— Essentials —

GROUNDS FOR CHANGE

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I may be many things, but one thing I know for certain… I am not wasteful. We’ve loved our Keurig machine for years now. We love the ease and convenience it provides to make exactly the coffee of your choice, in the size you want, exactly when you want it. I especially love the way it stays-put as we travel, its little rubber feet, clinging to it’s pride-of-place on the RV counter as we jaunt around the country. But trouble’s been brewing for a while now. Since we’ve been on the road, managing our coffee pod subscription delivery has become a challenge.

We’ve missed carefully planned deliveries, leaving us rationing pods like a couple of addicts. And then there’s the greater issue of the pods themselves. Wasteful, not recyclable.

Although the coffee we buy is organic, the famous movie star who makes it (and my fave jarred spaghetti sauce) isn’t using a biodegradable pod. I’ve done the math, and the two of us throw at least 1,095 little plastic cups into the trash each year.

In an effort to be more conscientious and to assuage our guilt, I bought a beautiful glass Chemex drip pot a few months ago. Meh. Our consensus was that it took way too long, and the coffee was never piping hot, no matter how fanatical I was. Who wants to be fanatical at 6:30 in the morning, so we went back to the Keurig.

When we were in Santa Fe, our friends gave up their Keurig for a lovely, sleek, stainless Sunbeam percolator. What a joy to wake up to the familiar aroma of hot, delicious, waste-free coffee with the added bonus of having coffee-grounds for your rose bushes! Then and there we decided when we used our last coffee-pod, we were going cold-turkey on Keurig and pull out the Chemex, again.

We bought two bags of ground coffee, and I’m doing my best barista impersonation… Yesterday’s results were disappointing. This morning I turned out a good cuppa joe, but it took 17 minutes. I’m giving this another week and if I don’t love it, I’ve got my eye on a gleaming, stainless percolator by Presto that will have our coffee ready in six minutes flat. It’s name kinda says it all!

XO Donna


10 Comments

  • Michelle Dwyer January 31, 2018 at 7:31 am

    http://Www.darkcanyon-coffee.com
    My friends have a coffee roasting company in SD. The coffee is fabulous and they just started doing K-cups which are recyclable. I don’t think they are on the website yet but give them a call – nice people! Or take your RV to the beautiful Black Hills and stop in!

  • Donna O’Klock January 31, 2018 at 9:09 am

    What a great idea… and perfect excuse (as if I need one) to go back to the Dakotas! Thank you so much. And, cheers!
    XO

  • 1010ParkPlace January 31, 2018 at 9:42 am

    The Chemex and its filter paper brings back memories of my 20’s and first husband. He appreciated good design, so we used Chemex every day. Here’s a little tip to keep it hot: You can buy a round, metal “burner” for lack of a better word, that’s about an inch tall and has little cut out vents all around it. You set that on top of your real stove burner, set on medium high, etc., then put the Chemex on top of that. Your coffee stays hot! xoxox, Brenda

    • Donna O’Klock February 5, 2018 at 11:33 am

      Thank you, Brenda… I will order one from Amazon today! I love the design of the Chemex, and especially the ritual, when preparing coffee. My better-half , not so much.
      XO

  • LA CONTESSA January 31, 2018 at 10:35 am

    Interesting math calculations!
    I know someone who made jewelry with those pods………………..
    WE are a VERY WASTEFUL COUNTRY………..
    I ordered my FIRST COFFEE out the other day!
    WE have the MOTHER of ALL MACHINES………NEVER TURNED OFF a coffee in seconds…….and it can make a CAPPUCCINO!
    Comes from ITALY what the BARS have behind the counter……..EXPENSIVE YES!
    BUT I am NOT paying. $4.00 for a STARBUCKS………..am certain we have saved money in the long run.

    • Donna O’Klock February 5, 2018 at 11:37 am

      I/we positively LUST after an Italian machine!!! Lack of room is the issue, though. I’ll let you know when we are in your area… I’ll bring Almond Cake if you’ll make us a cappuccino!

  • Barbara January 31, 2018 at 10:48 am

    When our old coffee pot croaked I asked my fb friends what coffee pot they would recommend. BUNN was the winner and they were right. It is the best, the fastest, and makes the tastiest coffee we’ve ever had. That’s probably why it’s the most used by restaurants.
    b

    • Donna O’Klock February 5, 2018 at 11:38 am

      Thank you, Barbara, it is on the list!
      XO

  • Rena January 31, 2018 at 1:54 pm

    I live with a bunch of coffee addicts. One has a Keurig and one has a Mr. Coffee each standing at the end of a counter staring each other like a shootout at the OK corral. Hubby only drinks one cup a day so I haven’t killed him for the Keurig yet. Anymore than that and it will have to go.

    • Donna February 5, 2018 at 11:43 am

      Still laughing over the OK Corral visual, thank you!!
      XO

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