Are Plastic-Free Coffee Makers Worth It? We Asked A Coffee Expert

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Microplastics are pervasive in the environment, food supply, and even within the human body, because we are what we eat — and drink. Most coffee makers include plastic components, but Matt Woodburn-Simmonds, ex-barista and founder of Home Coffee Expert, doesn't necessarily see the value in plastic-free options. As he told Tasting Table, "There are much easier and cheaper ways to remove plastic from your kitchen than trying to find a coffee machine where the water and coffee never touch plastic."

Wanting to reduce plastic contact with your coffee isn't pointless, but Woodburn-Simmonds draws a useful distinction between removing one source from your daily routine and the Sisyphean ambition of achieving a fully microplastics-free existence. "In all likelihood, it's such a minimal change to your total exposure to microplastics that you're just burning money," he says. 

If you want to minimize the amount of plastic your coffee encounters, Woodburn-Simmonds' preferred replacement is a stainless steel AeroPress Coffee Maker, which does cost about three times as much as a basic plug-in countertop coffee maker. But, as he explains, "Everything other than the silicone seal is stainless steel." An AeroPress is a manual brewer; you add the ground coffee and hot water to the chamber, then use the plunger to force the brewed coffee through a filter and into your cup. 

Woodburn-Simmonds likes that the stainless steel AeroPress is simple to use, yet capable of making "insanely good coffee." He also points out, "It's easily transportable, so you don't need to worry about plastic in hotel coffee machines." The expert even adds that, when combined with a quality coffee grinder, "You can get brilliant coffee with next to no plastic contact."

Ultimately, Woodburn-Simmonds recommends doing "whatever makes you feel better." So if reducing plastic contact makes you feel more comfortable drinking your morning cup, then a manual, stainless steel brewer such as an AeroPress, French press, or even a moka pot offer ways to do it at low cost, without having to shell out for an elaborate new appliance. While eliminating plastic from modern life entirely may not be possible, you can make your coffee with considerably less exposure.

Whether a plastic-free coffee maker is worthwhile depends partly on what you're trying to accomplish. It might not make sense to spend a lot of money to replace a functional machine solely to make a small dent in your cumulative exposure to microplastics. But if you're already replacing your brewer, there's no reason the safety of the materials that touch something you consume every morning can't be considered along with price, durability, and quality.