The Cost of Convenience

What is convenience? A quick Google search gives us the picture you see on the right. Just ignore the second definition. We're not talking about a loo. We find things that make our life easier to be convenient. So, when I read an this¹ article the other day via /r/coffee, I was a bit surprised to find what a problem (in my eyes) K-cups were. What this article outlines is the cost per pound of coffee, the cost of your machines, and the environmental cost of the disposable K-Cups. As I was writing this, I figured I would throw this disclaimer in here: I use the K-Cup because Keurig is usually the first name associated with the single serve coffee movement. Also, this entire post is my personal beliefs and opinions. If you you don't like them, then you can kindly bugger off.

While I do agree that the idea behind the individual serve coffee is a great idea, it's like an idea I would come up with. One that sounds great to begin with, and I can soooo sell myself on why I NEED it. But let's stop and take a look at the costs. I was in TOPS (TOPS is a local grocery store up here in the Buffalo Area. I'm not sure where else it is.) the other day looking for coffee. We had run out of bean and need more. Granted, I had read the article a day or two prior, so I kind of knew what I was looking for. A 12oz bag of Eight O'clock coffee beans would have run me about $6.50. So, some basic math shows us that a pound of coffee would be about $8.70. Looking at the K-Cups that were offered, for a total of between 3.7 and 4.3 oz of coffee (that's total in the whole box), it would be somewhere between $9 and $12 for the box. That means for a pound of coffee, you would be paying between $39 and $51. That's just for a pound of coffee!!! When was the last time your Folgers was worth $51? For less than $38, I can get 5 pounds of Fair Trade, organic coffee on Amazon²(granted Fair Trade³ isn't what you might think it is, not is it as great as it sounds)! Since cost seems to not be too big an issue to the consumer, let's look at what it's doing to the environment.

When you flip most plastic items upside down you will see it's recycling code⁴. The K-Cup is composed of multiple materials including #7 plastics. Not only can you not recycle this plastic in most places, but because the K-Cup uses mixed materials, you can't even recycle any of it! So, here we've got millions of cups going into landfills each year. According to an article from Wall Street Journal⁵:

"There’s still plenty of growth left in the single-serve business: There are currently around 12.5 million households with one of Green Mountain’s Keurig brewing machines, and in its most recent analyst call the company said it expects that to hit 16-17 million by the end of 2013. Last September, it then-CEO Larry Blanford said eventually, Keurig machines will make their way into 35 million U.S. homes."

And here is an article from the New York Times from 2010⁶:

"But its recent growth has been fueled by a product that runs counter to its reputation. More than 80 percent of Green Mountain’s $803 million in sales last year came from nonrecyclable, nonbiodegradable, single-use coffee pods and their brewing systems. This year, the company expects to sell nearly three billion K-Cups, the plastic and tinfoil pods that are made to be thrown away — filter, grounds and all — after one use."

There are billions of  K-Cups being thrown away each year and nothing is being done! Sure Keurig has a reusable cup, but I have yet to meet anyone who uses it. For these billions of K-Cups thrown away, it's kind of hard to imagine billions of these things an how much they weigh. Here's an excerpt from the article that got me started:

"If the capsules weigh roughly 12 grams (like Peet's pods), that's 438 billion grams of single-cup coffee packaging used annually, or about 966 million pounds of waste. That's the equivalent of throwing away about 150,000 Hummer H2s each year."

 

150,000 H2 Hummers thrown out each year. I'm not sure about you, but that seems a little unnecessary to me. When you throw away the K-Cup, you're also throwing away a perfectly good resource! Coffee grounds make a great fertilizer for plants. All of those grounds in the dump aren't doing anything other than growing mold.

 

Let us not forget the cost of everything as well. Let's rule out the recurring cost of coffee. For a new Keurig machine, you're looking to spend anywhere between $85 and $750 just for the machine⁷. And what happens if decides to malfunction? You'll either be dealing with tech support or looking at buying a new one. If I break my french press, I'll go Target and get a new one for less than $20⁸. And granted, my burr grinder did run about $30, all together, I've spent less than the cheapest Keurig machine and I can enjoy multiple cups of coffee from just one brew.

 

I think the thing that gets me the most is the ritual of making coffee. I've become a bit of a traditionalist in certain things and coffee is one of those. I do have a drip coffee pot at the house for when I have no beans to grind. But my coffee experience is just that, an experience! From picking out the beans at the supermarket (which Orchard Fresh near my house has a massive selection at $11 per pound), to getting the aroma of the bean as it's gound, I love making coffee. The French Press also offers you the oportunity to control almost every aspect of making coffee! You chose what type of bean you want, how coarse to grind it, the amount of grounds to use, how long you heat the water (you don't want it to boil!), and how long the coffee steeps all go into making coffee. No two brews are ever the same. I guess in the end it comes down to preference. I can't stand the coffe that comes out of a Keurig. A french press will always be number one for me. Untill I get my espresso machine!

Brent

P.S. I encourage the owners of single cup machines to tell me how you feel (I'm looking at you Keurig, Tassimo, and other single serve machine owners)! Do you love your machine? Hate it? Feel that my post is too biased (which, I think it is)? Let me know. My e-mail address is mrbrentoz@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

___________________________________________________________

1. Waste: The Dark Side of the New Coffee Craze; August 21, 2013; East Bay Express 

2. Guatemalan, Organic Fair Trade Whole Bean Coffee, 5-Pound Bag on Amazon.com 

3. Fair Trade Coffee Wikipedia Article

4. Resin Identification Codes Wikipedia Article

5. The Unstoppable Rise of the K-Cup; March 29, 2013; WSJ

6. A Coffee Conundrum; August 03, 2010, NYTimes
7. Amazon.com Search for Keurig Sorted by Price
8. Target.com Search for French Press, sorted by price, under $25

Two Sugars For Me

Well, tonight I was going to talk to you about something...important.. I think, but then that was quickly derailed by... COFFEE!!! As I'm sure my parents remember, I used to abhor coffee as a kid. I think most children do. Which makes sense. Who wants to drink something that (in my opinion) tastes like dirt? But once I started standing 12 hour watches, and destroying a 4 pack of Rockstar each watch, I felt that my body would be much more appreciative if I switched to coffee. Thus began my love for coffee. Just starting out, there was a lot of cream and sugar. And as my palate became more refined, my need for cream and sugar lessened. Granted, I still can't drink it black (unlike some that I know), I am able to taste and enjoy the flavors of coffee. And then I discovered the French Press. Mind = Blown. As I continue to expand my tastes, I am out for additional methods of making coffee.

 

To start with, I enjoy a modified version of Vietnamese coffee that I found on The Pioneer Woman's blog. You can find that here. For a quick and easy version, follow these steps:

 

1. Brew a pot of coffee of your choice

2. Obtain mason jar and add ice

3. Pour coffee over ice until about 3/4 full

4. Add sweetened condensed milk

5. Screw lid onto jar and shake until mixed into iced deliciousness

 

Thank to /u/darthfayeder on reddit, my tastes have been furthered as I cruised around reddit. He posted the following link on reddit : Gratuitous Drink Porn: Coffee Edition. I've posted some of the ones I want to try (and will) below.

 

1. Pumpkin Spice Latte. This sounds like a wonderful drink for Autumn starting here shortly. With cooler temps around the corner this is sure to help warm you up.

 

2. Toffee Caramel Dessert Coffee. Looking at this recipe, it seems like a nice beverage to have as an after dinner treat. I'm excited to try it because I'm a huge fan of caramel. And it will give you a nice chance to use those tiny little coffee cups you have lying about the house.

 

3. Orange Spiced Iced Coffee. Yeah, summer is winding down, but depending on where you live, iced coffee is drinkable almost year round. At first glance, the thought of adding orange to the coffee seemed a bit off to me. However, as you go through the author's notes, she raises a good point. Coffee tends to have some chocolate undertones. And nothing goes better with chocolate than orange.

 

4. Iced Coffee With Whipped Cream! At first glance, I thought this was more of a coffee float with ice cream. Which made me super excited. But even though there is no ice cream, I am still excited to try this. I did try to use whipped cream as my cream base once for coffee. The results were... Well, there's no need to dwell on the past. This looks super easy and delicious. Please note that the page is in Polish, so you will need to use your browser's translate function if available. I might go back later and tinker with this recipe to eliminate the instant coffee portion.

 

5. Salted Caramel Affogato. This. Has. Ice. Cream. And caramel. I think I've gone to heaven. Granted, I will need to actually make espresso (which means finding a low budget espresso maker), but I fell up to it. And there is a "grown up" version as well!

 

6. Frozen Thai Iced Coffee. I find that the time taken to create something often yields sweeter rewards. And this coffee is not too quick in the making. It involves overnight resting and freezing. So, about 12 hours of sitting around. But the end result looks worth it. Not too sure how I feel about the coconut on top, but I'll give it a shot. Of course, this will have to wait until next summer. Unless Buffalo gets to be in the 90's before fall...

 

7. My Ultimate Iced Coffee. This is very similar to the quick iced coffee method I mentioned above. Except this has once very important difference that I didn't think about. Coffee ice cubes. How could I have not though about freezing coffee? This will be happening next summer when I start to make my iced coffee again!

 

8. Cold Brewed Maple Almond Iced Coffee. Wow. That's quite a mouthful. And this coffee looks (and sounds) amazing. Another one for the warmer months, but still one to hold onto. But I'm excited about the use of the French Press in this one. Granted it's another overnight steep, but I can already taste the blend of flavors happening. I'm excited to give this one a go!

 

So, that about sums up this coffee post. I've got a pot that needs brewing (it is 0315 EST and I've still got about 3 more hours to go before I can even leave...) and someone has offered to let me use some almond milk for the creamer. Until next time!

 

Brent

Life Is A Gas!

As I sit here, drinking my third cup of coffee, (having just dealt with some BS in Lake Ontario), I can't help but think. Since, you know, I've got 12 hours of watch to burn through. Having just completed Delivering Happiness, I realize that every time I read that book, it inspires me to start a business. I've had a couple of ideas floating around in my head for some time now, the longest one I can remember is from my Junior Year of High School. I came up with a proposal for a Music Shop. More specifically, a drum and percussion shop. Now, I still remember some of it and I still think it's a highly feasible business plan. Of course, I'll have to go through and redo said business plan, but I think I could make it work. The biggest problem is money. And time. And my current occupation. Other than that... So, if there is anyone out there with some Venture Capitol they would be willing to part with, let me know. I've got some ideas. We can make this work!

 

On to more serious matters... Star Wars. I've been addicted to Star Wars: The Old Republic for a while now. I started playing at launch which was around Christmas back in 2011. And I've been playing off an on for a bit, but I found it hard to stay motivated when my friends (and guild mates) weren't on (and then later stopped playing all together). So, my relationship with the game was play for 3 - 4 months and then stop for 3 - 4 month.  There is nothing quite like the love-hate cycle with a game. While I've bounced from guild to guild on the Republic side, I've never felt that same connection as I did with my friends. To be able to talk to each other on TeamSpeak while running flashpoints and quests, to feel part of a team and be connected in this common experience was truly amazing. Only recently have I been able to find that connection again. I managed to find a Role Playing guild on the Imperial side. And it has been a blast! So much so, that I have been given the role of recruitment lead. So, if you're ever playing on the Eban Hawk Server on the Imperial side, send me a message. Chances are I'll be playing as either Su'Kess or Su'Manda. Well, that's enough ramblings for this sleep depraved watch stander. Until next time!

 

Brent

Come Along and We'll Have Some Fun!

Well then. Here we are. Another blog. I can't promise that I will update this on a regular basis, but I think for at least the next 4 years, I should be able to stay on top of this reasonably well. So, let's start with some stuff!

I have recently moved to the Buffalo NY area. "Why would you do that?" or "What's wrong with you?" you might ask with regards to my decision. Considering I've spent the past eight years living in the South (well, the South plus Florida, because Florida has more Yankees in it than New England), Buffalo is quite the change. For starters, I'm up here continuing the good works I do for the Coast Guard (I still have a Job that Matters!). "Why is the Coast Guard in upstate New York?" you ask? Well, we work in conjunction with the Canadian Coast Guard to patrol the Great Lakes. Since the lakes shore numerous state boarders (which make them federal territory), and an international boarder (once again... federal) the US Coast Guard has jurisdiction. Now, we also work with city, county, and state officials, but we do a lot of the work. On to more stuff!

 

We found a nice little (well, little compared to the house) apartment in the quiet little village of Orchard Park. Which is only 4 minutes away from the Buffalo Bill's Stadium. Fantastic. I'm not sure I'm going to like going out on game days. But I digress.

 

Hmmm... I'm not to sure what else I've got to say right now. It's been a bit rough with everything going on, but I'm making my way through it. Hopefully, things will level out and we'll be doing better in a bit.

 

Since I've kinda run out of things to talk about, I've got a book recommendation for you before I go this morning. The book is called Delivering Happiness written by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com. It's an amazing read for insight on how the company was founded, how its run and how you can apply it to your own life/business. Granted, there's not too much in there that I can apply to governmental bureaucracy, but maybe for the future... who know? But you can get one pretty cheap online these days. And, there's a website to go along with it. I've signed up, but am awaiting a response.  So, with that, I bid you good night... er, I guess that 0324 would really be good morning. Until next time.

 

Brent