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10 Best Coffee Pods To Buy In 2021 - Luxury Eco-Friendly Pods To Try
For a guilt-free caffeine fix
Chances are, the past year has seen you forgo your daily commute, and with it your flat white. And while it might have saved you a few pounds, we really miss a proper barista-made brew.
The good news is we’ve managed to hunt down the best coffee pods (that are eco-friendly too!) to ensure you get a great-tasting cup of coffee, without wreaking havoc on the environment.
- Joint best compostable coffee pod: Halo Honduras Nespresso Compatible Capsule
- Joint best compostable coffee pod: Kiss the Hippo Nespresso Compatible Compostable Pods
- Best recyclable eco coffee pod on subscription: Pact Sertao Pods
- Best coffee shop replacement: Grind Coffee House Blend Coffee Pods
- Best for caramel notes: CRU Kafe Organic Espresso Coffee Capsules
- Best lungo: Lavazza Lungo Intenso Eco Caps
- Best for a strong coffee: Volcano Coffee Works Balanced All Day Coffee Pods
- Best for Italian-style coffee: Eden Project Italian Espresso Compostable Coffee Pods
- Best for versatility: Roar Gill Bold
- Best dark roast: Origin Coffee House Espresso Capsules
How to check if coffee pods are eco-friendly
It’s true, there are plenty of coffee pods not worth bothering with when it comes to eco credentials, but the two main types to look out for are those that are recyclable or compostable.
The first will be made from 100% aluminum, and before you can add to your regular recycling bin, each one will need to be thoroughly rinsed of used coffee grounds. We’re a fan of Dualit's aluminium capsule recycler (£9.99), which helpfully does the hard work for you.
Alternatively, compostable pods, as the name suggests, can either be added to your home compost (where they will break down like other organic food waste), or added to your council-collected food-waste bin, to be whisked away and broken down under more specialist conditions.
Here at ELLE UK, we think it’s important to look beyond the 'green-washing', so before making your purchase, have a think about what those eco claims actually mean. For example, when a brand claims to be climate-neutral, it means they have calculated all unavoidable carbon emissions and offset them — often by planting a tree to suck carbon out of the atmosphere as they grow. Direct-trade refers to a model whereby brands work directly with farmers and producers, cutting out the middleman to ensure they receive a fairer price. In fact, many of the brands featured below pay above the Fairtrade rate.
We’ve only considered the most luxurious options on the market (think single-origin, speciality grade and certified-organic), whether you prefer a long black, flat white or something in between.
How we test the best coffee pods
To find the best coffee pods, we gave 10 self-confessed coffee addicts 15 original-style Nespresso-compatible coffee pods, and asked them to let us know how they compared to a proper coffee shop brew. Looking for complex notes of fruit, acidity, chocolate and nuts, all of these tasty capsules can either be recycled or composted after use.
Halo Honduras Capsule, £26.00 for 40
Billed as 'the world's best coffee, in a way that's best for the world', Halo’s premium pods are made from waste sugarcane and paper pulp, breaking down in your home compost in less than a month. We tried the Honduras, a specialty-grade, single-origin designed for espresso-size serves. With notes of milk chocolate biscuits and walnuts, we can confirm this elegant all-white capsule is every bit as tasty as it looks.
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (home and industrially)
Price per pod: 70p
Subscription available: Yes
Certified-organic: No
Kiss the Hippo Compostable Pods, £5.50 for 10
Kiss the Hippo takes its eco credentials very seriously. Not only are the coffee pods fully compostable, but the brand also works directly with coffee producers, paying them 50% over the Fairtrade price, while also contributing to local community projects.
The organic coffee within is freshly ground at the carbon-neutral Richmond-based roastery, and for every coffee subscription purchased, they plant a tree in Nepal. Oh, and our panel thought it tasted great too, with notes of sweet berries and toast. If that’s not an invite to drink more coffee, we’re not sure what is.
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (home and industrially)
Price per pod: 55p
Subscription available: Yes
Certified-organic: Yes
Pact Sertao Pods, £19.95 for 40
Running out of coffee is legit one of our biggest fears. So to ensure this never happens to you, we’d recommend signing up for a regular Pact drop. Hailing from Brazil, the 'sertao' capsules are sweet and jammy, with green apple acidity. They taste great with or without milk and the empty pods can be added to your recycling bin — just rinse, stack and squeeze.
Key specifications
Type: Recyclable aluminium
Price per pod: 50p
Subscription available: Yes
Certified-organic: No
Grind Coffee House Blend Coffee Pods, £15.95 for 21
We definitely don’t miss the commute, but our barista-made brew? Well, that’s a different story. Thankfully Grind has packaged up the same organic coffee used in its stores into a handy capsule format, so even if your WFH set-up looks set to continue, you’ll still get your fix. If you’ve forgotten how good it tastes, you can look forward to a smooth, gentle roast with notes of chocolate and hazelnut. And the refillable pink tin looks great on the kitchen counter, too.
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (Industrially)
Price per pod: 76p
Subscription available: Yes via the Grind website
Certified-organic: Yes
Packed with Soil Association-certified organic beans, CRU Kafe ethically source its Fairtrade coffee from some of the best high-altitude plantations around the world — in this case, Honduras, Ethiopia and India. With delicious sweet caramel notes, this pod works great a number of ways - go wild with milk, cream and sugar to create your perfect cappuccino, latte or flat white.
Key specifications
Type: Recyclable aluminium
Price per pod: 33p
Subscription available: Yes
Certified-organic: Yes
Lavazza’s new eco caps are designed to lock in that gorgeous coffee smell (keeping your brew super fresh in the process), while also being suitable for council collection composting. We were impressed by the complexity — think dried vine fruit, biscuit and chocolate — and loved the velvety, frothy crema. The perfect option for long black coffee drinkers.
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (Industrially)
Price per pod: 30p
Subscription available: No
Certified-organic: No
Volcano Coffee Works Balanced All Day Coffee Pods, £6.50 for 10
Sometimes only a super strong hit of caffeine will do, and for those mornings, there’s Volcano Coffee Works. The carbon-neutral company has managed to create a great-tasting coffee that packs a punch, without any of the associated bitterness you might expect. Nutty and chocolatey with a hint of sweet honeycomb, it smells like you’ve just walked into a good coffee shop.
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (Industrially)
Price per pod: 65p
Subscription available: Yes
Certified-organic: No
Eden Project Italian Espresso Compostable Coffee Pods, £20.99 for 60
Italian holidays may feel like a distant memory, but there’s no reason you can’t start your morning in the same way. We liked the short, sharp hit of bitterness in these pods, and were impressed by the complex deep flavour, balanced with toffee-like sweetness. Just add sunglasses and biscotti. And if you’re wondering where you’ve heard of Eden Project before, it’s the same team behind Cornwall’s rainforest biome!
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (home and industrially)
Price per pod: 35p
Subscription available: No
Certified-organic: No
If you prefer your coffee black but your partner enjoys a splash of milk, this fruity little number can happily handle both. Going beyond the delicious jammy, bitter chocolate and sweet treacle flavour for a moment, the beans for these capsules are roasted carbon-neutrally and Roar Gill is also part of a tree planting scheme. They can be added to your compost heap, as well as the food waste bin, breaking down after about six months, and this bumper pack will ensure you don’t run out for a while.
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (home and industrially)
Price per pod: 37p
Subscription available: Yes
Certified-organic: No
Bringing a slice of Australia’s progressive coffee scene to us in the UK; Origin is a B-corp certified company, making 100% plastic-free, climate-neutral, compostable capsules. Appealing to those that like a deep, dark roast, this earthy cup is packed with dark chocolate and walnuts.
Key specifications
Type: Compostable (Industrially)
Price per pod: 55p
Subscription available: Yes
Certified-organic: No
Stacey looks after all food and drink reviews — from coffee pods and veg boxes, to natural wine and tequila. Stacey is also founder of Crummbs, where she’s written nearly 2,000 restaurant and hotel reviews since 2013. Prior to this, Stacey wrote hundreds of in-depth buying guides for the Independent, i newspaper and BBC Good Food, as well as reviewing restaurants and interviewing celebrities in her column at Balance Magazine. Stacey has also appeared in BAFTA-nominated BBC documentary Blood, Sweat & Takeaways, where she investigated South East Asia's food production industry, appearing on both Newsnight and BBC World Service to share her findings. Regularly checking out the latest restaurants, bars and product launches, Stacey also loves experimenting with recipes at home, and is a WSET-certified wine and spirits expert, with over 10 years of experience in the business. You can follow Stacey on Instagram @crummbs_uk
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