Nespresso Bike

[KneesUp]

A lot of the energy you use just heats up the surrounding environment (or melts the handle as Blue Hills points out). Half the energy consumed by commercial barista type expresso machines is lost to the surroundings.

Pod machines are much much more efficient.

What about one of the electric moka pots? Much less heat wasted, and no little pod, or box for the little pods to be sold in.

 

[Smudge]

A lot of the energy you use just heats up the surrounding environment (or melts the handle as Blue Hills points out). Half the energy consumed by commercial barista type expresso machines is lost to the surroundings.

Pod machines are much much more efficient.

I would imagine that would be so i'f you use a moka pot on an electric hob, but i have a gas hob and they mostly come with a small gas ring that doesn't produce much escaping heat with a moka pot on it.

 

[KneesUp]

I would imagine that would be so i'f you use a moka pot on an electric hob, but i have a gas hob and they mostly come with a small gas ring that doesn't produce much escaping heat with a moka pot on it.

Oh it does - I know because I use a moka pot every morning on the small ring. Put your hands around it when it's on and see how much heat escapes! It's the same issue that afflicted steam engines - when the flame is heating something that is external to it, loads of heat just goes into the air. Also, moka pots aren't insulated - or at least mine isn't, so heat is lost that way. The electric ones are much more efficient. I'd imagine, but less use on a campsite (where ours also sees active service)

 

[Smudge]

Oh it does - I know because I use a moka pot every morning on the small ring. Put your hands around it when it's on and see how much heat escapes! It's the same issue that afflicted steam engines - when the flame is heating something that is external to it, loads of heat just goes into the air. Also, moka pots aren't insulated - or at least mine isn't, so heat is lost that way. The electric ones are much more efficient. I'd imagine, but less use on a campsite (where ours also sees active service)

I have a couple of moka pots, a 3 & a 6 cup, which i consider 1 & 2 cups. Must admit i dont use them an awful lot, but the 3 cup is used more out of the two. But i dont use the small burner on full, i tend to turn the gas down on it, takes a bit longer, but less heat is lost around the pot.
But i see your point, some heat is lost.

 

[User169]

What about one of the electric moka pots? Much less heat wasted, and no little pod, or box for the little pods to be sold in.

View attachment 481094

I guess that will mitigate some of the heat loss, but you're still looking at the use of 2 to 3 times more coffee compared to pods (for the same amount of final product) and production of the coffee itself accounts for a large part of the environmental impact.

 

[KneesUp]

I guess that will mitigate some of the heat loss, but you're still looking at the use of 2 to 3 times more coffee compared to pods (for the same amount of final product) and production of the coffee itself accounts for a large part of the environmental impact.

I make two mugs of coffee with our moka pot. If it's just for me I use the Aeropress.

 

[User169]

I make two mugs of coffee with our moka pot. If it's just for me I use the Aeropress.

I just grabbed the first aeropress "recipe" I could find off the interwebs. That recommended using 15g of coffee. Nespresso pods have 5 or 6g.

 

[benb]

It's a handsome bike, but wouldn't it be better for people to just not use the horribly wasteful pods in the first place?
It's not as if the coffee they make is particularly special anyway.

 

[benb]

I see the Aeropress was mentioned above, this is something i'm interested in trying.

I've got an aeropress, and they are great. Particularly if, like me, you're the only person in the house who drinks coffee.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I've got an aeropress, and they are great. Particularly if, like me, you're the only person in the house who drinks coffee.

Yes, but it'll make very different coffee to a moka pot. It's more comparable to cafetiere or pourover coffee.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I know some riders prefer unbutted tubing for better dent resistance. Reynolds 501 was a low cost plain tube a step up from Hi Ten and not so expensive. The biggest problem with hi ten steel is the low quality of build and alignment rather than any inherent fault.

501 is butted and the top tube of my old Raleigh MTB proves it will dent if dropped on or bashed into something solid. 500 is the cheaper plain gauge version, and I have an un-dented Dawes frame made of that - but it may never have been dropped or crashed though. It has always been the case that you'd expect a frame made of high quality tubing to be generally better built, because both the builder and the customer are the sort of people who will care about the end result.
Cheap hi-tensile bikes are more of a commodity, and their marketing is price-driven.

 

[Cycleops]

A quick search on Evans site suggests you are paying about four times the price of a non nespresso recycled ladies bike aluminium bike with basket which probably has a good percentage of recycled metal in it anyway.
It's just a marketing gimmick so you can all calm down.
Bound to be favoured by the Luvvie's from Hampstead who can claim they are helping the environment even more by recycling after having their oak kitchen cabinets and stone counter tops made from gutting a disused 13th century church in Somerset.

 

[KneesUp]

I just grabbed the first aeropress "recipe" I could find off the interwebs. That recommended using 15g of coffee. Nespresso pods have 5 or 6g.

Not sure what your point is? It depends on how strong you want the coffee and how many you are making for.

 

[User169]

Not sure what your point is? It depends on how strong you want the coffee and how many you are making for.

The point is that on average, you'll end up using more coffee to make a cup of aeropress coffee as compared with a cup of Nespresso. You'll use even less if you use instant coffee.

Coffee production accounts for a major part of the environmental impact of your cup of coffee, so using less is good and may outweigh the waste that you generate by using a pod.

Sorry, I thought it was clear that was the point I was making. More information allows you to make more informed choices no?

Anyhow, I'll withdraw from the thread. Pointing out that things might not be as simple as they appear at first blush is evidently not popular.

 

[Blue Hills]

Can't you get reusable pods, like the Keurig?

You mean like the stainless steel cups that I fill with ground beans and pop in my gaggia?