This Clever $11 Hack Lets You Refill Your Coffee Pods so You Can Put Custom Roasts in Your Machine

Making a cafe-level cup of coffee at home not only makes you feel like a professional barista, but the effort brings with it a positive start to the day. From home-brewed matchas to festive holiday drinks, brewing a fancy homemade cup of coffee is what I would deem as pajama productivity at an all-time high.

We love a good coffee pod moment around here too - it's the perfect hassle-free solution for coffee lovers who live on the go. Plus, many of the best coffee machines are designed for coffee pod use to ensure that the serving amount is proportional to your cup. The only trouble is, these single-serve machines limit your choices when it comes to roasting levels and flavors, and while the options are ever-increasing, most coffee connoisseurs are very particular when it comes to the perfect brew.

Well, we've found a clever way to personalize your pods that doesn't only allow you to enjoy your all-time favorite flavor in pod form, but helps you be more sustainable in the process. According to this simple hack, the little silver cup can be rinsed, repacked, resealed, and reused. And as you'll find out, coffee with a touch of sustainability just tastes nicer.

Here is how it works. Once you've used your store-bought coffee pod, you simply tear off the aluminum cover and give it a thorough rinse. Then you pack in your favorite flavor of fine-ground beans and seal it back up with a fresh covering like these recap lids from Amazon. All that is left to do is to pop it back into the machine when you're ready for your next cup. Refilling your pods with a hack like this is a solid, and attainable first step in how to make your coffee machine better.

Experienced barista, journalist and coffee machine reviewer Laura Honey says "this is the perfect hack for coffee the aficionado. You get the speed of an espresso machine, with the flavors of your choice in brew." For her, one of the biggest drawbacks to Nespresso and single-use coffee machines is that you can usually only buy their own brand of pods. "Even though these are available on Amazon and Nespresso's website, this can be really limiting and frustrating if you want to explore a whole new world of coffee flavors," she says.

Depending on how impassioned you are feeling to up your coffee game, there are a few more ways you can advance this trick, too. Investing in one of the best coffee grinders for your kitchen is a good place to start so you can grind your own beans, something Laura recommends.

"To really maximize the benefits of the hack, try grinding your coffee freshly for the pods," she says. "When coffee is ground up, the flavors and oils begin to degrade, leaving your coffee less full and with a stale taste. Nothing compares to freshly ground and brewed coffee. So, if you have your own grinder, this hack will let you enjoy the best quality kind of coffee, with the the speed of an espresso machine. It is a dream come true."

Since pod machines are basically trying to imitate an espresso drip, a medium to finer ground is a good starting point - you can always go finer from there. We like this affordable burr grinder from Amazon for the job.

As this is not the same thing as a reusable pod, you will still be able to enjoy the original Nespresso pods to get a fresh shell. It is the invitation for variety that makes this hack exciting. Just be sure to keep an eye on your technique as you try it out, and make sure you have all the necessary coffee gadgets on hand. "Since they are originally designed to be single-us pods, I'd be careful of over-using them. Two to three times seems to be a fair guess," advises Laura. "Also, make sure to keep the foil seal tight, because you do not want any of the grounds leaking into your machine."

Hopefully, this hack has inspired you to become a coffee extraordinaire the way it has for us. Having a moment for yourself to be excited about in the morning is important, especially with a cup of coffee that is perfectly tailored to your tastes.