For some reason I think of it as an older concept. Now Starbucks and coffee chains are popular.
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Does everyone have a Starbucks in their home? Is everyone on large incomes?
The answer to both is no and no. Buying coffee is expensive and retail is at least a long way away for nearly all people. Instant is instant and cheap it will always have a place.
Instant coffee is still popular and common in Asia. Coffee vending machines, which are technically instant, are also common in waiting areas of businesses (i.e. dealership, leasing offices, clinics, etc.)
I keep a jar of it in my desk at the office.
Handy for those overnight callouts when noting else is available.
Still seems like the default in much of Europe and Asia
I had a British coworker that said she thought instant coffee was the only kind until her twenties. Then I remembered British drink tea.
Starbucks tried to modernize it with these little packets a few years back, under the name “Via”. The older brands still exist too, such as Nescafé, which, as a Nestle product, I assume is made from the blood of indigenous people.
The production actually is pretty cool really. They basically brew giant vats of coffee and then freeze dry it into a powder that can be easily rehydrated.
That actually made me like insta coffee a tiny bit more just for being so cool
i bet the blood of indigenous people would taste better… not that im condoning such an aberration.
When you drink the coffee, you can really taste the iron deficiency.
The biggest difference is that starbucks via doesn’t start with awful coffee.
Starbucks isn’t good coffee compared to some fancy pants third wave coffee, but It’s not nescafe either.
Freeze drying and rehydrating might not do anything to hurt coffee flavor, but it’s not going to make bad coffee suddenly taste good.
If I’m going camping and want to keep things light I’ll buy instant coffee and transfer it into a freezer bag.
I used to because I am single and it didn’t seem economical to brew a pot for one cup. Then I found out about the “4 cup” machines like the ones they put in hotel rooms.
I grind enough for a big cup, pour water in it, and decant it to another cup using a fork as a filter. Seems to work fine.
Yes. I don’t like it but sometimes I don’t have time to make my normal pour over. Like lunchtime. Tastes pretty bad. Especially to a pour over coffee snob like me.
Even Costco sells it.
I do. Juan Valdez tastes amazing.
Only when I’m backpacking in the wilderness, otherwise, it’s fresh ground for me!
I think it still represents something like 5-10% of the US coffee market.
Better doesn’t always drive out cheaper.
I don’t drink instant as my daily coffee, but I do use it for baking and cocktails. When you want coffee flavor in something without the grainy texture of coffee grinds, instant coffee is the best solution because it dissolves entirely. It’s great for ice cream, frosting, coffee cake, coffee syrup, or anything else of the sort. I’ve also found that the quality of instant coffee has improved significantly over the years, so it does actually make a pretty decent cup of coffee in a pinch.
Can you add it to…
…coffee?
You can add the instant coffee to coffee and some powdered milk to some milk for it and then you’ll have more coffee per coffee and milk per milk than anyone else
Ah yes, I love my coffee flavor coffee with a shot of espresso.
For ice cream you can also seep with whole beans and then strain. Uses a lot more beans, of course.
I drink it. It’s cheaper and quicker to make than anything else I’ve found.
Absolutely. Quality instant coffee tastes as good as a regular brew, when prepared correctly: dissolve in cold water, ONLY THEN add hot water.
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When you dissolve instant coffee directly into hot water, the amylum contained in the granules hardens, creating a powdery taste and consistency. By mixing the granules with cold water first, they dissolve more gently once introduced to hot water.
I found this technique makes for a richer and more flavourful coffee experience. Allegedly also because aromatics evaporate slower.
Are those the actual directions or what you’ve found?
I used to avoid instant coffee until I read this somewhere and tried it. It definitely changed my coffee game. The rationale behind it is that aromatics evaporate too quickly when the instant powder is infused with too/boiling hot water.
I do when I can’t be arsed otherwise.
On a good day, I slowly simmer oat milk and water in two pans and Aeropress fresh-ground coffee to make something akin to a flat white.
Can’t be arsed? Oat milk in a mug in the microwave for 1-2 min and a tablespoon of Medaglia De Oro instant espresso powder.
