Instant Coffee

You might be surprised to read that instant coffee is still the preferred choice of almost half of the world’s coffee drinkers. Even in this day and age of espresso bars and hip cafes, a lot of us still like the convenience of instant coffee.

Instant coffee comes from whole coffee beans that have been ground up into a fine consistency, brewed at high pressure to create a thick syrupy substance which is then dehydrated. The dehydrated product is then broken up into smaller pieces and there we have it: instant coffee! Of course, not all instant coffee is created equal and there are some things to look out for.

Freeze-dried instant coffee is probably the best instant coffee you can get as it is made from higher-quality beans, such as the Arabica variety. The freeze-drying process is a relatively gentle one, and protects the aroma and flavour of the beans. The end result is a better tasting coffee that most resembles the brews you buy in a cafe. 

On the other hand, spray dried coffee is cheaper, as it consists of lower quality beans e.g. Robusta, while the process itself allows for larger scale economic production, resulting in lower prices on the shelf. This type of instant coffee is the one most of us buy thanks to its price.

In recent years, producers of high-end coffee beans and plunger coffee have branched out and have started selling instant coffee. This product promises to be of a higher quality than most, because the brand's reputation depends on it.  Look out for these brands, as they might take instant coffee standards to a whole new level, and could even satisfy the fussiest coffee snobs.