By Melissa Fassel Dunn.

Random Review Wednesday: The faux K-Cup single serve coffee maker

Hamilton Beach The Scoop Single-Serve Coffee Maker, Stainless Steel

A few months ago, I decided I was tired of throwing away unconsumed coffee. My husband and I drag back many, MANY pounds of coffee from Puerto Rico every year and it is nearly as precious as gold for us. Why be wasteful with liquid gold?

Even if you love your K-cups, they are pretty awful for the environment. According to John Sylvan, the inventor of the K-Cup,“No matter what they say about recycling, those things will never be recyclable. The plastic is a specialized plastic made of four different layers.”

This recent article from The Atlantic indicates: “The cups are made from plastic #7, a mix that is recyclable in only a handful of cities in Canada. That plastic keeps the coffee inside protected like a nuclear bunker, and it also holds up during the brewing process.”

Never a fan of K-Cup coffee (see above caffeine-related snobbery), I wanted to see if I could find a “Keurig alternative,” so I went to the google machine to do some research. And my research beget me this small, relatively inexpensive caffeine-creating appliance: behold, The Scoop.

The Scoop, by Hamilton Beach, is a small, stainless steel single-serve coffeemaker with a literal scoop to contain your coffee. You put your coffee in the scoop, pour your water in the top, place your cup underneath and press the button. In about a minute, you have a fresh cup of coffee, with no waste. You have the choice of bold or regular, and there are two size options – one for a regular mug, and the other for a large travel mug.

Using The Scoop, not only do we avoid the waste of the K-Cup and avoid filtering hot water through plastic and then into our bodies, which can’t be healthy, we decrease the waste associated with the more traditional carafe option.

Should you purchase The Scoop, one word of caution: be sure to regularly clean out the mesh filter *below* the scoop which holds the coffee. Otherwise, you’ll eventually end up with a splashy coffee mess when the filter gets clogged with excess grounds.

Also, it looks nice and it’s small! This stainless steel beauty twins nicely next to my Instant Pot on my counter. Our 12 cup was relegated to the basement and will be brought out for family gatherings.

Under $40, this would definitely pay for itself pretty quickly, especially if you’re currently a K-Cup user. Click here to learn more about The Scoop.

Here are a few of my favorite brands of Puerto Rican Coffee:

And one nearly as good alternative, which you can find in many local stores:

And if you’re ever in Buffalo, NY, DO NOT SKIP a visit to Paula’s Donuts.