I’ve written more than a few times about my love for coffee, which is why I’m sharing this review of Pronto Cafe’, and why you should consider it as another source for your daily brew, whether at home, work, or camping under the stars.
Pronto Cafe’ seeks to do away with the waste associated with the multitude of coffee machines manufactured, used, and then discarded. On their website, they mention that more than 40 million coffee makers are sold in the United States and Europe every year. (Given our penchant for cheap goods that don’t last, it may be best not to dwell on how many end up in landfills on a regular basis). So they came up with coffee that comes in its own hybrid bag/filter. Not quite a tea bag, nor a coffee filter, each one contains a blend of six different Arabica beans.
Having received a sample 3-pack, I set out to brew a cup, and see first and foremost how good the coffee was. Because if it didn’t taste great, then no amount of tree-hugging, earth-loving ideology was going to convince me to share this with my readers. Of course, I sort of failed on my first cup, as I missed a minor detail in the instructions which resulted in a torn bag. But that didn’t affect the flavor, it just meant that I had to carefully hold the bag while brewing. This sort of negated the clever paper cutouts on each side that allow it to sit on various sized cups though. While I slowly dribbled hot water into the Pronto Cafe’, I was left to ponder what may be its most obvious shortcoming. The directions state to add 50ml for a Short cup, 100ml for a Medium cup, 150ml for a Long, and 200ml for American coffee. While I prefer to start my day with 16 to 24 ounces of piping hot coffee, the Pronto Cafe’ has the boldest flavor when brewed around three ounces, plus or minus a few milliliters. That’s not going to cut it for me, but may be perfect for other coffee drinkers. Yes, you can steep it for a bit longer to get more flavor, but that’s not going to make a full cup taste as rich as a half cup.
So what’s the verdict? Pronto Cafe’ describes the flavor as light and somewhat chocolatey, and I can’t argue with that. If the serving size works for you, the flavor won’t disappoint. Some argument could be made that the package is a bit wasteful, but I suggest you recycle the outer bag, and compost the coffee and filter bag. While I’d love to see a larger version (‘Merica!), this is still something I’d keep in my backpack, desk at work, and 72 hour kit. Learn more, and watch a video demonstration, at prontocafe.eu
– Brian
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received my samples of Pronto Cafe’ for free from Pronto Cafe’, in consideration for review publication