Below is my translation of a recent article from Julia Calderone from the International Comunicaffe website about the disadvantages of capsule coffee. The article is aggressive. In some places even too much. We would hardly express ourselves this way, but, as they say, you can’t erase words from a song.
However, the article does make good points regarding the major vulnerabilities of coffee, primarily through exposure to oxygen. We've never used a Keurig coffee maker and it's a shame that they got such a flak here, but at the end of the day, we have our reasons for not drinking coffee pods. And many of them are explained quite clearly below.
Introduction
I'm sitting in front of me with a cup of coffee brewed using a Keurig pod coffee maker, and I can tell you with 100% certainty that this coffee tastes like a heavily aged and watered-down version of the fresh bean drink. It tastes terrible.
It may not be common knowledge, but pod coffee makers like Keurig have already made their way into the homes and offices of millions of American coffee drinkers and have actually become the second most popular brewing method behind traditional drip coffee makers.
The sudden explosion in popularity of capsule coffee makers is a paradox.
Of course, coffee gadgets save time on the preparation steps and cleanup, which is valuable in our fast-paced and stressful world, but in addition to the dramatically negative impact on the environment (if only due to disposable capsules), many critics support my opinion that The taste of the drink these coffee makers produce is mediocre at best, if not more like warm mud.
Three myths about capsule coffee: let's find out the truth!
Hello!
Coffeetime is with you, and today we have an important topic.
Anyone who has ever drank capsule coffee has wondered whether it is harmful? We suggest checking the main myths about capsules.
Why?
To get to the bottom of this question, I spoke with Elisha Nucci, wholesale sales manager at Cafe Grumpy, a small roaster in Greenpoint, Brooklyn with over 5 years of coffee experience. I also contacted Keurig, the market leader in capsule coffee makers, to understand where they source their coffee and how they package it. The company refused to answer some of my questions. Here are my conclusions about why the drink from Keurig and other pod coffee makers tastes so bad.
Violation 1: Grinding
This is one of the main reasons for the terrible taste of the drink from capsule coffee makers. Nuchi told Tech Insider that by the time you get a coffee capsule, it has already started to age.
Nuchi says what's most egregious is the fact that the coffee may have been ground days, weeks or even years before it ended up in your cup. At the same time, thanks to the preliminary grinding of the beans and packaging into convenient vacuum capsules, the buyer receives an incredibly simple and fast way to brew in a capsule coffee maker.
All you have to do is insert a coffee pod (in the case of Keurig, this pod is called a K-Cup) into the coffee maker, press a button and within seconds you will have a fairly warm cup of drink.
The process of grinding the beans immediately exposes the coffee to oxygen, triggering a chemical reaction that sucks out the flavor and aroma. The oxidation reaction causes the flavor and aroma of coffee to degrade - this is the same reaction that causes steel to rust.
Nuchi says, “It starts going bad right after you grind it.” Therefore, all baristas recommend brewing coffee immediately after grinding the beans.
While Keurig is attempting to prevent further flavor degradation by sealing ground coffee into vacuum pods (and likely adding chemical preservatives to it, although Keurig declined to comment on whether they do this or not), damage from oxidation may already have occurred. caused by the coffee before it is sealed.
Violation 2: Complicated packaging
When green coffee is roasted at high temperatures, a complex mixture of minerals, carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, lipids, water and caffeine fuse together within the bean, giving it the irresistible nutty flavor and coffee aroma.
Just like with grinding, the coffee beans also begin to suffer the negative effects of exposure to air and lose their flavor and aroma. That is why not all, but many coffee roasters recommend consuming beans as quickly as possible after roasting in order to get the freshest taste of the drink at the peak of its “form”.
Freshly roasted coffee poses a particular challenge to the packaging process because immediately after the roasted beans have cooled, they begin to release the carbon dioxide they contain, a process that can last from several days to several weeks. It is most intense in the first few days after roasting and gradually weakens in subsequent weeks.
Carbon dioxide itself is a major concern for producers wanting to pack freshly roasted and ground coffee into airtight containers as quickly as possible. The active release of CO2 from whole or ground beans can cause the packaging to swell or even explode. Many companies solve this problem by building a special degassing valve into the packaging that only works one way and releases CO2, which is not possible with sealed K-Cup capsules.
To avoid this problem with capsules, manufacturers will wait until the CO2 emissions finally stop, which can take up to 15 days, before packaging the ground coffee. Each day of this wait ages the coffee further as it is constantly exposed to air.
I asked Keurig how long they wait after roasting and grinding the beans before packaging them into capsules, and what they think about degassing, but they refused to answer those questions either. Given that the contents of their capsules do not emit CO2, it is reasonable to assume that they wait days or even weeks after roasting to ensure that the coffee has stopped actively releasing CO2 before entering the capsule.
Harm of gel capsules for washing
Laundry capsules are convenient and look aesthetically pleasing on your bathroom shelf, but sometimes you have to pay dearly for the convenience.
Laundry capsules look like bright toys. Very often, children reach for the capsules, play with them, and put them in their mouths. The capsule shell dissolves, and the concentrated contents cause serious harm to the child's health.
Gel capsules for washing also attract pets. Dogs and cats become seriously ill after playing with laundry pods.
Laundry capsules, even when properly stored and used, have a number of disadvantages:
- the price of gel capsules for washing is higher than the price of washing powders;
- After washing clothes with capsules, they acquire a persistent odor that causes irritation of the respiratory tract;
- Gel capsules are not suitable for hand washing due to the high concentration of harmful chemicals.
Sometimes the gel capsule does not dissolve completely when washed, and stains from the gel or undissolved capsule remain on things. In this case, the items should be rinsed again in the washing machine at a fairly high temperature.
Violation 3: Poor marking
What makes the situation worse is that, according to Nuchi, you know absolutely nothing about the origin of the coffee or the date it was roasted or ground. Therefore, it becomes almost impossible to find out how fresh and high-quality the product you received is.
I asked Keurig's outreach team about what beans they use and where they come from, and they again refused to answer.
A Keurig representative, who did not want to be named, said even Keurig employees don't know when a particular batch of coffee was roasted and ground. Each box only has an expiration date on it, which is the only way to ensure freshness (which doesn't really say much).
According to Nuchi, coffee can sit in a sealed K-Cup for months or even years before the capsule reaches your hands. And the complete lack of information about the origin of coffee beans makes it impossible to draw any conclusions about its quality.
“I believe that the less transparent their packaging, the lower the quality of their contents,” says Nuchi. “What’s remarkable about the coffee industry is that producers take pride in the origin of the beans and when they were roasted.” The absence of this fact from Keurig can only indicate the mediocre quality of the product.
Myth 3: Horror story about aluminum and plastic
So, the capsule contains the same high-quality coffee obtained from coffee beans, and this coffee does not come into contact with foreign substances. But it comes into contact with water during preparation, and with the material from which the capsule itself is made. Perhaps there is harm in this?
There is an opinion that aluminum from Nespresso capsules gets into the coffee, and plastic in other types of capsules when boiling water passes through the capsule can produce toxic compounds that settle in the water. We hasten to report what researchers think about this.
Scientists measured the content of substances in coffee prepared in different ways. In particular, they measured the content of aluminum ions, as well as substances that could potentially be formed when plastic (capsules or parts of coffee makers) come into contact with boiling water. It turned out that there is no difference between coffee prepared in different ways. Aluminum capsules are as safe as the aluminum pans or foil you use when cooking in the oven. And the polymers from which the capsules are made do not contaminate coffee with toxic compounds.
Violation 4: Warm water
Besides the quality and age of the coffee, another aspect that seriously affects the taste in Keurig coffee makers is the fact that they do not heat the water to a temperature sufficient for optimal extraction and flavor.
According to their website, Keurig coffee makers heat water up to 88 degrees Celsius, but the National Coffee Association (NCA) recommends water temperatures between 90 and 96 degrees for brewing coffee.
The association also believes that brewing coffee at water temperatures below 90 degrees Celsius results in a "flat, under-extracted coffee flavor."
Parameters of the right coffee
Good tasty coffee, its intensity depends on many factors. This:
- Water temperature. The optimal temperature is considered to be from 92 to 96 degrees. In this range, grains release all the aromatic and flavoring substances. If underheated, the drink turns out watery or weak, which means the intensity of the coffee is insufficient.
- Pressure in the coffee machine. It does not play a leading role, since the grains are not compressed, but are in a crumbly state, so a pressure of 3 bar is sufficient.
- The type of grain is a direct indication of taste.
- Grinding degree. The larger the particles, the lower the temperature and the higher the extraction rate, the worse the taste will be.
- Packaging material. If low-quality raw materials are used, a foreign taste may be added to the coffee, which will greatly worsen the characteristics of the drink.
- The presence of foreign substances in capsules for coffee machines - milk additives, flavorings, chemical stabilizers.
Taking into account all the parameters, we can conclude whether capsule coffee is beneficial or harmful, or whether it is better to use a regular coffee machine and grind the beans before preparing the drink. Most coffee lovers think so.
Violation 5: Brewing too quickly
Finally, the last problem that Keurig and other pod coffee makers are prone to is the amount of time it takes for the coffee to interact with the water.
Keurig prides itself on the fact that their coffee makers will get you a hot cup of coffee quickly. But there are some things you shouldn’t rush into, and a cup of delicious coffee is one of those things. The National Coffee Association recommends that for preparing a cup in drip coffee makers, the interaction time of ground beans with water is about 5 minutes.
The Keurig brews coffee in seconds, which results in a flat and weak flavor in the cup, especially when combined with water temperatures below the recommended temperature.
Harm from coffee
Some studies have shown that people who drink coffee significantly increase their blood cholesterol levels, which increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. As it turned out, the caffeine contained in coffee is not responsible for increasing blood cholesterol levels. This happens because coffee contains two natural chemicals called “diterpene compounds” – cafestol and caveol – which cause a significant increase in LDL cholesterol (the so-called “bad cholesterol”).
Five cups of coffee a day can raise cholesterol levels by as much as 5-10%. If coffee is consumed with sugar and cream, it further increases blood lipid levels. Scientists have proven that regular consumption of 5 or more cups of unfiltered coffee per day, with cream and sugar, easily increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and heart attack by 30 to 50%.
What about filter coffee (domestic coffee makers)? Passing through a paper filter removes most of the diterpene compounds, making filtered coffee less likely to increase LDL levels. However, recent studies have shown that consuming such coffee increases homocysteine levels. As it accumulates in the body, it attacks the inner walls of the arteries, creating tears that the body tries to heal. Then calcium and cholesterol are directed to the damage, forming an atherosclerotic plaque, which narrows and sometimes completely clogs the lumen of the vessel. This usually leads to a blood clot or rupture of a vessel, with all the ensuing consequences such as stroke, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism and even death.
More recent studies have shown that elevated homocysteine levels double the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Will the situation change for the better?
This question is difficult to answer. There are probably thousands of studies devoted to improving capsule coffee machines - after all, this is such a profitable business that Keurig alone earned $4.5 billion in sales of its coffee makers in 2015.
But in reality, it's unlikely that capsule coffee will ever truly match the rich flavor of a freshly brewed cup. Mainly because the coffee capsules are already ground, Nuchi says. “I have no idea how to overcome this.”
There are many ways to keep beans fresh, such as flushing them with chemicals like nitrogen, but Nuchi says even such measures may not have an effect on ground coffee.
Companies have suggested that Cafe Grumpy make capsules for capsule coffee machines with their coffee, but for the reasons described by Nuchi above, Cafe Grumpy does not plan to do this.
It turns out that the biggest advantage of capsule coffee machines becomes their biggest disadvantage when it comes to the taste of the drink. Coffee that is prepared quickly and in pre-prepared capsules can never compare to fresh coffee.
Advantages of coffee capsules
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- — Capsule coffee, the best examples of which can be found here: https://www.rosinka-sibiri.ru/catalog/kapsulnoe-%D1%81ofe/, has excellent taste. And it is the sealed capsules that prevent aromatic substances from escaping into the atmosphere. For this reason, the taste of the finished drink is more tart and rich.\r\n- The reason for the good aroma also lies in the tightness of the packaging, which preserves ground coffee for a long time, and during storage it does not lose its original characteristics at all.\r\n - Due to the fact that the product is dosed, you can brew the perfect espresso. Naturally, it cannot be too strong or weak, which cannot be said about brewing coffee in “manual mode”.\r\n- The coffee machine brews just good coffee, and very quickly, and what else does an ever-hurrying modern person need?!\ r\n- Caring for a capsule-type coffee machine is very simple, or rather, it is practically absent. There are models of units that independently remove “used containers”.
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