August 30, 2019 6 min read

Why Reusable K Cup?

Reusable K Cups: A Better Way to Make Coffee

Introduction

Do you love the convenience of a Keurig coffee maker, but hate the environmental impact of single-use K cups? If so, then you're not alone. Millions of people around the world are looking for a more sustainable way to enjoy their morning coffee.

The Problem with Single-Use K Cups

Single-use K cups are a major source of waste. Each year, millions of K cups end up in landfills, where they can take hundreds of years to decompose. In addition, K cups are often made from non-recyclable plastic, which further contributes to environmental pollution.

The Solution: Reusable K Cups

A reusable K cup is a simple and effective way to reduce your environmental impact. These cups are made from materials that can be reused many times, such as stainless steel or mesh. They're also compatible with most Keurig coffee makers, so you can use them with your existing machine.

The Solution: Weaver's Single Serve Steeped Coffee Packets

Weaver's Single Serve Steeped Coffee: Easy to Use, Delicious, and Good for the Environment

Weaver's Single Serve Steeped Coffee is a convenient and environmentally friendly way to enjoy a delicious cup of coffee. The coffee is made with fresh, roasted beans that are ground and placed in compostable single-serve bags. To make a cup of coffee, simply open the bag, place it in a mug, and add hot water. Let the coffee steep for 4-5 minutes and enjoy!

Benefits of Using Reusable K Cups

There are many benefits to using reusable K cups. Here are just a few:

  • Reduces waste: Reusable K cups eliminate the need for single-use plastic cups, which helps to reduce environmental pollution.
  • Saves money: Reusable K cups are more affordable than buying single-use cups in the long run.
  • Customize your coffee: With a reusable K cup, you can use your own coffee beans and grind size, so you can customize your coffee to your liking.
  • Easy to use: Reusable K cups are easy to use and clean. Simply fill the cup with your favorite coffee grounds, insert it into your Keurig machine, and press start.

How to Choose a Reusable K Cup

When choosing a reusable K cup, there are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Compatibility: Make sure the cup is compatible with your Keurig coffee maker.
  • Material: Choose a cup made from a durable material that can be reused many times.
  • Ease of use: Look for a cup that is easy to fill and clean.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a more sustainable way to enjoy your morning coffee, then a reusable K cup is a great option. These cups are easy to use, save money, and reduce waste. So why not give them a try?

Here are some additional tips for using reusable K cups:

  • Use fresh, high-quality coffee beans.
  • Grind the beans to a medium-coarse grind.
  • Fill the cup to the fill line.
  • Don't overfill the cup, or the coffee may overflow.
  • Clean the cup after each use.

With a little care, your reusable K cup will last for many years to come.

For the average coffee drinker a day starts with jumping out of bed and brewing that essential cup of coffee. Unless of course, you are older, then it is more of a slow roll out of bed and a stroll to the coffee machine. In the past decade with the creation of the K-Cup by Keurig, and Keurig 2.0, the process of making coffee has been simplified to the push of a button.  As of 2018, 42% of U.S. coffee consumers own a single-cup brewing device similar to that of a Keurig 2.0 coffee maker, and who could blame them because they are super easy to use with limited clean up.  While the usage of Keurig coffee machines and other types of single cup coffee machines may benefit the time it takes to produce a single cup of coffee there are certain aspects of these k cup coffee makers, specifically pre-packaged k cups which take away from coffee’s flavor and negatively impact the environment.  

When you roast green coffee beans into black coffee beans, gases, including carbon dioxide, form inside the coffee beans, and they go through a lot of chemical reactions. Complex carbohydrates are broken down into smaller molecules, coffee beans begin to brown, and a lot of water vapor and carbon dioxide are created. When coffee is roasted from a green coffee bean to a roasted coffee bean an individual bean expands to nearly two times its size and half of its weight. Once roasted, the coffee beans begin to degas. Degassing is when gases from the roasted coffee beans are released from the bean. This is why Weaver's Coffee uses a very expensive bag with a one-way valve, once we fill our freshly roasted coffee into the bag it degasses and seals in freshness. When examining a Weaver’s Coffee bag you can see that there is a small hole in the bag in the center of the one-way valve. This is intended to allow the coffee to be able to expunge the gas inside the bag, which prevents the bag from bursting. This also seals in freshness. 

This brings to light a flaw within the k cups, most k cups do not have holes for the carbon dioxide to escape. So, in order to prevent the pre-packaged k cups from expanding prior to usage, companies that produce k cups, or k-cups compatible with Keurig, are usually forced to stale the coffee to stop the process in its tracks. By doing so they may have eliminated the issue with cup expansion but they have significantly altered the flavor of the coffee. While the stale ground coffee may be easier to package and produce it takes away from the morning cup’s full potential. There are new discoveries and advances in the way we package coffee, and we know Keurig is committed to changing the k-cup packaging itself, including moves to make it 100 percent recyclable. However, the creator of the k-cup, worried about the effect they are having on the environment.

In addition to pre-packaged k-cups having stale coffee they affect the environment negatively due to their lack of recyclability.  "Coffee pods are one of the best examples of unnecessary single-use plastics that are polluting our planet," said John Hocevar, the campaign director of Greenpeace USA, an environmental nonprofit organization. "Many end up getting incinerated, dumping poison into our air, water and our soil.” In the year 2015 alone Keurig sold over 10.5 billion K-Cups.  Because the capsules are often too small for various sorting systems at recycling plants they bog down the entire waste management system. While Keurig continues to work on better recycling options for their K-Cups, they have realized that recycling is very important. The best bet for the concerned consumer is to buy an affordable refillable k-cup that is easy to wash out in your sink at home or highly durable and dishwasher safe. There are plenty of options available depending upon which k cup coffee machine you use at home. 

Whether it be before your commute to work on your way to class, the refillable and reusable k-cup is easy to use and tastes better than the store bought pre-packaged cups you can find at your local grocery retailer.  Plus, using a refillable and reusable k-cup will save you a lot of money. Filling up a reusable k-cup is as simple as opening the lid, filling it to the fill lines with your favorite Weaver’s Coffee selection, popping it in the K-Cup Coffee Machine and pressing go.  The removable lid makes filling easy, empty the coffee grinds into the trash, or into your garden or compost, wash out the refillable and reusable k-cup in the sink, and you’re ready for your second cup of coffee. Figuring out which coffees to buy for your refillable and reusable k-cup can be an enjoyable experience. We recommend buying coffee beans and then grinding the coffee to a #7 for drip coffee, but you may have to play around with the grind depending on your single serve coffee maker.

We have just launched a compostable single serve coffee packet that you steep for five minutes to get a delicious cup of coffee. See the single serve link at the bottom of this page.

 

Weaver's Coffee Michael Brown & Alexander Brown

Photos of Michael & Alexander Brown 

Listen to Alexander's music on Spotify. 

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0HmuIhtRQbKrN4mmINsKWv