Earlier this month I had the opportunity to try Folgers Perfect Measures for my home coffee pot. It’s a unique product with no paper, pre-measured into neat circles of compressed coffee. At first, I will admit I was completely skeptical but one less mess of spilled coffee grounds to wipe up at 4 a.m., for free for a few days sounded a-ok to me, so I took them for a test drive! Here’s what was in the pack: coupons to share, instructions and 2 small containers of the tabs in different flavors.
How it works:
Each circle tab makes a 6 oz. cup of coffee with a lower limit of 4 tabs per serving. In other words, it makes 4 physical cups of coffee (24 oz) with 4 tabs. You can’t use less. Drop them in your coffee filter, add water, brew.
The first thing I did was measure the physical amount of water that goes into our carafe, since we simply run water into it, dump it into the reservoir and go. The ‘cup’ markings on the size aren’t a standard unit of measure. It held about 50 oz of water. Using simple division, I estimated that around 48 oz would brew and that 8 tabs would be fine for a full pot. Normally we use 4 large scoops of loose ground coffee, leveled off–each tab is about 1/2 of our regular scoop.
I would have to agree with Folgers’ estimation of how it should be used. Knowing that our pot runs very quickly and straight down, I tried using 4 tabs for about a half a pot of coffee and found that our Bunn coffeemaker simply ran too fast, and the Black Silk (dark brew) tabs ended up making a weak pot–they didn’t have time to dissolve given how much time/little water was involved. We used 7 for 3/4 of a pot, or 8 physical cups of coffee marked on our carafe and 8 for a full pot or 10 cups of coffee marked on our carafe, because we make more coffee on the weekend. Both of those amounts worked well and made a good pot of coffee. They had an additional bonus of not overflowing the filter and leaving a messy ring around the plastic filter beyond the paper filter cup. There was little to no debris in the bottom of the container and only one broken ‘tab’. Truly less mess. I can see this good for lower IQ independent adults or older adults with a disability that causes tremors.
I browsed through other people’s reviews and I saw people using only 2 tabs TOTAL. They must like really weak coffee! I know we like it on the strong side, but it seems kind of strange that there’s such a variety. Some others also found what I did that the coffee seemed to be a bit weaker using an equal amount of coffee, perhaps because of how the machines operate/brew.
Perfect Measures Pricing:
According to an editor from the St. Louis Dispatch, the approximate cost in local markets is between $4.50 and $8.99 depending on container size. See her brief review here. We are able to make an 85 tab unit last through 2 work weeks and one weekend. A larger unit would go for 4 work weeks and 3 weekends, or about the same as a regular dark roast canister. This makes the price roughly equitable to what we already use. Unfortunately I can’t find it locally or online to purchase to do an actual comparison and verify this cost.
Reasons to use Perfect Measures:
Camping trip
Hotel stay
Guests or kids helping with prep
Physical disability that involves spasms/shaking or limited movement
Neat freak/minimalist/small spaces
After a thorough review, I can see the pros and cons to these tabs.
Product Pros:
Recyclable, small container
Very little mess
Easy- even a child could do it
Convenient-no scoop needed and no guessing once you have the amount perfect for you
Product Cons:
Potential for the price to be much higher per serving if the prices I found aren’t correct, or using more tabs than ‘scoops’
Limited availability
More difficult to get an even brew with a partial pot and/or a fast brewing machine
No ‘new coffee’ canister smell when opening a fresh container of ground coffee
Would you like a coupon? E-mail me with your address and the text ‘coffee coupon please’ in the subject. I will send them out as available. When I run out, I run out and I’ll say sorry! Coupons are for a free ‘K-cup’ pack–not the Perfect Measures product. These work in single cup Keurig style machines. I’ve also been told by other Chatterbox participants that you can use 2 of them for a pot of coffee, although I have not put that to the test! I contacted House Party and thought they had inadvertantly sent the K-cup coupons, and asked for Perfect Measures, and they sent me— MORE K-cup coupons. So… let me know if you want one and I’ll send it off to you!
I received a Chatterbox Pack from House Party at no cost to me. This in no way influenced my review of the product. I wasn’t obligated in any way to even post this review, but I always like to thoroughly review everything that comes to me, and as this blog is a written account of my time, might as well make note of it. I am linking this review to my Folgers Chatterbox review. As always, this is my blog and I tell you the truth. My humble way of saying, the opinions are my own, and may differ from yours, so use your best judgement in every purchase decision you make–wise in these economic times, right? #PerfectFolgers #Sponsored