You’re doing it wrong: K-Cups

K-Cup photo credit: Michael Dorausch, Creative Commons license https://flic.kr/p/9toKG2

I’ve been known to drink K-Cup coffee every now and then. I think it is way better than the normal worker joe that most companies provide as their free coffee.

K-Cups are consistent. You get the same cup of coffee every time. Not bad. Many of my family members have these machines and I find them to be very convenient whenever I visit.

That said, the convenience comes at a cost – in both dollars and in the amount of waste produced.

Do the math

As of April 5, 2014, a 12-pack of Newman’s Special Blend K-cups cost $8.49 at Stop and Shop. That’s$8.49 for 4.87 oz of coffee.

By weight

K-Cup math:

$$\frac{8.49}{4.87 oz} \times \frac{16 oz}{pound} = 27.89$$ per pound K-Cup coffee

And that’s not even including the weight of the plastic!

Compare that to a 12 oz bag of Starbucks espresso roast @ $7.99: $$\frac{7.99}{12 oz} \times \frac {16 oz}{pound} = 10.65$$ per pound of Starbucks. The K-Cups can be almost 3 times as expensive as Starbucks coffee by weight. …that would probably be ok if the K-Cup coffee was 3 times as good as the Starbucks (or insert name of other favorite here) coffee. By the Cup K-Cups $$8.49 \div 12 \space cups = 0.708 = 0.71$$ per cup of K-Cup coffee If one uses the same 11.5g of Starbucks we get: $$\frac{10.65}{16 oz} \times \frac{oz}{28.3495g} \times \frac{11.5 g}{cup} = 0.27$$ per cup of whole bean coffee The Takeaway K-Cup coffee can be almost 3 times as expensive as whole bean or pre-ground coffee. Why spend up to 3 times more? Would you spend 3 times more on gasoline if you could??? Using whole bean or pre-ground coffee can get you the following benefits over K-Cups: • (arguably) better coffee • you can adjust the coffee concentration • save$
• create less waste (think of the little mountain of plastic cups wasted every year!)

Consider using whole bean or ground coffee instead of K-Cups.

I’ll share my coffee brewing techniques in future posts.

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