, or even a coffee cup. The Keurig sitting on his desk allows him to have fresh coffee when he wants it without having to make a full pot. It also means that we can make a variety of coffees and everyone gets a coffee that he or she likes. Also, since you make coffee the way you drink it -- one cup at a time-- you don't end up with the rest of the pot sitting there staling, something I find even more objectionable than supermarket coffee. Even great coffee tastes lousy half an hour after it's brewed. And of course, finally, a My K-cup or other k-cup substitute allows you to fill your k-cup with any coffee you want to use...and diverts all those little plastic brewers from the landfill. Yikes! sorry... I guess I had a lot more to say about this than I thought!

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