Dear reader, I have a confession. I am a longtime Keurig user. When I first saw one at a friend’s house I wanted one. You see, I am the only coffee drinker in my house, and so I thought making an entire pot for the two or three cups I drink was a waste. A coffee maker that made one cup at a time was perfect for our house. Over the years I found some pods, such as Peet’s and Angelino’s, had more coffee and made better cups, so I spent a bit extra on those brands.

I’ve been well aware of the downsides of Keurig pods, that they were made of plastic and throwing them out was harmful to the environment. Yes, you can recycle pods, but when convenience is the primary reason why you use them in the first place, the time and effort to recycle didn’t fit. And then there is the growing awareness of the harms of microplastics.

Keurig is no longer the only maker of single-cup brewers, but the ones that provide similar convenience tend to be expensive. Several days ago I read an article about the ecozy Brezzano Switch that has a reasonable price, and when I found I could buy it on Amazon for an additional $40 off, I ordered it.

So far I have only made the drip coffee, and while I know the coffee maker on its own is not the main reason, it has produced the best cups of coffee I have drunk at home. The real reason why the coffee tastes so much better is that I bought beans (Peet’s to start) and I am grinding them before brewing, but the Brezzano Switch is the catalyst and deserving of the recognition.

More expensive machines do practically everything: you pour in the beans and water, select whether you are making espresso or coffee, and it does all the work. The Brezzano has a water reservoir like the Keurig, and you need to use a separate grinder, so taste depends on the size of the grounds I make. You select whether you are making espresso or coffee and the serving size on the Brezzano’s touch screen, and it heats and pours the water. The coffee grounds are put into a mesh filter that goes in the coffee basket that slides into the Brezzano above your cup, and when it is done you dump out the coffee grounds and rinse the mesh.

The only complaint I have so far is that the space between the drip tray and the bottom of the coffee basket is too small for many of my mugs, so I have to remove the drip tray. I also found that the Brezzano’s 10 oz setting pours more water than the Keurig’s 10 oz setting, so to leave enough space for cream I tap Coffee, then 8 oz, then Brew.

It is probably too early to fully recommend the ecozy Brezzano Switch, but my first uses are very positive. I have not yet made espresso because we do not have a pitcher for frothing milk, but one should be arriving later today. The one problem I now have is what to do with the Keurig pods. I am sure a cup of coffee from them is going to not be as good as I am getting from the Brezzano Switch.