Huh, cool. If you want to save a few bucks you can go with a stainless steel French press or a mason jar if you're into cold brews. You're symbolizing a different kind of status though.
This summer was sunny and hot in Colorado, so every morning I'd make a jar of sun coffee. I'd leave it out through the day and overnight. The next morning I'd pull it in, filter it, refill it with grounds and water and take it outside again. It was cool enough to enjoy and really smooth.
I use a moka pot. I don't feel comfortable calling what it makes espresso but for it's still pretty decent. If I had more patience I would do pour over at home.
French press coffee isn't so healthy either because of stuff like cafestols in the fines (small diameter grounds) that slip through the french press screen. To get rid of those you want a brewing scheme with a paper filter. The simplest no-plastic approach is a Chemex. They have a history and they also look cool as heck. Unfortunately, since they are made of glass, they can break if you're not careful. https://chemexcoffeemaker.com/
The Chemex can also be a little annoying because of the tendency of the filter to block the 'spout', causing the brewer to stall, and requiring a chopstick or straw to avoid. That said, I use my Chemex twice a week.
I mean, among real coffee snobs the status symbol is mostly not using a Keurig or Lavazza machine at all. Pour overs, Espresso machines, most status symbol coffee equipment is pretty light on the plastic already.
I think it's less about status or quality and more about a convenient cup of complimentary coffee in a waiting room that doesn't come with two ounces of environmental guilt.
This. Anyone serious about coffee who is not going with one of these machines purely for convenience and speed would not otherwise consider them in a million years.
Huh. They used to say they specifically did not offer a glass or stainless version because it would get too hot to hold/use.
Instead of a new $500 coffee maker like the ones in the article, that takes special (likely costly) presssed pellets of coffee, get a Chemex pour over for $50 and you'll never need another coffee maker again (unless you drop it). No plastic, and you can use whatever coffee you want.
The original founder sold the company and the people who took over promptly did all the things people asked for and he said no to.
The glass aeropress is way more expensive ($200 rather than $30) and is bad in all the ways he said it'd be bad. Heavier, fragile, and makes worse coffee unless you put some extra effort into preheating it. Looks better, though.
Can't say I really have a problem with them. Let them sell expensive glass ones for the folks who care about the look. I've been plenty happy with my plastic ones (including the travel set).
It's not actually glass but a different synthetic/plastic. They do, however, make a stainless steel version. A lot of food safe stainless steel products are coated in PFAS though.
Now I'm going down the same rabbit hole I went down when people started talking about using wax instead of plastic, trying to determine if something being glass means it's definitely not plastic.
It does look like things we recognize as glass aren't plastic. So that's nice!
So ridiculous we already have ESE pods for traditional expresso machines. We replaced the Nespresso machine in the office with a normal expresso machine so people can make bring their own ground coffee if they want but we also offer ESE pods for people who don't care but still want a good coffee.
I used to grind my coffee and manually make espresso. Years ago though I switched to an all-in-one. I was very adamant that it had to have ceramic grinders so that it will last forever. I've since had to replace some internal parts and I'm sure the display will eventually fail and not be replaceable, but those grinders are going to last centuries!
I'm assuming you've already noted in your will that the ceramic grinders be harvested from your coffee maker when everything's being sold at an estate sale otherwise what was the point of anything
> I was very adamant that it had to have ceramic grinders so that it will last forever.
I wonder about this - I've got a few 1Zpresso grinders - they're rated for 100-200kg of coffee, and napkin math says my most-used one has probably done about 70kg to date. At grinder prices and my age though, not sure I'd ever come out ahead with BIFL burrs though.
No ceramic burr grinders make comparable coffee to steel burrs. They’re all worse. Enjoy your steel burrs and don’t overthink it. Even “worn out” I bet they will taste better than ceramic burrs.
I would enjoy a plastic-free drip machine with a thermal carafe for convenient large batches. For now, been enjoying a stainless steel french press and pour over.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but even the $10k slayer espresso machine has a plastic water resevoir. Granted the brewing assembly is mostly plastic free.
While I sympathize with the sentiment to eliminate plastic from the transport chain for anything ingestible, it's practically impossible in the modern world.
Simple is usually best; glass or ceramic pour over, stainless press, or even the traditional South American coffee sock[0]
This sort of defeatism is why people don't try. Consumers can shift products through purchase behaviors. We're already seeing improvements in kitchen appliances and gear, cosmetics, some outdoor gear.
A small subset of coffee drinkers might produce a purchase trend that leads to a brief production of an overpriced coffee machine which still ends up being produced in the cheapest, dirtiest country they can get away with. The rest do not care and never will.
Believe it or not, lawsuits and regulations are much more effective. Consumer behavior rarely moves the needle. It may make you feel better, but you can’t consume your way to a better world.
Conspicuous consumption has many forms, “ethical” consumerism is just the latest variation.
Would love to see some research on this. My libertarian friends are a dog with a bone in their belief that our individual dollar-votes are the foremost and correct way we shape the economic landscape. I can’t imagine how anyone arrives there from research or history or experience, but I guess it keeps their Ayn Rand-ian ambition fired up.
That being said i wish they were right. I pay a premium for organic and farmers market. As well as plastic free everything. It feels good to support those businesses, but they are still mostly just getting by.
Beyond lawsuits and regulations - I’ve personally seen what Europe is doing to deploy financial programs for transitions to, for example, regenerative farming. It really works. With the extra funds/financing, farms are able to plan 2-5 year payback instead 10+. The incentive alignment makes a huge difference.
When I drank coffee I would use a Hario V60. Avoiding plastic is trivial (and cheap). $40-50 for the entire setup. I preferred to waste my money on expensive beans instead.
Typical paper cups that are used to serve coffee produce massively more plastic particles and they are more toxic. One cup per years exceeds what whole year of coffee make plastic releases..
plastic coffee maker: 20 particles
paper cup : 25000 particle
They do when they are at work. People don't carry a tumbler when they go to the movies. There are starbuck's what do you call groupies and alike. The pods produce a lot of micro plastic too.
Years ago I looked for all stainless coffee maker and even the most expensive ones had plastic parts. The drip mechanism for all of them had plastic parts. I don't know if they have changed or not.
Nope! The number of jokes I get at the office coffee machine (well the nespresso next to it) with my shot glass, you wouldn't believe. btw anyone tried the seaweed sphere capsules? :-)
Do people take pods coffee seriously? If you want to signal true status with coffee you pull your roasted coffee beans from a very exotic place, ground them in your very expensive stainless steel manual grinder and make a very strong, very flavorful espresso in your generic chinese espresso machine (that steo is just heat, water and pressure, no need to go overboard there).
In the hinterlands we use a variable speed drill, a Hilti at this level, to power our manual grinder for the roasted exotic beans before using a stainless steel Alessi moka pot for our coffee.
No sense using our hands to belabor the point when grinding.
I have a Technivorm Moccamaster KBG-V and they use good plastic for their parts but it's still plastic (except the thermal carafe etc). There's a new copycat version that's all glass and plastic (Simply Good I think?) but not sure how it actually performs.
What I'm surprised at is that no one has made non-plastic drop-in replacement parts for the reservoir, basket, and funnel. The KBG-V is highly modular so it's strange to me that no one has gone this route. It shouldn't change anything significant in the brewing process or quality of the coffee.
I make coffee in an electric percolator. It’s stainless steel, the coffee never touches any plastic. People online say this is the worst way to make coffee, but it tastes fine to me.
63 comments
[ 5.0 ms ] story [ 54.9 ms ] threadThis summer was sunny and hot in Colorado, so every morning I'd make a jar of sun coffee. I'd leave it out through the day and overnight. The next morning I'd pull it in, filter it, refill it with grounds and water and take it outside again. It was cool enough to enjoy and really smooth.
Now I'm curious whether you mean a higher status (which I infer when folks are using such things) or a lower status (which I could also infer).
$55ish CAD total
Instead of a new $500 coffee maker like the ones in the article, that takes special (likely costly) presssed pellets of coffee, get a Chemex pour over for $50 and you'll never need another coffee maker again (unless you drop it). No plastic, and you can use whatever coffee you want.
The glass aeropress is way more expensive ($200 rather than $30) and is bad in all the ways he said it'd be bad. Heavier, fragile, and makes worse coffee unless you put some extra effort into preheating it. Looks better, though.
The expensive glass one uses double walled glass, so it’s not too bad. It’s $200 though which is ridiculous.
It does look like things we recognize as glass aren't plastic. So that's nice!
I wonder about this - I've got a few 1Zpresso grinders - they're rated for 100-200kg of coffee, and napkin math says my most-used one has probably done about 70kg to date. At grinder prices and my age though, not sure I'd ever come out ahead with BIFL burrs though.
While I sympathize with the sentiment to eliminate plastic from the transport chain for anything ingestible, it's practically impossible in the modern world.
Simple is usually best; glass or ceramic pour over, stainless press, or even the traditional South American coffee sock[0]
[0]https://perfectdailygrind.com/2016/01/coffee-sock-old-school...
This sort of defeatism is why people don't try. Consumers can shift products through purchase behaviors. We're already seeing improvements in kitchen appliances and gear, cosmetics, some outdoor gear.
Conspicuous consumption has many forms, “ethical” consumerism is just the latest variation.
That being said i wish they were right. I pay a premium for organic and farmers market. As well as plastic free everything. It feels good to support those businesses, but they are still mostly just getting by.
Beyond lawsuits and regulations - I’ve personally seen what Europe is doing to deploy financial programs for transitions to, for example, regenerative farming. It really works. With the extra funds/financing, farms are able to plan 2-5 year payback instead 10+. The incentive alignment makes a huge difference.
Coffee was enjoyed for hundreds of years before plastic was invented. The answer is not to get rid of the plastic, but get rid of the machine.
plastic coffee maker: 20 particles paper cup : 25000 particle
https://getplasticproof.com/blog/does-coffee-have-microplast...
Years ago I looked for all stainless coffee maker and even the most expensive ones had plastic parts. The drip mechanism for all of them had plastic parts. I don't know if they have changed or not.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvktnHozAj4&t=71s
No sense using our hands to belabor the point when grinding.
What I'm surprised at is that no one has made non-plastic drop-in replacement parts for the reservoir, basket, and funnel. The KBG-V is highly modular so it's strange to me that no one has gone this route. It shouldn't change anything significant in the brewing process or quality of the coffee.
But seriously it's a shame how hard it is to find products like coffee makers and electric kettles with no plastic. Heat and plastic don't mix