Step aside, coffee pods. Take a rest, instant coffee. There’s finally a single-serve option available in the world of high-end coffee, and it’s quickly becoming a game changer. 

Santa Cruz-based startup Steeped, Inc., touted as one of the most promising and innovative companies in the industry, has launched its revolutionary Steeped Coffee brewing method to serious coffee drinkers across the nation. Brewed similar to tea, Steeped Coffee’s nitro sealed Steeped Bags, along with its guilt-free packaging made using renewable and compostable materials, achieve the unthinkable: freshly ground specialty coffee in a single-serving. That’s why it earned the “Best New Product” award for its innovative packaging at the recent Specialty Coffee Expo.

Steeped Coffee launched when serial entrepreneur and coffee lover Josh Wilbur decided to combine the convenience of a single-serving brew method with the premium quality of ethically-sourced coffee. Wilbur wanted to solve the environmental dilemma created by wasteful coffee pods. Happy to do the math, Wilbur points out over 10 billion unrecyclable pods accumulate in landfills each year – enough to wrap around the earth more than 110 times if placed side-by-side. Moreover, each type of pod depends on expensive and sometimes moldy brewing machines, which are also unrecyclable. 

It took Wilbur seven years to innovate the proprietary Steeped Coffee system that delivers fresh roasted, pre-portioned, precision ground, micro-batched coffee in customized Full Immersion Filters. “Premium coffee roasters have shied away from offering their specialty beans in single-serve packaging because it’s been nearly impossible to keep ground coffee fresh, which quickly ruins the taste,” says Wilbur. “With our Nitro Sealed bags, oxygen is replaced with nitrogen, so the coffee stays fresh as if it was ground moments ago.”

“Steeped Packs are the easiest way to make a delicious cup of coffee,” Wilbur says. “You shouldn’t need to perform chemistry before you’ve made your coffee.” Simply steep each Steeped Bag in hot water for about five minutes to allow the coffee to develop its distinctive body and flavor. There is no machine, no noise, no cleanup, no destructive waste.

As for flavor? Even the most discerning coffee connoisseurs in the industry are singing the praises of Steeped Coffee. Barista Magazine is a believer: “Like a tea bag – but for coffee? This new product from Steeped Coffee might just be one of our fave new ways to brew coffee on the road.”

“Finding Steeped has changed my coffee drinking life,” raved one reviewer on Producthunt.com. “It’s my favorite new brewing method and I can’t believe more people haven’t heard of this yet. It is going to be huge.”

Entrepreneur’s Handbook concurs: “You’re likely going to see the Steeped Coffee methodology in hospitals, offices, hotels – places where single-serve coffee reigns – and perhaps on your next flight.”

With so many coffee gadgets, machines and accessories flooding the market these days, this simple unplugged Steeped Coffee brewing method might be just what you’re looking for to take your moment, while at home, at work, or on-the-go.