A cartridge for preparing a beverage and a method of manufacturing thecartridge is provided. The cartridge includes a container comprising one ormore sidewalls extending between a lid at one end and a bottom surface at a secondopposing enddefining an interior space, a pod disposed in the interior space, the podconstructed of afluid-permeable material for containing a substance from which a beverage canbeextracted, and a beverage additive disposed between a surface of the containerand thepod for spacing apart the pod from the surface of the container.