People ask how a mother of three gets so much done, and for them I have one word: Coffee.
For years now I've been watching my friends get onboard the single-serve coffeemaker trend, but have resisted on the grounds (yes, that's a pun) that those single use pods are both pricy and creating a lot of garbage. I don't like waste. Owners of the Nespresso remind me that their pods are recyclable, but I still wasn't buying, because I don't want to have to go to Bloomingdale's to buy single use coffee pods, and I don't want to ship the empties back to the company (see greenwash alert). Anyway, I was basically ok with continuing to make very low tech coffee with the same little $6 reusable gold filter I've been using for a decade. I'd put this thing on top of a mug, put in some coffee, pour boiling water in the top, and voila: coffee. No machine required. I also have a nice stovetop espresso maker, that works very well, a french press, and a big glass carafe drip coffee maker. I have coffee making options.
But then I had a birthday, and my husband gave me a really thoughtful gift that I really didn't like (see article on bad spousal gifts). So I took it back to Bed Bath and Beyond, and got a nice, big store credit. I wondered around the store for a good long time, trying to figure out just how I wanted to spend it. I should be really happy about this predicament, right? I love housewares! I was determined to not use it for something functional like towels or cleaning products. It was a self-selected, replacement birthday gift and I wanted something fun. Predictably, I gravitated toward the kitchen appliances, and all those cool looking coffee making machines, which promised to solve a problem I didn't really have: making coffee. I went home and began researching (yeah, uh-oh). I read dozens of online reviews, read consumer reports and asked all my friends what they had and how they felt about it. Of course, every one of my friends swore by a different method of making coffee, so that was just confusing, and too much choice is really a terrible thing if you're me.
I think I can now make convincing arguments for every coffeemaker out there. I had just chosen a carafe-less, pod-less single serving coffee dispenser, when my friend (and coffee machine expert) Nicole convinced me that as the sole coffee drinker in my house, I should get one of the pod coffeemakers. "But I don't want to be a pod-slave!" I protested. I mean, I'm totally clear on the marketing gimmick. It's based on the old Gillette "razor and blades business model" ("Give 'em the razor; sell 'em the blades"). HP sold me a very cheap printer, and now I have to buy their expensive ink. I'm wise to what the coffee machine makers are up to. And I have ecological principles! What about all that waste? And then there's still the cost factor --- how much more are you paying per cup with a pod? I found myself standing in the isle at Target, trying to figure out if an 18 K-cup pack of Paul Newman's Coffee for $11 is a better deal than 10 pack of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf pods for $6. (answer: it's almost the same: 61¢ v. 60¢). And with no pods? If a pound of coffee yields somewhere between 32 and 45 cups of coffee, and costs like $9, you're paying about 20-28 cents per cup, so non-pod coffee is about 30-50% of the cost of pods, but I guess it's still much cheaper than spending $3.50 at Starbucks twice a day, if that's what you do now.
But Nicole correctly pointed out that you can buy refillable k-cups, into which you can put your own ground coffee, so I didn't have to become a pod-slave, or an eco sell-out. Good points. Ok, I decided to get a Keurig Special Edition ($119 after BBBY discounts). Besides being the only pod-coffeemaker with refillables, their K-cups are the most widely available pod, selling just about everywhere, and available in hundreds of flavors and types. Not that I want to use a coffee machine to make tea, but I COULD!
The Keurig was great fun for about a week, but then I had to admit that the coffee tasted pretty bad. Cant explain it, but this big honking machine taking up half my counter really didn't produce coffee that tasted as good as my old, pour boiling water into single cup filter method. So I went back to reading online reviews, and talking about coffee makers well beyond the point of enjoyment for any of my family or friends (except Nicole), and I decided I would exchange the Keurig for the CBTL Kaldi. Made in Italy by Caffitaly and sold under various names around the world, this beautifully designed machine makes both espresso and brewed coffee, everyone seems to love it, and it was on sale at BBBY for $99 (and with their 20% off coupon, $80). Also, I saw an explanation of how you can take apart a CBTL pod and refill it to use it again and again.
And then something amazing happened: Nicole messaged me that I needed to run over to the Coffee Bean on Sunset Strip for their National Coffee Day Trade-up event, where you just had to show up with any old coffee maker and they'd swap it for a CBTL Kaldi! So I ran home and picked up my 25 year old Braun coffeemaker, and brought it to them in exchange for a free Kaldi. Yay!
In truth, it does make delicious coffee --- much better than the Keurig. I've dissected the pods and have theories on why. I've also managed to refill the pods with my own coffee and it worked just fine. Does it make better coffee than my stove top espresso maker? Not sure. But it's pretty, and it was free, and I love free stuff. I also like not having to clean out the espresso maker each time, and I feel like a rebel when I Macguyver their pods and reuse them.
I didn't even need a coffeemaker, but now I have the Keurig AND the CBTL, and much less counter space! I want to return the Keurig, but not before I use up all the K-cups I bought for fun. And then I'll have to figure out what to do with the Bed Bath and Beyond credit again! And I've discovered a new coffee problem: I now have all these single serve coffeemakers, but what if I have guests? I traded in the big Braun, so I can no longer make a pot of coffee! I've been told I should get the Aerobie Aeropress ($26), or an old school percolator($68), and I must say I'm rather intrigued by the Pebo Vacuum coffeemaker ($80). Or I can just put a $3 Melita Cone filter on top of a carafe and not buy anything at all.
Except maybe some new bath towels…
I really need to stop thinking about all this but I can't sleep because of all the coffee!
