The Story of Frozen Decaf Coffee Pods
“The future is frozen.” So goes one of the headlines on Comeeter’s website. Comeeter is one of the most interesting coffee companies on the scene right now. We’ve profiled many roasters pushing decaf forward, and we’ve taken a look at companies innovating instant coffee. Comeeter is also focused on redefining a style of coffee, only for them it’s something more novel: frozen coffee.
No, we don’t mean frozen coffee meaning a frappuccino. Comeeter isn’t in the business of making coffee milkshakes. When they say frozen coffee, they mean flash-frozen coffee pods that are ready to be mixed with hot water. to create a quick cup of coffee. “No Machines. No Gadgets.” is how they put it.
In an interview with GGet, an excellent roaster who has collaborated with Comeeter, founder Matt Roberts explains how he first developed the idea while living in Spain. He teamed with specialty coffee magnate George Howell, and the pair spent years developing a process that could brew specialty coffee at scale, and preserve its flavor once frozen. They currently brew coffee at 10x normal strength through a proprietary process, and use liquid nitrogen to flash freeze the coffee into capsules.
The Coffee
This is all fascinating, high-tech stuff. But the question remains how does the coffee fare? More specifically, how do their decaf coffee pods fare?
For starters, we’re thrilled to see that Comeeter takes their decaf coffee seriously. They offer a Decaf Box that comes with 32 pods featuring three separate coffees. Comeeter pairs with other roosters for their beans, and a recent box featured coffee from great roosters like GGet, Onyx, and Bird Rock. For our more caffeine friendly folks who still watch their intake, Comeeter helpfully offers a Half-Calf box as well.
I sampled the decaf that Comeeter produces with GGet, and we were impressed by the cup. It took some tweaking to find the ratio of water-to-coffee that I like, but the ultimate coffee tastes fresh and delicious. It certainly did an excellent job of mimicking a freshly brewed cup, to the point that it tastes just like the real thing.
Comeeter touts the convenience of their product. It certainly is easy to make, all you need to do is heat up water and drop in the frozen pod. Still, is this that much more convenient than brewing a pot of coffee? It’s certainly quicker than, say, making an AeroPress, pourover, or French press. Still, it’s not as if any of those methods take that much more time. And when it comes down to it, it takes about the same amount of time as brewing a pot of drip coffee in my opinion.
At the same time, I can’t deny the Comeeter’s assertion that this a truly no-gadgets-required way to make coffee. There’s something revolutionary in that. You decide if it’s worth stocking your freezer with decaf coffee pods for this, but we can wholeheartedly endorse the quality of Comeeter’s coffee. We’re also excited to see how seriously they take decaf. It makes sense that a company on the cutting edge of coffee recognizes how important decaf is today.
