Better Keurig Coffee at a Lower Price

If you're a fan of one-cup or pod coffee makers like the Keurig, you might be like us: fans of the convenience but not of:

• The cost. Although there are some low-cost options (look at "$/Count" next to product names), one pod for a cup of coffee usually costs around 60 cents or more, and in some cases they're over a dollar. That's still a bargain compared to coffee shop prices, but not what you expect to pay at home.
  
  
• The quality. There are plenty of pods that use good beans, but they generally end up as a true American coffee -- a little too watery with too few of the coffee's oils (which add so much flavor).
  
  
• The environmental impact. Maybe you've heard about this: somewhere around 10 billion K-Cups end up in landfills each year. 

That's why we've been telling everyone about our favorite coffee discovery: San Francisco Bay OneCups. These pods offer the experience we always wanted with Keurig (and they're supposed to work in Keurig 2.0 machines, if you're wondering). In other words, it's the reverse of all those points above. San Francisco Bay OneCups give you:

• Much lower costs. You can usually find them for 50 cents or less per pod (even for their organic coffees); buy in boxes of 80 and you'll often pay less than 35 cents each, even with Prime shipping from Amazon.
  
  
• Much better quality. In fact, this is some of the best coffee we've had. You end up with some of the fine grounds at the bottom of your cup; the oils get into the coffee; there is a much better coffee to water ratio. It is designed to be more like drinking a French press coffee. In short, you get a strong, rich coffee flavor.
  
  
• Very low environmental impact. This is because the pods are 97% biodegradable, so there shouldn't be much guilt over using them. Even better, San Francisco Bay has a robust program of working to enhance their farmer's lives. This is a fair trade and direct trade coffee company, and they provide all sorts of perks in terms of education, health, housing, etc.

​How do they achieve all of this? With a different kind of pod. Rather than surrounding the coffee in plastic, they have a plastic ring with a paper top and then a tight mesh beneath that holds the coffee and acts as a filter. So there is FAR less plastic involved; it may be that more coffee is exposed to hot water, but in any case, some of it gets through the net and into the cup. (But don't worry -- you won't end up with a Turkish coffee slush at the bottom of the cup -- just some obvious residue.)

No hype needed here: if you check out the listings on Amazon, you'll see how many lofty reviews this coffee has, and people are generally saying the same things we are. And we've personally handed these pods out to others (because why not share all these benefits), and we've hooked plenty of other people. So if you're on the lookout for a great Keurig coffee, we strongly encourage you to give a try to San Francisco Bay.