Coffee-free coffee exists and you’ll want to try it (and the cups fit in a Nespresso machine)
You probably don’t want to know this, but one of the nation’s favorite pastimes, namely drinking coffee, is not good for the planet at all. At least, not on the scale at which it currently happens. That’s why Dutch company Northern Wonder developed coffee-free coffee.
Due to the growing global demand for coffee, more and more areas are being deforested to make room for coffee plantations. These areas also have to be sought at increasingly higher altitudes, looking for cooler, elevated places where the coffee plant thrives. Because of climate change, these places are becoming increasingly scarce, and more and more rainforest is being cut down for our daily cups of coffee. To help tackle that problem, a company developed—believe it or not—coffee WITHOUT coffee.
Coffee without coffee
Northern Wonder’s coffee-free coffee came to life after years of research into how to replicate the taste of coffee in a drink without putting such a heavy burden on the environment. Deforestation is a major problem, and Dutch coffee drinkers also turn out to be European leaders in deforestation (according to research by the World Wildlife Fund).
A dubious ranking
Some of that questionable ‘honor’ can be offset by choosing alternatives that are less destructive to nature. Many people are already aware that rainforests are being cut down for palm oil and soy, but coffee is not yet often associated with this. Northern Wonder proudly states that no tropical raw materials are used in their drink, hence the name.
Sacred coffee ritual
It is a drink made solely from natural ingredients, which have undergone extensive and lengthy testing to achieve a ratio that evokes the taste of coffee. A filter grind and a compostable cup compatible with a Nespresso machine are currently available, both with and without caffeine. In this way, Northern Wonder hopes that the coffee ritual that is sacred to many people can certainly continue to exist. But without, as they put it themselves, the bitter aftertaste of deforestation.
The million-dollar question
Which brings us to the million-dollar question: does it taste good?? The honest answer is: it’s fine. And the great thing is that they’re completely honest about this themselves too. It remains a work in progress to create other varieties, such as espresso grind and even beans, that evoke the taste of coffee, but the two varieties currently on the market really do come close.
David Klingen, CEO of Northern Wonder, doesn’t use fluffy marketing terms or hot air and says himself: ‘Look, if you’re a connoisseur looking for the taste of an exclusive single origin, you won’t find it here. But the regular cup of coffee that is such an important moment for many people, something that belongs when you have a quick chat at the garage, for example—that’s what we’ve achieved.”
#No-spon, just a good story
As a true expert (Tewis Simons, founder of specialty coffee brand Moto Coffee), who was at the launch just like me, said about the filter version: “I’ve certainly drunk worse machine coffee.” And as far as I’m concerned, the cup version does a pretty good job in a ‘cappuccino’. It may take some getting used to, but then again, so did Diet Coke. And with this, you’re really doing some good! Northern Wonder Coffee-free coffee is now available through their website.
Read also:
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