Single-serve coffee machines solved one morning problem and created another: a pile of plastic pods beside the sink. Keurig’s Alta tries to keep the convenience without leaving a plastic cup behind after every drink. Instead of a K-Cup, it brews with a compact puck of pressed coffee called an AltaRound. It also makes espresso and frothy milk drinks in one countertop machine.
Most pod brewers wouldn’t pass for proper espresso machines. The Alta takes a different route, with a rounded body, a projecting brew head, and a separate milk station built into the same base. The touchscreen sits on top rather than across the front, leaving the machine’s face relatively uncluttered. Sandstone, graphite, and sandstone with satin stainless offer three different moods for the counter.
Designer: Keurig
The smaller object changes the routine as much as the larger one. AltaRounds are ground coffee pressed into discs and held together by a plant-based coating derived partly from seaweed. There’s no rigid plastic shell or aluminum lid on the round itself. Once the coffee is spent, the puck can go into compost instead of joining the pile of used pods.
Drop one into the machine and a printed code tells the Alta which drink you’re making. It adjusts the temperature and pressure rather than asking you to remember settings before your cup. For espresso, water passes through holes made by spikes, and the brewer can deliver up to 10 bars of pressure. A shot no longer needs a separate machine or a practiced hand.
If that shot needs milk, the integrated frother can handle hot or cold foam. The touchscreen guides you through the steps, so a latte in the morning doesn’t require a second appliance or a row of unfamiliar buttons. There’s room for a cup of coffee too, and the available AltaRounds cover espresso as well as light, medium, dark, and caramel-flavored brews.
Of course, doing away with the plastic pod doesn’t mean doing away with plastic. Each AltaRound currently comes in a plastic wrapper to keep the coffee fresh, so there’s something to throw away before brewing. Keurig plans to replace those wrappers with paper, but that hasn’t happened yet. The spent puck may be compostable; the packaging you remove on the way there isn’t.
The other compromise sits on the price tag. The Alta’s $499.99 early-access bundle includes glassware and six boxes of coffee rounds, making it a considerable investment for a morning cup. It can also brew regular K-Cups, though those bring back the plastic waste its new system is trying to avoid. Even the most thoughtful brewer can’t decide which kind of pod you put inside.
A morning coffee routine is made of little gestures: opening a packet, loading the brewer, finding a mug, and clearing up afterward. The Alta changes several of them without asking you to learn the finer points of espresso. It still leaves a wrapper in your hand, unfortunately, but the spent puck can go into compost instead of leaving another plastic cup behind.
