8 best eco-friendly coffee capsules: Barista quality joe that helps the planet

Best: Overall

Rating: 9/10

The Colonna founder, Maxwell Colonna-Dashwood, is one of the UK’s leading coffee experts, and his Colonna and Smalls coffee shop in Bath is one of the best around. He has consulted for Nespresso, so he knows the business well, and has a capsule shop that reaps the benefits of his knowledge of the world’s best coffee.

Colonna’s compostable options include single-origin coffees from Ethiopia, Brazil and Colombia. We especially enjoyed the limited edition nuguo honey gesha lungo coffee from Panama, but there are options for every palate. Unfortunately, these are currently unavailable to buy.

Best: All-rounder

Rating: 8/10

Using their “cutting-edge” bioplastic, Roar Gill only sells compostable pods in recyclable packaging designed to fit through your letter box. There are “bold,” “rare”, “cortado” and “exotic Peru” blends, designed for different pallets.

Our tasting panel especially enjoyed the “rare” blend, made from Arabica beans from Brazil. These are simple, stylish and easy to understand, with something for serious coffee drinkers without being off-putting to the beginner.

Best: For carbon neutrality

Rating: 8/10

Kiss the Hippo may just be a small coffee shop with only two outposts – one in Richmond and another in Fitzrovia – but its growing army of fans adore its plastic-free compostable Nespresso-compatible capsules. There are three options, all organic: a house blend, a slightly stronger classic blend – our panel’s favourite – and a decaf.

As good as the coffee is, so are the brand’s carbon credentials. Kiss the Hippo prides itself on being London’s first carbon negative coffee company, with a tree-planting scheme that off-sets the carbon costs of the business.

Best: Blending

Rating: 7/10

Rather than sticking to one origin for its blends, North London-based Fireheart coffee switches things up according to what’s in season and tasting best. Its palace blend is a deep mix of cherry and chocolate flavours, and comes in compostable, plastic free pod.

Best: Recyclable aluminium pods

Rating: 7/10

Dualit sell a range of compostable pods – our panel liked its punchy new “intense espresso“ option – as well as regular aluminium pods. Even more helpfully, for those who are wedded to the precision of the aluminium, which still just has the edge over compostable pods in terms of flavour and freshness, Dualit sell a tool to make recycling easy (£9.99, Dualit.com). Simply put each capsule in the machine, push the button and it is ready to go in the household recycling.

Best: Tasting

Rating: 8/10

Blue Goose’s Ethiopian pod is the only compostable coffee pod so far to have been awarded two stars by the Great Taste awards. And it’s not hard to see why. Grown in Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia, this coffee has a lighter, easy-drinking floral flavour and a rich crema. More expensive than some pods, but you can taste the difference.

Best: Reusable pod

Rating: 6/10

Perhaps the most eco-friendly option of all is this reusable pod. You can wash out the old grounds, put in fresh ones and re-seal the pod. Traditionally they have not worked as well as aluminium or compostable pods, but the technology is improving all the time. Maverick’s SealPod is the best we’ve encountered yet, and they also make reusable pods for the rival Dolce Gusto system.

Best: Supermarket eco-pod

Rating: 7/10

Co-op’s pods are made from aluminium, but they are fully recyclable, as well as Fairtrade and organic, with coffee from Sumatra, Indonesia. It makes for a rich, full-bodied espresso with a delicious crema. Perfect for those moments when you’ve forgotten to order online, or you don’t have an active subscription. Stock does vary between regions though, so be sure to input your post code to check whether they’re available to buy in your area.