Convenience and Quality

A painstakingly prepared pourover, coffee precisely weighed, water volume and temperature measured to fine tolerances, timer at the ready... Meditate on this for a moment. The ritual of extraction is a worthy counterpart to the drink itself...

...but that's not what we're talking about today.

Today we're talking about coffee convenience. Let's face it, sometimes we need our coffee now. We don't always have time for a multi-step process, for all the setup and cleanup... We certainly don't have time to stand in line at a coffee shop during the morning rush. But we still want an excellent cup of coffee.

Lucky for us, the world of single-serve coffee pods for home use is getting better every day. Craft-roasted premium coffee from exotic origins is available in numerous single-serve formats, and a cup of wonderful coffee is only a few seconds away...

Pod and Capsule Options, an Overview

There are two main categories of single-serve coffee options: coffee pods and coffee capsules.

Coffee pods are used for drip coffee. They are usually plastic cups with heat-sealed foil lids. Inside the cup is an integrated filter and enough ground coffee to make one cup. They're very easy to use - just put them in a compatible machine and press the button. A cup of freshly brewed coffee is ready in moments. There's virtually no cleanup necessary - just discard the used pod with its filter and spent grounds and enjoy your coffee. The industry leader among coffee pods is Keurig, with Keurig-compatible cups ('K-cups') commanding a dominant market share in the U.S.

Coffee capsules are used for making shots of espresso. Unlike pods, they have a rigid construction, and they contain a compressed 'puck' of ground coffee. Pressurized water passes through the capsule, yielding a strong and concentrated shot of coffee. Nespresso machines are the most widely used coffee capsule machines on the market. They have long dominated the home use market in Europe, and they are steadily gaining popularity in America, too.

While it's common to see 'coffee pods' and 'coffee capsules' used interchangeably, we think it's more accurate to distinguish between the two.

Some Other Pod and Capsule Options

Besides Keurig and Nespresso, there are other single serve formats worth noting:

·        Dolce Gusto

·        K-Fee / Caffitaly

·        Lavazza A Modo Mio

·        Vittorio Espressotoria

·        Easy Serving Espresso (E.S.E)

While these formats represent well-engineered coffee innovations, their relatively small market share means that the range of pods/capsules available for them is very limited.

Reusable, Refillable Pods Work, Too

Even if you can't find compatible capsules for every type of brewer, many of them have refillable, reusable pods that you can use with any coffee you like.  Reusable pods are usually made of silicone or metal, so they’re fairly durable and easy to clean.  And they don’t create additional plastic waste. If you have specific questions about your brewer, feel free to contact us. We can help you find the best coffee and the best accessories for your machine.

Nespresso OriginalLine versus Nespresso VertuoLine Machines

Before buying a Nespresso machine - or buying capsules for your Nespresso machine - make sure you understand the difference between OriginalLine and VertuoLine. Nespresso OriginalLine is the classic Nespresso format, using small conical capsules to make espresso coffee by the shot. The newer Nespresso VertuoLine machines use larger, round pods and are geared more toward drip coffee.

Due to patent rules, the relatively new VertuoLine pods are only produced by Nespresso. Aftermarket producers cannot make Vertuo-compatible pods.

Conversely, aftermarket producers are allowed to make capsules compatible with Nespresso OriginalLine machines. Here at The Coffee Store, we offer Nespresso OriginalLine capsules in boxes of 36. Choose from a range of options: 100% Maui Coffee, 100% Kona Coffee, Hawaiian Coffee Blends, Flavored Coffee, Decaf... no one has a wider selection of Hawaiian coffees in this format than The Coffee Store. Explore the many choices on mauicoffee.com. On any coffee product page look for:

Click here for Keurig compatible pods & Nespresso-style capsules

Please remember, at this time, we do not make Vertuo-compatible pods (but you can find reusable silicone pods online).

Our K-cups

Our Keurig-compatible pods work with all Keurig brewers. This bears mentioning because, in 2014, Keurig released it's '2.0' brewer, complete with technology that could read a magnetic signature in the pod's foil lid and customize the brewing parameters accordingly... or so Keurig's PR team claimed... Customers saw a more nefarious purpose, as the 2.0 technology was expressly incompatible with aftermarket pods. This ended up backfiring spectacularly on Keurig, whose customers felt cheated and often ended up learning how to hack their own machines so they could use the pods of their choice. Fortunately, Keurig backed off of their efforts to undermine the aftermarket coffee pod supply, and now there is a huge variety of compatible pods out there.

As with our Nespresso offerings, we are the leading producer of Hawaiian coffee K-cups. Explore our collection on mauicoffee.com or check out our most popular varieties: 100% Kona Pure Ecstasy, 100% Kona Estate and 100% Ka’anapali Peaberry.

Keep It Clean

As with any equipment in your kitchen, it’s important to clean and maintain your single-serve brewer for optimum flavor and performance.  Remember that brewing espresso requires high and precise levels of water pressure.  Residues from hard water can lead to pressure loss and ruined coffee.  ‘Descale’ your machine regularly in accordance with manufacturer recommendations.

Great Coffee in Mere Moments

As with any brew method, a delicious cup of coffee starts with superior beans. Here at The Coffee Store, we offer all of our finest coffee varieties in pods and capsules, and our industrially-produced competitors simply cannot compete on quality.

Stop by our roastery sometime and you’re likely to find us sealing Keurig pods and Nespresso capsules on small tabletop presses.  The same premium coffee that we offer by the bag goes into our single-serve pods.  That presents you with a unique opportunity: to enjoy premium, roastery-fresh Hawaiian coffee in the most convenient formats.  Just remember to use some of that time you’re saving to savor the coffee.  Enjoy!