In a high-end coffee shop in tech-centric San Francisco, I’m sipping on an espresso made from an unconventional source: beanless coffee. This new trend, spearheaded by start-ups like Atomo, aims to replicate traditional coffee’s taste and experience without using actual coffee beans.

Atomo, a Seattle-based company founded in 2019, is at the forefront of this innovation. “We take great offense when someone says we’re a coffee substitute,” says Atomo CEO Andy Kleitsch. Unlike traditional coffee substitutes, which often lack flavor and caffeine, beanless coffee aims to provide an authentic coffee experience. The environmental benefits are significant: coffee cultivation is a major driver of deforestation, and beanless alternatives promise a more sustainable solution.

The beanless coffee movement is gaining traction as global coffee demand rises and climate change forces coffee plantations to higher altitudes. This new approach could also be cost-effective, especially as traditional coffee prices soar and new EU regulations target products linked to deforestation.

The ingredients in Atomo’s beanless coffee include date seeds, ramón seeds, sunflower seed extract, and a mix of other components to mimic the flavors and caffeine of traditional coffee. The process begins with granulating waste date seeds, which are then roasted and blended with other ingredients. Despite its novel composition, the beanless espresso and home brew from Atomo tasted impressively close to real coffee.

Other players in the beanless coffee market include Dutch start-up Northern Wonder, which uses lupin, chickpea, malted barley, and chicory, and Singapore-based Prefer and San Francisco’s Minus. A more futuristic approach involves lab-grown coffee, where cells from coffee plants are cultivated to create a brew. Companies like Foodbrewer and California Cultured are exploring this possibility, though scaling such technology remains a challenge.

Despite these advancements, beanless coffee has yet to replicate the full sensory experience of traditional coffee, including its rich aroma and the emotional connection to coffee-growing regions. Atomo’s current production capacity is a fraction of global coffee consumption, and the industry still faces hurdles in achieving widespread adoption.

While I remain a fan of traditional coffee’s authentic origins, beanless coffee has sparked my interest in exploring the sustainability and ethics of conventional brews. For now, it’s clear that the journey towards a truly sustainable coffee future is just beginning.