Popular Mechanics Pits the Keurig Alta Against Caraway’s $495 Drip Maker

Popular Mechanics has put Keurig’s new Alta side by side with Caraway’s first coffee maker, a $495 10-cup drip machine, and pitches both as ways to brew at home without plastic in the mix. Reviews editor Sarah Connor, a former barista, came down on the side of the Alta.

On the Keurig, Popular Mechanics covers the familiar points: AltaRounds are pressed pucks of coffee with a plant-based coating instead of a plastic capsule, the machine brews at up to 10 bars, it reads each round to set the recipe, it handles milk frothing on its own, and it still takes regular K-Cups. Connor found the drinks noticeably better than a standard K-Cup and called the $500 price steep but lower than many fully automatic espresso machines. The outlet also notes that each round still comes in its own wrapper, so the packaging isn’t waste-free yet.

The Caraway is the other side of the argument. Per Popular Mechanics, water and coffee touch only glass and stainless steel on the way through, it ships with a reusable steel filter, runs off a single dial, and keeps the pot warm for up to 90 minutes. It comes in four muted colors. The magazine’s deputy deals editor, a recent coffee convert, liked how simple it is.

Our take: these two solve different problems. If you want lattes and cortados at the push of a button, the Alta is the one to look at, and our Alta and AltaRounds explainer covers what you’d be buying into. If your worry is plastic in the brew path and you drink plain coffee, $495 is a lot for a drip maker; a regular Keurig with a good reusable K-Cup cuts pod waste for far less.