I’m a Coffee Snob, but Cometeer’s Instant Coffee Pods Have Converted Me
Have you noticed the baby boom of the past year? I’ve had so many friends and family giving birth to first or second babies, and many of them live too far away for me to drop off a lasagna. I’ve been looking for the best food delivery or gift to send to these blessed buddies — a gift that perfectly matches the needs of new parent life. And you know what? I’ve found it. The answer is … coffee. Not just any coffee, but coffee that you can brew in literally 10 seconds with no special equipment or grinding of beans (grinders wake the baby! No good!).
The magical sort of coffee a new parent needs is Cometeer, a relatively new innovation in coffee that ships frozen. Now before you shake your head in disbelief, hear me out. It’s really, really good.
Why (Easy) Coffee Is the Best Gift for New Parents
Does this even need explanation? I mean, in those early days of bleary motherhood, all I wanted was for my husband to put a hot cup of coffee in my hand at 5 a.m. We leaned on our Nespresso coffee maker in those days quite a bit. My husband and I are intense coffee snobs, and I used to scoff at the over-simplicity of pod-style coffee makers. But when our brains, hearts, and bodies were completely wrapped up in our high-maintenance babe, it was such a relief to have coffee at the push of a button.
What Is Cometeer Coffee?
Cometeer, on the other hand, is an innovative type of instant coffee that doesn’t require the heavy and expensive machinery of a Nespresso or a Keurig machine. Their concept is brilliant and simple: They brew coffee with beans from excellent roasters, but they brew it using a proprietary method that uses 1/10 of the water to produce a coffee extract that they then flash freeze in an aluminum cup.
When you order Cometeer, you receive four boxes (32 servings total) of these frozen little cups. To brew a cup you “melt” the coffee by pouring hot water over it. Stir and voilà — a hot and excellent cup of coffee that has the varied notes and nuance you’d expect in a well-roasted, well-brewed cup from Blue Bottle or Onyx Coffee Lab. (Onyx Coffee Lab is actually a Cometeer partner!) It also makes brilliant iced coffee; just thaw and pour in cold water instead of hot.
Why I’ve Been Ordering Cometeer for a Year: An Honest Review
Now again, I can hear the skepticism from here. Does this really taste good?! “Instant” coffee has a rightfully bad rap. I was skeptical too of Cometeer’s claims at first. I heard about them on a podcast talking about their innovative methods and their passion for well-roasted coffee as well as sustainability (the aluminum cups are all fully recyclable). So I ordered some boxes, intrigued enough to try it but a little dubious.
To my surprise — and more significantly, my coffee nerd husband’s surprise — we loved the coffee and found it about 90% as good as a perfectly brewed pour-over. Pretty good, for an essentially instant cup of coffee.
Since then we’ve been subscribed to Cometeer for over a year, with a box arriving every other month. I love the chance to try roasters and beans I haven’t tried before, and I appreciate Cometeer’s constantly revolving options. We subscribe to a mixed box, too, with some regular and some decaf coffee options. I appreciate having decaf coffee available easily and instantly. When I have the craving for a late-night coffee, or guests would like decaf after dinner, it’s the simplest thing to melt them a cup. Any hot water works, although I do appreciate having an electric kettle for a quicker heat-up.
Cometeer hasn’t entirely replaced our daily brewing routine, but on extra-busy mornings and when we have company it’s a wonderful option just waiting in the freezer whenever we need it.
The Best Gift for New Parents
So, back to our buddies with new babies. Cometeer has turned out to be the best gift for new parents, no matter where they live. It’s so easy to ship them a box of coffee for the freezer and it’s lovely to know that this small need at least can be met on those first mornings with baby. Even if you can’t be there in person, you’re putting that hot cup of coffee in their hand.
Explore Cometeer Coffee Boxes
This post originally appeared on Cubby. See it there: I Found the Best Gift for New Parents — No Matter How Far Away You Live