Santa Cruz-based startup Steeped, Inc. launched its Steeped Coffee brewing method. Brewed similar to tea, Steeped Coffee’s nitro sealed Steeped Bags, along with its packaging made using renewable and compostable materials, achieves freshly ground specialty coffee in a single-serving. Steeped Bags won the “Best New Product” award for their innovative packaging at the recent Specialty Coffee Expo.

Steeped Coffee launched when serial entrepreneur and coffee lover Josh Wilbur decided to combine the convenience of a single-serving brew method with the premium quality of ethically sourced coffee. Wilbur wanted to redeem the environmental dilemma created by coffee pods. Over 10 billion unrecyclable pods accumulate in landfills each year — enough to wrap around the earth more than 110 times if placed side-by-side.

It took Wilbur seven years to innovate the proprietary Steeped Coffee system that delivers fresh roasted, pre-portioned, precision ground, micro batched coffee in customized Full Immersion Filters. “Premium coffee roasters have shied away from offering their specialty beans in single-serve packaging because it’s been nearly impossible to keep ground coffee fresh, which quickly ruins the taste,” says Wilbur. “With our Nitro Sealed bags, oxygen is replaced with nitrogen, so the coffee stays fresh as if it was ground moments ago.”

Simply steep each Steeped Bag in hot water for about five minutes to allow the coffee to develop its distinctive body and flavor. There is no machine, no noise, no cleanup, no destructive waste.

Features of Steeped Coffee include:

• 100% Specialty Coffee: quality coffee ethically sourced directly from farmers
• Nitro Sealed: removes oxygen, stopping the clock on freshly ground beans
• Ultrasonic Edges: no glue, staples, or wasted materials for max steeping
• Full Immersion Filter: non-GMO filters that regulate ideal water-in and maximum flavor-out
• Guilt-Free Packaging: made using plant-based renewable and compostable materials
• Micro Batching: roasted locally in small batches
• Precision Ground: consistent water-cooled grinding to the micron
• Pre-Portioned: consistent SCA recommended water-to-coffee ratios
• Just Add Water: single-serve convenience with no machines required
• Barista Approved: tested by multiple independent specialty coffee Q-graders for freshness, quality, and taste