Our Range
WHICH COFFEES FORM PART OF YOUR RANGE?
We’ve partnered with 7 of Cape Town’s best local micro-roasters: Bootlegger Coffee Company, Terbodore Coffee Roasters, Deluxe Coffeeworks, Truth Coffee, Naked Coffee, Father Coffee and Rosetta Roastery. In terms of strength and flavour, Bootlegger, Terbodore and Deluxe both offer dark-roasted blends, with Bootlegger being our darkest/strong-tasting 4WKS Pod. The coffee inside our Bluebird, Truth, and Father, Rosetta Pods are single origins, with Truth and Bluebird being a medium roast, and Father and Rosetta being a light roast.
Our Pod
Roasted, ground + packed every week, our pods are as fresh as eggs and best enjoyed, like all great coffee, in 4WKS. Compatible with Nespresso® machines, our 4WKS pod is 100% compostable, with zero plastic or aluminium. Made from an innovative plant-based bio-material, it’s sealed with a vegetable fibre lid, and branded with edible ink. When composted, our 4WKS pod will break down in 12 - 24WKs but, even if it lands in landfill, it’ll break down hundreds of times faster than plastic or aluminium capsules.
In tandem with our partner roasters, we’re extremely excited to have launched an innovative composting programme that will do not only less harm but more good in returning our pod back to Earth.
WHAT IS A 4WKS POD MADE FROM? Our pod has three main components: 1) a shell made from a plant-based biomaterial; 2) a vegetable fibre lid and 3) an edible ink stamp. Our pod has been designed for consistency in strength and taste.
WHERE CAN I BUY A 4WKS POD? Our pods can be bought directly from our roasters cafés (i.e. Deluxe, Father, Terbodore, Truth + Rosetta Cafés) OR can be bought online, via our website and we ship nationwide.
ARE 4WKS COMPATIBLE WITH A NESPRESSO® MACHINE? Yes! They have been designed to work specifically with Nespresso® machines. They are not however recommended for use in fully-automatic Nespresso® machines.
Help us to help the planet!
ARE OUR PODS COMPOSTABLE? Yes, our pods are 100% compostable. They can be turned into compost when entered into a commercial composting facility! At this facility, they use high temperatures to break down plant-based bio-materials into carbon or nitrogen, which can also be turned into nutritious soil full of life!
There is SO MUCH to learn about waste management and it has, excuse the pun, “organically” turned into a big pillar of 4WKS, and one we’re intent to crack in our mission to shift coffee, habits + culture!
How to use it
ARE THERE ANY TOP TIPS TO USING 4WKS?
Yes!
Remember to store your pods in an airtight jar. This will keep them fresh and please remember, they are best enjoyed within 4 weeks!
Short and/or a double-hit. Our darker to medium roasts (Bootlegger, Terbodore, Deluxe, and Truth) blend well with milk, but we’d recommend enjoying our single origins (Father, Bluebird + Rosetta) short and black! Our pods are not as strong as Nespresso® capsules. We recommend drinking them as short drinks, and, for extra strength, please use a double-hitter i.e. two to get a super-strong shot.
Our Team
WHY DID YOU START 4WKS?
We started 4WKS because we’re coffee snobs who love the planet. While recognising the brilliance of Nespresso™ machines and the need for great coffee at the push of a button, we were also acutely aware of two things. Firstly, the unsustainability of plastic and aluminium single-use coffee capsules which, in 2018 alone, resulted in 56 billion capsules landing in landfill — where they’ll remain for 450-500 years. Secondly, we challenged the coffee inside the capsules (also known as pods) and why they’re largely imported, mass-produced, and have a shelf-life of 18 months — when the best coffee should be consumed fresh. We wanted to make the best, local, micro-roasted coffee — which we love — available to people at home, the office, or on holiday with a pod that, freshly-packed, tastes delicious and, home compostable, does no harm to the environment.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE IN 4 YEARS TIME?
In 4 years time, we would like to have 4WKS Pod Collectives in cities around the world: celebrating the best, local, micro-roasted coffee in a pod that’s fresh, sustainable and exists to shift coffee, culture and habits — for the better. Our ultimate ambition is to open-source and share all our knowledge, expertise and tools to not only replace single-use plastic and aluminium capsules but to do our best to reverse the damage and impact they have had on the environment.