Swiss retailer rolls out 'coffee balls' to replace capsules

[IcyPeas]

why don't people just use good, plain old coffee beans instead of wasteful nespresso or kurig things and.... coffee balls? (I admit I am a bit of a coffee snob, I buy whole beans and grind them at home - I enjoy a really good cup of coffee and if it takes an extra 2 minutes, it's worth it to me - YMMV).

Swiss retailer Migros said Tuesday that it is launching a coffeemaking system designed to replace capsules that produce thousands of tons of waste worldwide each year.

The cooperative said its spherical capsules — described as “coffee balls” — are fully compostable, unlike the plastic and aluminum containers popularized by its rival Nestle under the brand Nespresso 36 years ago.

Migros said its coffee balls are encased in a thin, flavorless, seaweed-based cover that can be discarded with the spent coffee after use.

The company said the CoffeeB system, which also features a special coffeemaker, will be rolled out first in Switzerland and France this year, followed by Germany in 2023.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/swiss-retailer-rolls-coffee-balls-replace-capsules-89389600

[elleng]

1. Dunno, I agree sounds foolish and wasteful.

Over the years I've changed my coffee prep method, but never used keurig or similar stuff; my daughter did/does.

Now I'm back to melitta paper filters, but no longer grinding my own; grinders are long gone, due to moves from house to house.

[Journeyman]

2. Definite improvement over the Keurig waste. Now how's the coffee going to taste? . . .

And what sort of ecological disaster may be hiding in this innocuous looking option?

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Fresh grind has the best flavor

As for fully compostable, tried many times. I got a fork last year, supposed to decompose in 6-12 months. So far, still looks like a fork.

[Pas-de-Calais]

4. Coffee has balls?

[JCMach1]

5. Keurig is NOT coffee... That is all

I can't even

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Tend To Agree

The physics behind pressuring hot water (and steam as pressure reduces, given the VLE of water), leads to solubilizing some solids, which later comes out of solution. Creates a gritty mouthfeel. It's very different than gravity fed water percolating through the grounds.
Also, I notice excess bitterness with those machines, which is a problem for someone who drinks coffee unadmouthful.
I know they're convenient, but I don't like the coffee from those.
I know some people really like French Press coffee, but because the pressure applied is all subsurface, the over-dissolving of undesirable solids won't happen.
Yeah, there's actually science behind making coffee!

[obamanut2012]

6. Because my Nespresso original fits on my file cabinet

And I can make an espresso con panna without leaving my office chair, and it costs me less than a buck. My Moka pot needs a burner, my burr grinder was expensive and I wouldn't pay for two, and I can't use my Moka at work anyway.

Lots of folks make the Nespresso original caps, and there are also refillable ones, although the Nespresso espresso is quite good.

[fishwax]

7. it seems to me that the coffee balls would be less wasteful

Obviously k-cups are wasteful in terms of the waste that they produce as a byproduct, but IIRC they also make more efficient use of beans than more traditional means of making coffee. (A cup of coffee brewed through keurig requires a smaller quantity of beans than other methods.) Since you can measure the cost of coffee bean production not just in environmental cost but in human suffering, that seems like a pretty big deal. So if this product combines the efficiency of k-cup but eliminates the wasteful byproducts, that would be pretty cool.

[maryellen99]

8. I use a reusable k cup and paper filter nt

I use this

https://www.amazon.com/Solofill-K3-Plus-Compatible-Generation/dp/B06XKJF4S9/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=1LR1PV5RCLFDX&keywords=solofill+reusable+k+cup&qid=1662587630&sprefix=solofill%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-5

[TheBlackAdder]

9. Nespresso machines are not wasteful. You can buy foil lids and reuse a capsule 50 times or more.

.

It costs 10 cents per foil lid, 2 minutes of cleaning and refill time and you have a capsule
filled with any fine ground coffee you want. The cost for each refill is less than 25 cents.

.