HiLine Coffee Review

HiLine Coffee
Overall Rating
92
Flavor & Aroma (50%)
93
Freshness (20%)
92
Balance & Acidity (10%)
90
Body & Mouthfeel (10%)
90
Roaster Reputation (10%)
90
The Bottom Line
HiLine Coffee is an artisan roaster in New York, NY specializing in creative alternatives to Nespresso and Keurig brand pods. Bored with your everyday pods or want an affordable alternative? Take a look at HiLine.
The Coffee Maven's editors select and review products independently. We may receive a commission if you purchase through one of our links at no additional cost to you.

Key Features of the HiLine Coffee

Key Features of HiLine Coffee

  • Nespresso-Compatible Capsules: Yes, OriginalLine machines only (not VertuoLine)
  • Keurig-Compatible Pods: Yes, for all Keurig coffee makers
  • Whole Bean Coffee: Yes
  • Ground Coffee: Yes
  • Other: Cold brew packs, coffee accessories
  • Coffee Source: High-altitude, small-lot farms in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia

HiLine Coffee Overview

Variety is the spice of life, and some days coffee is my life.

That makes variety in my coffee one the most important things to me.

For those like me, who want to see, taste, and experience everything, there’s no need to feel limited by the pod and capsule compatibilities of your Nespresso and Keurig coffee makers.

Enter HiLine Coffee.

A small coffee company based in New York, NY, HiLine Coffee hasn’t been in existence for very long.

But in their short time, they have established themselves as one of the best alternatives to Keurig and Nespresso pods.

Initially offering pod-based alternatives to the major single serve manufacturers, HiLine has expanded to offer whole bean and ground coffee, including specially-designed cold brew packs.

HiLine sources their coffees from high altitude, small lot farms in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia before roasting them freshly right before shipping.

Pros
  • Small artisan roaster based in New York, NY
  • Wide selection of coffee for Nespresso and Keurig coffee makers
  • Also sell whole bean coffee, ground coffee, and cold brew packs
  • Coffee is roasted fresh right before shipping
Cons
  • Nespresso capsules not compatible with VertuoLine machines
  • Hard to find information on each roast, such as where it's sourced
  • Capsule packaging made from plastic

Is the HiLine Coffee for you?

Are HiLine Coffee for you?

HiLine Coffee is an artisan roaster known mostly for providing capsule and pod alternatives for both Nespresso and Keurig coffee machines.

If you’ve never tried HiLine Coffee Company‘s products, give them a go. It can be more difficult to justify paying up for their Keurig-compatible pods, but their prices on Nespresso-compatible capsules, whole bean coffees, and ground coffees will fit almost anyone’s price range.

I wouldn’t go so far as to purchase their cold brew-specific product — regular ol’ coffee beans will do just fine — but I encourage everyone support a small business like HiLine, who offers superior quality and dedication to the satisfaction of their customers.

HiLine Coffee Review: An In-Depth Look

Who Is HiLine Coffee?

HiLine's mission is to provide the freshest alternatives to Keurig and Nespresso pods.

Actually, the story of their beginning is one we can all relate to.

One fateful New York morning back in 2013, co-founder Gene Kakulin reached for his favorite Nespresso capsule only to realize they were all out! A resourceful New Yorker, Gene grabbed an empty capsule, filled it with his own ground coffee, sealed it with tin foil and brewed it in his Nespresso machine.

The resulting coffee was better and more aromatic than the Nespresso-brand capsules he’d grown accustomed to using.

Then Gene had his light bulb moment.

Why not create a business around providing fresh alternatives to the brand name capsule manufacturers?

That’s exactly what he did.

HiLine Coffee Company, Inc. opened for business that same year and has grown to employ over a dozen people with annual revenue grossing around $2 million. (That’s less than one-half of 1% of what Keurig did in 2015, so we’re talking about a legitimate small business here.)

HiLine delivers coffee pods which are roasted right before being shipped to you, making them among the freshest — if not the freshest — Keurig- and Nespresso-compatible alternatives out there.

Over the last 5 years HiLine has rapidly expanded, offering more products beyond pod coffees, and has positioned themselves as one of the leading alternatives to Keurig and Nespresso pods.

In The Coffee Maven’s opinion, HiLine Coffee is poised to continue their ascent.

Where Does HiLine Get Their Coffee?

HiLine sources their coffees from high altitude, small lot farms in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

What does that mean?

While science doesn’t definitively answer the question, “Why is high altitude important when growing coffee?” the general consensus seems to be that higher altitudes mean lower temperatures, according to Dr. Shawn Steinman, who actually holds his Ph.D in Coffee Science.

Yes, that’s a thing.

Coffee grown in lower altitudes and hotter temperatures tends to take on an intense “this tastes like plain ol’ coffee” flavor. Considering many of the best coffee growing regions are around the equator — where it gets sorta hot! — it makes sense that the cooler temperatures at higher elevations would lend themselves to more complex coffees with an array of delicate flavors.

Small lot farms are the agricultural equivalent of buying from mom and pop shops.

In doing so, HiLine supports the local economy and frequently gets a higher quality roast out of it.

However, because these small lot farms typically don’t have the resources of their larger competitors, they don’t have organic certifications. That doesn’t mean the coffees aren’t delicious and responsibly grown, it just means they don’t carry the Certified Organic designation. HiLine does try to work with farms that are Fair Trade or members of the Rainforest Alliance, though.

HiLine Nespresso-Compatible Capsules

As noted in HiLine’s origin story, the company began out of a perceived necessity to improve the quality and freshness of pod coffee available on the market. To that end they’ve developed numerous varieties of Nespresso-compatible capsules to appeal to all palates.

As of this writing, they offer the following Nespresso-compatible capsules:

Note: All of the following capsules are Original-line compatible only. Read more about Nespresso VertuoLine vs OriginalLine.

Standard Roasts (with an obvious New York influence):

  • Wall Street: Dark roast from Sumatra with creamy, nutty profile
  • Greenwich Village: Dark roast from Brazil with fudge, orange and vanilla
  • Broadway: Dark roast from Sumatra with fruity, tart notes
  • Liberty: Dark roast from Colombia with raspberry and caramel
  • Times Square: Dark roast from Brazil with chocolate and sage
  • Grand Central: Dark roast from Colombia with caramel and cherry
  • Soho: Medium roast from Guatemala with chocolate and blackberry
  • Brooklyn: Medium roast from Ethiopia with sweetness, walnut and blueberry
  • Chelsea: Light roast from Guatemala with cinnamon, citrus and blackberry
  • Central Park: Decaf from Brazil with cacao nib and nuttiness
  • West Village: Dark roast from Guatemala with notes of cocoa and almond
  • Kona Blend: Dark roast from Hawaii with real Kona coffee

Specialty Roasts

  • Vanilla Macaron: Dark roast from Ethiopia
  • Creamy Coconut: Dark roast from Brazil
  • Hazelnut Cupcake: Dark roast from Ethiopia
  • Chocolate Donut: Dark roast from Ethiopia
  • Peppermint Bark: Dark roast from Sumatra
  • Pumpkin Spice: Dark roast from Brazil
  • Sea Salt Caramel: Dark roast from Ethiopia

HiLine vs Nespresso Capsules

Simply put, HiLine is one of the best Nespresso capsule alternatives.

  • They offer nearly 20 different varieties for Nespresso OriginalLine machines.
  • HiLine capsules cost around $0.60 per capsule.
  • Nespresso brand OriginalLine capsules cost around $0.75 per capsule.
  • That’s a savings of around $0.15 per capsule, or $55 per year.

Plus, HiLine’s roasts are fresher, and because the company is so picky when choosing partner farms that meet their high altitude, small lot criteria, HiLine capsules tend to be less intense, more flavorful and more complex.

HiLine Keurig-Compatible Pods

Similar to the write-up on HiLine’s Nespresso-compatible pods, the company offers fresher and higher-quality roasts for both Keurig 1.0 and Keurig 2.0 machines:

Standard Roasts

  • East Village: Medium roast organic from Peru with almond, toffee, vanilla
  • Donut Truck: Medium roast from Colombia with nutty, chocolate, citrus
  • Fifth Ave: Medium roast from El Salvador with honey, creamy radiant profile
  • Stock Exchange: Dark roast from Brazil with raspberry, nutty, bold
  • Kona Blend: Dark roast from renowned Kona region of Hawaii

Specialty Roasts

  • Coconut Cream: Medium roast from Brazil
  • Vanilla Bean: Medium roast from Brazil
  • Hazelnut Macaron: Medium roast from Brazil
  • Salted Caramel: Medium roast from Brazil
  • Chocolate Truffle: Medium roast from Brazil
  • Pumpkin Spice: Medium roast from Brazil
  • Peppermint Bark: Medium roast from Brazil

HiLine vs Keurig K-Cups

HiLine pods are compatible with both original Keurig and Keurig 2.0 machines. This means if you have a Keurig model from the K200, K300, K400 or K500 lines, HiLine’s pods will work with your machine’s pod scanning technology.

  • HiLine offers 12 different varieties for Keurig brewers.
  • HiLine pods cost around $1.10 per pod.
  • Keurig-licensed K-cups for 2.0 brewers cost around $0.70 per pod.
  • That means HiLine pods cost around $0.40 extra per pod, or $146 more per year.

In terms of cost, that’s the opposite of what we saw with HiLine’s Nespresso-compatible capsules. So, why would anyone buy HiLine’s Keurig-compatible pods?

Preference.

Medium roasts are my favorite, and I think HiLine’s East Village roast is absolutely delicious. It’s probably in my top 3 K-cup roasts I’ve ever had. Still, the extra cost with HiLine’s pods is a little hard to swallow. At $146 per year that’s akin to buying a whole new Keurig machine every 12 months!

For those who want single origin, small lot roasts and want to support a small company like HiLine, I can’t recommend them enough. But if the extra cost doesn’t fit your bottom line, that’s completely reasonable.

HiLine Whole Bean Coffee

Unlike HiLine’s Nespresso and Keurig alternatives, their whole bean coffees come from El Salvador and New Guinea.

All of these roasts, including the Union Square dark roast, are extremely smooth — a characteristic of coffees grown in those regions.

“Low key” is a great way of describing all 3 roasts below, and you can see from the tasting notes of each that nothing here is going to be overpowering.

With HiLine’s strict requirements — high altitude, small lot — they can deliver great quality for an affordable price.

These are the whole bean coffees HiLine offers:

  • Madison Ave: Medium roast from El Salvador with peach, almond, fruity notes
  • Union Square: Dark roast from New Guinea with rich, savory, berry notes
  • Flatiron: Organic medium roast from El Salvador with peach, honey, floral notes

The first two roasts sell for around $16 per pound, and the organic sells for $18.

HiLine Ground Coffee

Ready for something different?

HiLine’s ground coffees come in individually wrapped single serve packs! The accompanying image shows one of these packs. Why does HiLine package their coffee this way?

Freshness.

Recall the company’s mission statement from the introduction: to provide the freshest alternatives to Keurig and Nespresso pods.

OK, so the Nespresso and Keurig part of that doesn’t apply here (unless you use a reusable pod), but the freshness part does.

Coffee goes bad when exposed to oxygen, as the oils oxidize and turn rancid. The exact shelf life of coffee is of much debate, but I’ve heard people say you can detect a noticeable decline in flavor in as few as 15 minutes!

The point is this: It’s always best to grind your coffee beans immediately prior to use. In the case of ground coffee that’s not possible, so the next best thing is to do what HiLine has done here.

No, it’s not the best thing for the environment — that’s a lot of extra plastic — but the cost of individually packing their coffee packs isn’t overwhelming to the customer. These ground coffees can be had for around $14 per pound.

  • Tribeca: Medium roast from Colombia with fruity, creamy, balanced profile
  • Empire State: Medium roast from Ethiopia with blueberry, nectar, full-bodied profile
  • Park Ave: Dark roast from Brazil with chocolate, caramel, robust profile

HiLine Cold Brew Packs

Similar to their ground coffee above, HiLine offers individually packed ground coffee packs for use in cold brew coffee. Each order comes with 4 packs, which makes 12 8 oz servings.

That’s 96 oz of cold brew for $12, or $2.00 per 16 oz — the size of a Starbucks grande cold brew. I’m sitting in a hotel lobby next to a Starbucks right now and their grande cold brew goes for $4.65. That’s $2.50 savings per serving!

It’s still cheaper to go with whole bean or ground coffee, but for convenience and freshness the cold brew packs do quite nicely.

Cost analysis aside, this is what HiLine offers in the cold brew line:

  • Gramercy Park: Balanced, ultra smooth, rich, and designed to be brewed in cold water

From their website, here’s the cold brew recipe:

Drop 2 pitcher packs into a 48 fl oz (or larger) pitcher. Add 32 fl oz of cold, filtered water to the pitcher. Steep coffee in the fridge for 24 hours. Gently remove the pitcher packs and add 10-16 fl oz cold, filtered water to taste.

HiLine Accessories

In addition to their coffees, HiLine offers a few coffee-related accessories:

  • Tumblers with funny sayings on them
  • Descaling powder for coffee machines
  • A tote bag
  • A zip pouch

Honestly, not much to see here. You can find better stuff on Amazon.

HiLine Coffee Review: Final Word

HiLine Coffee emphasizes fresh coffee above all else, and it shows up in each of their product lines. Their beans are sourced from high quality, small lot farms at high altitudes in some of the best growing regions in the world and are roasted right before delivery. Even their ground coffee options are individually packaged to lock in freshness.

Their Nespresso-compatible roasts are less intense than Nespresso’s offerings and can be purchased at savings of around $0.15 per capsule. However, they’re compatible with OriginalLine machines only.

Their Keurig-compatible roasts are high quality as well and work with both Keurig 1.0 and Keurig 2.0 brewers, but they’re more expensive than Keurig’s own licensed K-cup pods and many other third party manufacturers.

Check out the HiLine Coffee!

Check out HiLine Coffee!

HiLine Coffee
HiLine Coffee is an artisan roaster in New York, NY specializing in creative alternatives to Nespresso and Keurig brand pods. Bored with your everyday pods or want an affordable alternative? Take a look at HiLine.

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About The Coffee Maven
bryan de luca
Bryan De Luca

I'm Bryan but most people know me as The Coffee Maven. I grew up outside Boston, Massachusetts and received my Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Providence College. My first introduction to coffee was during my college days, when I used it as a source of caffeine to fuel late-night study sessions, but soon I became obsessed with the chemistry of coffee. How did changes to water temperature or contact time affect its taste? Why do beans from Africa taste fruity while beans from Indonesia taste spicy? I launched The Coffee Maven in February 2017 to explore these questions and help others brew their perfect cup. Welcome to my site, and thanks for reading!

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