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Coffee pods are really popular right now. Sales of single-serve coffee—the kind first popularized in the US by Keurig, and widely known as K-cups—have more than tripled since 2011, MarketWatch reported in November. As of a year ago, 13% of Americans drank a coffee made in a single-cup brewer each day, according to a survey by...

This article about the sheer volume of single-serve coffee pods and capsule--used at homes and offices globally--condemns the waste created by the packaging. While it largely cites and condemns Keurig, the image show is of Nespresso capsules, and the article mentions that, as of 2012, Nespresso had sold over 27 billion capsules globally.

  Here's the thing: I can't speak to Keurig's product packaging, but I can to Nespresso, having spent a year learning with their publicists and corporate heads, and having spent three years drinking the stuff. Their capsules are, in fact, aluminum and 100% recyclable. The coffee is compostable. Nespresso itself will recycle the capsules for you - pick up a handy green zip-shut plastic bag at one of the stores or online, and you can drop it off full of spent capsules or mail them in from anywhere. Alternatively, do what I do: Recycle them yourself. Take a butter knife, remove the foil top and scoop the coffee out. Rinse out the capsules, drop them in your recycling bin, place the coffee grounds in a paper bag and take them to the composting station at your neighborhood farmer's market, library or compost the grounds yourself. One frustrating detail: The top portions of the new Vertuoline coffee capsules (the bigger, dome-shaped Nespresso capsules) are plastic, not aluminum, and almost certainly not recyclable. But you can still do all the rest! Does everyone recycle their Nespresso capsules? Of course not - does everyone recycle their soda cans? But the fact is, they are set up perfectly to be recycled (again, I can't speak to Keurig), so the onus is now all on you.

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Peruvian. Caramel. Sandwich. Cookie. Here’s a recipe to satisfy your sweet tooth.

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Looks like it must have been tasty!

Colombia Finca San Luis Organic at Gimme! Coffee (Lorimer).

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Japanese artist Kazuki Yamamoto will take your coffee experience to a new level with his impressive latte foam art. While drawing flat images on the foam may not sound new to you, this 26-year-old specializes in building actual 3D foam sculptures, some of which even climb out of their cups and ...

I've seen some lovely latte art done by baristas at the Nespresso boutique in SoHo and San Francisco. But Yamamoto is in a league by himself!

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Now I'm hungry!

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Team Emirates New Zealand has been sweeping the America's Cup so far. They only need two more wins, and those could come tomorrow, and they'll be the U.S. Good news for Nespresso, as their logo is emblazoned across the hulls of the Kiwi boat - lots and lots of pictures! 

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Woot! Nespresso 100% Kona, a limited edition release from last year. This stuff sells for, like, $40 on eBay.

Now when are they going to make a limited edition Civet Cat Poop coffee?

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A couple of weeks ago, Nespresso was kind enough to invite me (along with the five other Club Nespresso Bloggers around the country) to watch the Louis Vuitton Cup final races in preparation for the America's Cup challenge. Now it's down to Team Oracle USA and Team Emirates New Zealand, cutting across the San Francisco Bay.  Link above and HERE. Or you could just look at the pretty pictures HERE. My article on what I did and learned about the race, along with pretty pictures. There's a slideshow in the upper left corner if you just want to see the pretty pictures.  

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The San Francisco Nespresso Boutique is all dolled up and ready for the America's Cup!

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@JeffMeisel, you are right - The NoMad is THE BEST!!

Ahh…a glass of #Champagne on a Friday afternoon in #NYC at the best library with a liquor license #TheNoMadNYC #alfredgratien #champagnecampaign @gianfranco_v (at The NoMad)

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At the San Francisco Nespresso Boutique, they've got four specialty coffees (coffee mocktails?) designed by boutique baristas from around the country, available only in SF. They were created especially to celebrate The America's Cup race, which is taking place in September. The Fog, with ginger and honey, was my fave!

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Yes, please!

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Nicely done, cheese copywriter.

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Have a cah-fee in Hah-vahd Yahd! After being partially and completely closed for a redesign, the Boston Nespresso Boutique on Newbury Street has reopened. Get your java fix, pick up machines and pods (including limited edition pods), or sit and have a quiche 'n' coffee.

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Nespresso Machine hint #1: On the Pixie and the Nespresso U (I always want to say Wii U!), the reservoir underneath the spout will perfectly capture the larger default pours, in case you forgot to place a coffee / espresso cup underneath. 

I think the Gran Maestria's reservoir is similarly well thought-out, but I haven't tried it yet. It's shallower, but wider. 

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This is a wine I can get down with!

Coming this Fall.

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How Much Caffeine is in Your Coffee?

Over at Thrillist.com is a handy guide to how much caffeine resides in some of the most popular cups of coffee out there, from McD's to Dunkin' Donuts. Based on info from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, McD's has about 9.1 mg / fluid oz in its standard cup of Joe, while Starbucks boasts an impressive 20.6. But the winner (if you can call the afternoon jitters "winning"), Deathwish Coffee has an eye-opening 54.2 mg / fluid ounce.

How about Nespresso? Remember the intensity number of a given capsule refers to the depth of its roast and robustness, not the amount of caffeine taking over your bloodstream like tasty, tasty reincarnation.

According to the folks at Nespresso, "the amount of caffeine in a capsule depends on the varieties of creen coffee used in the recipe. The Robusta origin contains an average of 2.4% whereas the Arabica origins contain approximately 1.3% of caffeine. Decaf capsules contain less than 0.1% of caffeine. The classic Nespresso capsules contain approx 5g of ground coffee whereas the Lungo capsules contain approx 6g of ground coffee." Because it's not in milligrams per fluid ounce, we have to do some math here, which I'm not so strong at.

2.4% of 5 grams is .12 grams or 120 milligrams. An espresso shot on the default setting on the Nespresso U (you can program the settings to dispense whatever size coffee you like) is about 1.5 ounces. So the total caffeine would be… about 80 mg / fluid oz (if all the caffeine in the pod squeezed into your cup)? That seems like a lot. But then, your tall Starbucks coffee is about 12 ounces for a total of about 250 mg of caffeine. So one Robusto espresso, while stronger per ounce, has about a third of the total caffeine of a tall Starbucks coffee. We think.