The Question That Started It All
Our founder spent decades in the software industry, where he built the DEKAF framework in the early 1990s — an alternative to JAVA at a time when everyone said JAVA was the only path forward.
That same instinct now applies to coffee. As someone who owns a high-end espresso machine and has never once enjoyed a cup of coffee from a Keurig pod, he asked a simple question: why does every single-serve pod produce bad coffee?
The answer turned out to be engineering, not destiny.
The Problem: Half-Empty Pods
Shake a Keurig-compatible pod. Hear the grounds rattle? That's the problem.
A standard pod contains roughly 9–12 grams of coarsely-ground coffee in a chamber of about 60 mL. A Nespresso capsule fits 5–7 grams into just 16 mL — one-quarter the size — yet produces dramatically better coffee. The difference? Density.
Nespresso packs its coffee at more than 2× the density of a Keurig pod. Then the machine forces 8–12 oz of hot water through that loosely-packed bed of coarse grounds, and the result is exactly what you'd expect: brown water.
Coffee density (grams per mL)
Why not match Nespresso's 0.37? Nespresso machines brew at ~19 bar of pressure — like an espresso machine. Keurig brewers operate at just 1–2 bar. Pack a pod that dense and the water can't get through. 0.25 g/mL is the maximum density the Keurig platform can extract well.
The Solution: More Coffee, Finer Grind
KUSP pods contain 14–16 grams of specialty-grade, finely-ground coffee — roughly 50% more than the industry standard — packed into the same Keurig-compatible pod format.
That raises the coffee density from 0.18 g/mL to 0.25 g/mL — a 40% improvement that closes the gap with Nespresso while keeping the convenience of the Keurig platform.
No one is doing this. The major pod manufacturers optimize for cost per pod, not taste per cup. That's why you'll love our pods.
Direct from Costa Rica
Our beans come directly from family-run farms in Costa Rica — single-origin, specialty-grade, fair trade. No commodity blends. No anonymous supply chains.
We roast using a zero-emission, fully electric process — no gas, no smoke, no compromise. Every batch is precision-roasted for consistency you can taste. Small-batch by design.
Every bag, every pod, every cup is roasted to order in Maynard, Massachusetts.
Maynard, MA
Roasted to order
Zero-emission process
Single-origin Costa Rican beans
Minority-Owned. Woman-Run.
KUSP Coffee is a minority-owned, woman-run business from day one.
But we are not asking anyone to buy our coffee because of who runs it. We are asking people to buy it because it is the best single-serve coffee they've ever tasted.
The ownership story is real and meaningful, but quality is our calling card.
Why "KUSP"?
The "K" comes full circle: from DEKAF (the software that challenged JAVA) to KUSP (the coffee that challenges the pod). Even the letter K itself is a nod — Keurig's own branding revolves around the letter K.
On the KUSP of great coffee.