Keurig Alta First-Look: No More Plastic K-Cups Leave a comment

No matter your ideas are on how the proper cup ought to be made, for almost 50 million houses within the US (and never counting the various extra in places of work), Keurig is espresso. For nearly 30 years, we’ve been skilled to ditch the previous drip-coffee maker for disposable single-serve pods. However now, Keurig needs us to depart (finally) the Ok-Cup and embrace the AltaRounds pod, a compostable, compressed espresso spherical that works the identical: Drop it into the machine, press a button or two, and out comes joe.

Throughout a presentation in New York Metropolis, Phil Drapeau, Keurig’s senior vp of Future Espresso Programs, stated prospects wished greater than brewed espresso. They wished to make fancy espresso drinks, from easy cappuccinos to salted caramel concoctions I sampled on the occasion (PSL followers, rejoice). However to take action, Keurig wanted to invent a wholly new system.

“We wouldn’t have the ability to do any of that with Ok-Cup,” Drapeau says. “It can fail. It’s important to brew it on the proper temperature and extract. You possibly can’t be constrained by the Ok-Cup system.”

Robotic Barista

If the Ok-Cup was about bringing Dunkin’ house, then the Alta is about mimicking brewing third-wave espresso within the kitchen. Keurig checked out how coffeehouse baristas brew espresso, and the way it can simplify the method by making use of the Ok-Cup expertise.

With the AltaRound, you don’t have to measure and grind beans, tamp, or alter strain and temperature. The spherical is roofed with a plant-based seaweed wrap that ensures the espresso stays compressed and recent. After you insert it, decide a drink by way of the touchscreen, and the machine punctures the AltaRound and applies 10 bars of strain to extract the liquid. Spent AltaRounds are dumped right into a container.