SEATTLE, WA, US – Most people love the convenience of the single-serving K-Cup coffee-maker. You get to brew one cup of coffee exactly how you like it – without leaving a pot of unused coffee behind. With the K-Cup, you get a freshly brewed cup every time, not just reheated coffee that’s been sitting around for hours.
Because they are not inexpensive, though, K-cup coffee systems are generally found in offices and at catered events. These single-cup coffee-makers can cost $100-250 or more.
But what if you could easily convert your home coffee-maker into a single-serving system that uses K-Cups? That would be the best of both worlds, right?
Joseph Pruitt, a mechanical engineer and industrial designer in the Atlanta area, thinks so. A design professional who finds manufacturing solutions for innovative concepts, Pruitt developed a new product, the K-pod. This inexpensive item easily slips into your home coffee-maker, enabling you to brew one cup of coffee with a K-cup.
“I kept asking myself, ‘Why can’t you put a K-Cup into your home coffee-maker? Why are there no products that let you do that?’” says Pruitt. “Well, now you can. The K-pod can be used in any coffee-maker, using any K-Cup.
“And you can brew the coffee any way you like it. You can adjust the brew strength of your coffee-maker by turning the dial on the front of the K-pod.”
There’s only one hitch. The K-pod is not yet commercially available. There are significant start-up costs involved with the manufacture of a new product like this, so Pruitt is encouraging Coffee Drinkers of the World to unite and help launch K-pod coffee.
This venture is being funded through a Kickstarter campaign. Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) is a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based organization that helps designers, engineers and other creative individuals finance projects that would not otherwise be undertaken.
Since its inception in 2009, Kickstarter has raised nearly $1 billion for creative projects around the world.
Pruitt is looking for $35,000 in donations. As of mid-February, he had raised about 10 percent of that amount.
Pruitt’s Kickstarter page (www.kck.st/NyVYwY) includes a video that demonstrates the K-pod’s ease of use and explains how it works. Those who donate at least $19 will receive a free K-pod. Higher donation levels receive the K-pod plus K-pod accessories.
“If your coffee maker can take a regular coffee filter, K-pod coffee will work for you,” explains Pruitt. “The K-pod fits in 100 percent of regular drip coffee-makers that take a paper or screen filter, even coffee-makers with conical or tapered filters.”
For further information about K-pod coffee, visit the K-pod website.
