Coffee
This Frozen Coffee Is as Quick as Instant Coffee (But It Actually Tastes Good)
I’m a Cometeer convert.
For someone who lives and breathes food and beverage, I am certifiably not a coffee snob. I own zero coffee equipment, have no caffeine routine, and have never made coffee at home. It’s not that I don’t like stuff, I’m just deeply un-fussy about it. Pass me the $1 bodega brew or even that $7 latte (thanks, NYC)—I’m fine with either. Until about a month ago, having to go out for coffee hadn’t been an issue; I’d been working in person or was at school where a cup of Joe was never too far away. Now that my job is mostly remote, I've been looking for a low-lift way to have coffee at home without having to invest any money, or precious storage space, in equipment. Enter Cometeer.
Cometeer is basically excellent, instant coffee. It’s not instant in the usual way, either—it’s brewed and flash frozen in capsules. I pop the frozen pod in a mug and pour in 6oz of boiling water for hot coffee, or leave it in the fridge overnight and mix the melted coffee with milk for an iced latte situation the next morning. It’s ready in literally seconds. For those who have invested precious storage space in coffee equipment, Cometeer’s capsules even fit into Keurig. Pour a melted pod over vanilla ice cream for an affogato, or add it to a milkshake—whatever you feel like!
While I am a coffee newbie, Cometeer is made for pros. It was developed by engineers to extract coffee from the beans for an ultra-concentrated brew. With the help of some liquid nitrogen, Cometeer freezes its capsules to -321°F immediately after extraction—that’s really freaking cold! They arrive at your door and you keep them in your (regular, not super cold) freezer, where they can last for 18+ months. (No spoiled coffee grounds here.) Packed in dry ice, Cometeer ships 32 pods for $64 right to your door, shipping included. That comes out to $2 a cup (take that $7 latte).
Though the tech is impressive, the quality of Cometeer is what really gets me excited. The coffee is sustainably sourced and expertly brewed every time. Cometeer partners with roasters around the country including Oakland’s Red Bay, NYC’s Joe Coffee and Birch, and Go Get Em Tiger in LA. Each roast is extracted differently according to its unique needs to make the best version of that particular coffee. And because the content of the capsule is just frozen liquid, no grounds, the aluminum pods are entirely recyclable. Maybe I am a coffee snob now.
Written by: Lucy Simon
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