☕️ Micro-Plastic Free Coffee

Our Plastic Free Coffee Adventure and

Why We Ditched Pod Brewers

We loved our quick and easy Keurig and Nespresso machines for YEARS. Yes, we had both, but our main workhorse was the Keurig. The Nespresso was gifted to us years ago, but we couldn’t see paying for the pods and used it sparingly.

After reading extensively about microplastic exposure, we realized our beloved Keurig and Nespresso machines were sneaking unwanted microplastics into our daily cups.

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that can leach harmful chemicals into our food and drinks. Studies suggest they could disrupt hormones, cause inflammation, and impact overall health. Given how often we drink coffee, cutting this hidden risk out of our daily routine felt important and urgent.

The insides of most coffee makers; pod brewers as well as drip coffee makers are PLASTIC and hot hot water is poured through this as well as go through the plastic pods. Not an ideal circumstance if trying to avoid micro plastics. We knew it was time for a change.

Finding a genuinely plastic free coffee maker proved challenging and most “plastic free” claims fell short once we took a closer look. The only fully plastic free drip coffee maker option I discovered was the bulky and very expensive BUNN VP17, which required an additional stainless steel basket purchase to make it fully plastic free inside. This machine is FUGLY too and comes in at near $500 with the stainless insides option.

Looking for a more practical and affordable alternative, we chose a 12-cup Farberware electric percolator, entirely stainless steel inside and out.

Why We Chose the Percolator

Picking the Percolator turned out to be the right choice for our everyday coffee routine. It holds just the right amount, fits nicely on the counter, and even lets us prep coffee ahead of time. Plus, ABSOLUTELY no plastic contact with hot water means peace of mind every morning. We do also have a couple stainless french presses (1 small/1 large) as my kids love that, I do not. I can’t stand french roast coffee and I feel that the french press makes all coffee taste like french roast. Plus I did need something that could be set up on a schedule for my husband.

One small percolator annoyance: it’s really hard to see the water fill lines inside the percolator. At first this drove me crazy, but over time I’ve gotten used to it. Now I pretty much can eyeball the exact amount needed just from doing it every day. And I keep a tiny flashlight near the percolator in case I need to see the lines.

I typically fill it to the 7.5 cup mark, which for us translates to just about 27 ounces of brewed coffee. That amount gives us enough for our morning coffee routine, roughly 10 ounces for me and 17 ounces for my husband. Any leftovers go into a mason jar in the fridge for iced coffee, or I freeze it into cubes to avoid watering down summer iced coffee.

Farberware Tips:

1. Put your finger over the hole in the center of the basket while filling with coffee grounds.  This keeps any stray grinds from falling into the pot.
2. It is recommended that you ensure the basket and lid are wet before you fill it to assist in keeping stray coffee grinds from sinking through.

Amazon Affiliate Link – Percolator

There are also smaller versions but this 12cup percolator is the largest. And remember you are not getting 12 cups of coffee REALLY. You are getting (12) 5 ounce cups. So I assume about half that for normal sized mugs. I eventually got a large event 30 plus cup percolator for when family is over and it works great (brews great coffee the same as our smaller percolator). My only complaint with this big guy is that once the coffee goes below the spout, you have to tilt the entire machine to get any coffee out.

Amazon Affiliate Link – Sybo 30 Cup Percolator

Brewing the Perfect Cup: Trial and Error

Finding the perfect coffee ratio involved some amusing trial and error. Let’s just say there were days our coffee tasted more like warm dishwater! Thankfully, with a bit of patience (and only changing one thing at a time), we nailed it.

• Initial Attempt: Used recommended 2 tablespoons per 5-6 ounces; coffee was WAY too weak.
• Mistake: Jumped to 4 tablespoons per 5-6 ounces and switched grinders simultaneously; resulted in extremely weak coffee.
• Breakthrough: Adjusted to 2½ tablespoons per 5–6 ounces; finally achieved desired boldness.

Why Too Much Coffee Doesn’t Work: Excess grounds compared to water can impede proper water circulation and extraction in a percolator. This makes a very weak pot of coffee.

Importance of the Right Grinder

The right grinder completely transformed our coffee experience. Switching from a blade grinder to a burr grinder felt like upgrading from an old clunky car to a sleek sports car.

Uniform grinds and easy adjustments made all the difference. With some Burr grinders, the beans can stay in the grinder so it literally takes seconds to grind your coffee beans.

You simply set the grind size and in our case this doesn’t change and select your seconds. This particular grinder has 5 second increments from 5 to 20 seconds. The longer the length, the more coffee is ground. You just have to figure out how much you need based on the amount of water you use in your percolator or french press.

Once you figure that, its easy. You can measure the first few times.  Or you can check out my coffee calculator on the resources page.

Amazon Affiliate Link – Bodum Burr Grinder

Bodum Tips: 

1. BE careful not to turn the top past the percolator (coarsest setting) as the grinder top will come right off and beans will fly everywhere. I know this from first hand experience.
2. We use a coarse grind for both percolator and French press. Most sources recommend medium-coarse for percolators, but coarse gave us better flavor and less grit.
3. To minimize mess, I purchased little wood trays to put the grinder on, especially when removing the grounds cup. Any stray coffee grounds get caught on the tray and can be dumped out or reused, quick and painless.
4. I give the grinder a whack (two whacks to be precise) before removing the grind cup. It helps reduce the amount of grind drop that falls out.

Amazon Affiliate Link – Wood Trays

Finding Your Favorite Beans

Exploring new coffee beans felt like a tasty treasure hunt. We quickly realized that our pod favorites didn’t always translate to freshly ground beans. Surprisingly, my husband, who disliked Sumatra pods, now loves freshly ground Sumatra beans!

We sampled a few small (and pricey) bags of beans until we found flavor profiles we liked; anything with notes of cream, chocolate, or cocoa seems to be a hit for both of us. Costco has some great larger bags, and I’m still experimenting to find the most cost-effective options we love but I am currently purchasing the Cooper Moon Sumatra bean on Amazon subscription.

Amazon Affiliate Link – Sumatra Beans

Daily Smart-Plug Schedule

I have my percolator set up with a smart plug schedule during the week, mostly for my husband. He leaves the house before I am awake.

The night before, I set the percolator up and plug it in. Nothing happens while the plug is off.  The plug turns on as scheduled and takes about 10 minutes to brew (done when quiet). It will stay warm while plugged in so we have the plug scheduled to turn off after a couple hours, just in case we forget to unplug it.

Whomever takes the last cup of coffee ALWAYS unplugs the percolator. Smart plugs are not always smart and sometimes don’t turn on as expected.  Since I connected the plug to Alexa, I named the plug “coffee” so all we have to do is say, “Alexa – Coffee On” to bypass any schedule errors.

Our Routine (night before)

• Grind beans
• Set up percolator with water and grounds
• Plug in percolator

Amazon Affiliate Link – Smart Plug

Easy Cleanup Tips

I wash the percolator’s internal parts about 3 times a week with soap and water. Other times I just rinse. We’re on septic, so I always dump grounds in the trash and wipe out the basket. The plug port means you can’t submerge the pot in water. I scrub the inside while holding it over the sink, rinse carefully, and dry the outer metal immediately.

Measuring & Coffee Ground Math

Figuring out how much coffee to use, especially when you’re half asleep, is its own kind of science. Here’s the breakdown I use for both my weekday percolator and weekend French press setups, with easy-to-follow formulas.

Percolator Formula

• Grind: Coarse (most sources recommend medium-coarse, but we prefer coarse)
• Ratio: 2½ tablespoons coffee per 5–6 oz water
• Formula: (Ounces of Water ÷ 5.5) × 2.5

French Press Formula

• Grind: Coarse
• Ratio: 4½ heaping tablespoons per 21 oz water
• Per Cup: 0.875 tbsp per 5–6 oz

I use the conversion function on my phone’s calculator to switch tablespoons to cups when needed. Sharpie a line on your press or percolator once you’ve nailed the amount—it saves time and guesswork every morning.

I also created a calculator to assist with how much coffee per water you will need for a nice, robust cup of coffee.

To assist in figuring how much coffee to grind,
check out my;

Coffee Calculator

Or keep a copy of my cheat sheet on your phone for help at your fingertips when you need it;