Review | Eco-Friendly Coffee Pods From Coffee & Kin

*Gifted Products

On my ever-growing quest to find more ways in which to be more eco-friendly, I hadn’t even considered the coffee pods that my husband was using in his new Nespresso machine. It’s amazing where plastic can lurk and even though they do offer a recycling service I am always a little sceptical about these things as the energy used to recycle, the carbon emissions created by delivery and collection all seem to outweigh the good that you think you are doing. So when Coffee & Kin got in touch to tell me about their compostable pods I jumped at the chance to review them.

Who Are Coffee & Kin?

Coffee & Kin is a family run business which was launched in December 2017 by Ruth and Kathryn (sisters) along with their Aussie husband’s who all have a love for coffee. They adore the taste of speciality coffee you can find in coffee shops but they believed that this experience can also be enjoyed in your own home, on holiday or in the office and so came up with their own range of speciality Nespresso compatible coffee pods. However, they don’t only offer the pods, they also make coffee beans as well as gorgeous teas– which is perfect for me as I’m not the coffee drinker in our home.

What is different about Coffee & Kin is the fact that they clearly care not only about our environment but also about where their coffee and tea is sourced from. As well as this, Coffee & Kin are also committed to giving back and they donate 1p per capsule, 10p per bag of coffee beans and £1 of every Coffee & Chocolate Box sold to mental health charity The Blurt Foundation and their Peer Project.

The Coffee Pods

As you know, I am always upfront and honest in all of my reviews so I’m going to start with the big oops that I made. You see, I don’t drink coffee and our Nespresso machine was bought only a couple of months ago by my husband who really wanted one. When Ruth contacted me I said ‘yep, we have a Nespresso’ so she sent the pods out to me. It wasn’t until I opened the box that my husband pointed out that the pods are in fact only for an original Nespresso and that we have a Vertuo Nespresso. I had no idea that there was a difference (our machine only says Nespresso on it) and had no clue that ours takes larger pods. I was really disappointed to discover that I then couldn’t make this swap to more eco-friendly pods for our home BUT I wasn’t going to let them go to waste and sent them on to a friend to try and keep.

We were sent a selection of coffee from their starter pack (RRP £12.50) which offers 3 different ranges– Explore, Escape and Discover

Each has a different tasting note ranging from dark chocolate, raspberry and caramel to chocolate, almond and maple syrup and toffee, chocolate and hazelnut. I never knew coffee could be this varied!!

As you can see, the pods contain no plastic or aluminium which means they will breakdown in your home compost and not leave any waste behind.

I love this company’s values and to see that they want to help ONE MILLION people make a positive change in their lives by 2030 just gets me very, very excited. Companies making changes and looking at how they can still provide a product but in a sustainable way is what we need in order to secure a better future for our children.

The Coffee Taste Test

My friend and her husband are big coffee drinkers so I knew they’d be the perfect people to try and taste and to give good feedback.

Explore

“EXPLORE brings a red grape flavour from the stone fruit of the Guatemalan foundation of the blend. Then the combination of sweet complexity from the Brazil Guaxupe, and the balance of the Honduras Estrellas, provide the blend with its dark chocolate notes and hint of raspberry”

This was my favourite out of the three, I loved the dark chocolate flavouring and it was the strongest coffee– I prefer strong coffee. It also left a lovely warm after taste. I enjoyed this both with and without milk.

 

Escape

“ESCAPE’s pleasant nuttiness is derived from all three coffees in the blend. Colombia’s peach and Guatemala’s citrus fruit tones actually combine to create a nicely discernible strawberry after-taste. But from the attributes of cocoa, cream, smoke and nuts, the blend is wonderfully toffee flavoured from the very first sip”

Escape was more of a light coffee with a slight tangy after taste coming through due to the strawberries. It was very smooth and delicate so if you like a milder coffee this would be the one to go for. I found that I could make it stronger by not adding milk or by using two pods to make it.

Discover

“In our DISCOVER pod, you’ll find the flavour of maple syrup from the Nicaraguan Matagalpa and El Salvador’s caramel. But uniquely, there is an essence of cherry flavoured candy cane embedded from the combination of El Salvador’s velvet brightness and Indiano’s hint of cherry. You might also find a touch of mint emanating from its spiciness!”

This is a smooth coffee but has a punch. I could fully taste the flavours and loved the maple syrup tones. A nice coffee to relax and warm up with on these chillier evenings and perfect with milk or cream.

 

Tea

As I mentioned before, I am a big tea drinker, so Ruth kindly sent me their English breakfast tea to try plus their green tea.

“All of our tea has been sourced through the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP), a not for profit membership organisation who aims to improve tea sustainability, the lives and livelihoods of tea workers and smallholder farmers, and the environment in which tea is produced”

Coffee & Kin

The tea comes in biodegradable pyramid bags, containing no plastic. What I immediately noticed about the tea was that it looked like real tea. These are proper leaves and you can see the quality of them. No grains, no trouble with it moving around, in fact, this tea is very traditional and strong.

For me personally, the English Breakfast was a bit too strong… Never thought I’d say that!! But my husband loves it and can’t get enough of it and says he’s going to be buying more once this bag is gone, so it just goes to show that it all comes down to personal taste.

The green tea is lush though. I like green tea in the evening but often find that some brands are a bit tasteless or weak. Coffee & Kin’s green tea is bursting with flavour and is really refreshing.

Subscriptions

If you’d like to give Coffee & Kin a go and love them, they do offer a subscription service too. You will save 10% or more when you take out one out and they offer monthly subscriptions for their coffee pods, coffee beans and tea pyramids. Their coffee and chocolate subscription is one of the most popular options and at just £20 a month you will receive:

• COFFEE (300g of coffee beans/ground coffee OR 30 compostable coffee pods)
• ARTISAN CHOCOLATE (150g-200g of luxury chocolate. Flavours will change each month and you’ll receive at least two different bars – the perfect treat!)
• A SURPRISE FOODIE GIFT!

Now I am just hoping that Coffee & Kin make pods to fit our machine (hint, hint)

*We were sent these products in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own (and my friends!). For further information please refer to my disclosure page.

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