hi everyone. i am new to Reddit and this thread but I am FREAKING OUT. So usually my mother depots my vertuo pods once a week to use for plants but this time I decided to do it (mind you I have NEVER done it). As I was depotting, I noticed weird teal colored stuff on top of the pods and then once I got to the bottom of the stack, I realized it was MOLD!! I’ve attached photos for reference. Mind you this isn’t from a pod that was used a few weeks or months ago, this was from a pod I literally used a few days ago! I am gen disgusted because I regularly rinse and descale my machine. Does this mean our pods have been coming with mold along?? The pods are already expensive so if this is the quality I’m paying for then…. I am so so spooked and would love to know if anyone else has experienced this🥺😭
update: I’ve been reassured by the kind people on here that mold grows very quickly for used coffee grounds!
by No-Description-4445
9 Comments
it wouldn’t take mold long to grow . mold loves warm dark and damp places so it’s basically the perfect environment .
i def don’t think it came with mold
Used coffee grounds can mold very quickly. My husband left used grounds in our drip coffee maker for 2 days and it was moldy when I found it, it doesn’t take long. The unused pod should be just fine.
My original pods will have pink mold within a week, so this is “normal” if you don’t dry your pods thoroughly after use
The capsules are hermetically sealed sooo there’s no way you got a capsule with mold in it. Now since they’re used yeah they get mold very quickly since it’s wet coffee grinds with now oxygen making contact. If you don’t want it to mold put your used capsules in the fridge or freezer
Happens overnight, do a test
Might be worth keeping them in the freezer when used. They should still be fine to depot and use on the plants. It’s how I store mine while I gather enough to fill the recycle bag.
Not gonna down vote you for this because this is something a lot of people don’t know because they are used to the rate at which food moulds rather than coffee grounds, and it is okay to not know something.
Used coffee grounds can mould, and do mould, much faster than other foods, because the environment in which this mould grows is basically an ideal situation for mould. Coffee grounds are damp, full of nutrients, and generally left in their container such as this which means they stay warm longer and there isn’t much air flow, mould loves all of these things.
If you are collecting grounds from pods for composting just empty them out right away onto a surface where you can spread them out and let them dry completely.
To lastly address your ‘if this is the quality I am paying for’ I hope you now know this is nothing to do with quality and is simple the environment in which the coffee grounds are in.
I keep all my old pods in the freezer in a recycling bag. They will mold almost immediately depending on the environment
Better yet open your pods after rinsing and either save the grounds or deposit into trash. Rinse the empty pod , dry and deposit into a recycle bag for later. No mess, smell, mold, or used freezer space. In the US take to UPS for recycling.