This 'Keurig For Weed' Is Probably as Expensive an Investment as an Actual Keurig

Impact

Looking to burn green while you burn green?

Massachusetts' CannaKorp, Inc. is working on a new type of vaporizer which operates using "small, single-use 'pods' that are independently filled by legally authorized growers," reported the Boston Globe and Gawker. Dave Manly, the company's chair, is a former executive of Keurig Green Mountain Inc.

"Users will be able to select the strain and strength of the CannaCups at one of CannaKorp's 50 partnering dispensaries across the country, and may eventually be able to buy a subscription through the company website," reported Tech Insider last year.

David Zalubowski/AP

But buyer beware. Much like the Keurig itself, there doesn't appear to be too much distinguishing the CannaKorp vaporizer from commonly available technology, other than serving the good stuff up in small, pre-packaged sizes from a presumably limited number of suppliers.

While it might be slightly more convenient than the process of grinding beans, changing the filter and brewing a full pot of coffee, those single-serving pods are significantly more expensivey the New York Times' estimate, Keurig coffee costs upwards of $50 a pound, significantly more than all but "the priciest coffees sold by artisanal roasters, the stuff of coffee snobs." Business Insider concluded a coffee drinker who switches from a regular coffee maker to a Keurig could see their annual coffee consumption shoot up by an astonishing $400-610 a year, not even considering the cost of a Keurig device, which can run into the hundreds.

Likewise, reported Tech Insider, the cost of a CannaKorp pod is about $9.99, "double the cost of a pre-roll joint in California." Depending on the size of the pod, loose-leaf weed from a store ranges from cheaper to much cheaper.

The device itself costs $149. A premium, portable loose-leaf weed vaporizer like the Pax 2, costs around $280 from the manufacturer, but less expensive models can run as cheap as $25-130. 

That's not even considering the opinion of the man behind the parent device, who set off this whole pod trend in the first place.

Last year, the inventor of the Keurig, John Sylvan, admitted "I don't have one. They're kind of expensive to use" in an interview with The Atlantic. Referring to the increased environmental cost of the single-serving pods, which are disposed after use, Sylvan added "I feel bad sometimes that I ever did it."

CannaKorp Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.