Retail
Blu Tigres improves on the single-serve idea
By Leslie Helm September 23, 2013
This article originally appeared in the October 2013 issue of Seattle magazine.
For many, few things are more important than that daily cup of coffee. So when a new technology gives us a better way to obtain that caffeine jolt, were quick to latch onto it. Thats the story of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which has made a fortune selling single-serve Keurig machines and the little plastic cups that go into them.
Unfortunately, these K-Cup packs are not recyclable, so billions of them end up in landfills each year. And while the system is an improvement on drip coffee thats been sitting around for a while, its still barely passable.
Patrick Mazzuca, who previously ran Zoka Coffee Roasters & Tea Company, licensed technology from Canadian inventor Vincent Zhang to build a coffee machine that helps address those issues. Instead of K-Cups, the Blu Tigres Suncana brewer uses the round, flat, paper-filter coffee pods often provided by motels. These pods have the advantage of being completely biodegradable. The problem is that the drip system currently used for the pods doesnt make good coffee. And the coffee in the pods is typically of low quality.
Mazzucas Suncana machine has a lever that pushes down on the pod, putting the coffee under pressure and making it a little more like a French press. You also get some of that delicious crema at the top. And Mazzuca is selling pods containing premium coffee from local artisan roasters like Caffe Darte and Zoka.
The coffee still doesnt measure up to the cup from your local barista, but its a great improvement on the Keurig machine. And you dont have to feel guilty about throwing that used K-Cup in the trash.
The machine sells for $139 and the single-serve pods go for 60 to 75 cents each. Machines are available online (blutigres.com) and could be at local retailers by the holiday season, Mazzuca says. While the firm wants to raise money to expand its marketing, that could be a challenge. Green Mountain made money by licensing rights to the K-Cup packs for its machine. Blu Tigres has a patent on its machine, but the coffee pods can be manufactured by anyone.