For a long time, instant coffee has been synonymous with trash. Flavorless, burnt yet watery trash. It’s been reserved only for extreme situations like camping, long distance flights, or working an overnight shift, where you feel like you’re being punished with the very thing that’s supposed to supply you with a comforting buzz. But now, our nationwide love for consuming boutique coffee has spurred roasters to turn their caffeinated gaze to instant coffee. The game has changed.
The way folks talk about bad instant coffee, you’d think it was made from crystalized poison and dirt. Instant coffee is, in fact, coffee. And not just mostly coffee, but 100% coffee. It’s made by roasting green coffee beans, grinding them, and extracting the coffee with hot water, similar to brewing coffee at home. It's the next step that makes it into instant coffee as we know it.
The liquid coffee brew is then dried to remove as much of the water as possible. There are three drying techniques: spray-drying, freeze-drying, or spray-freeze-drying. The drying method chosen will dictate how the coffee retains different aromatic qualities, with freeze-drying and spray-freeze-drying achieving the top results. (You can read more about these drying methods here.)
The drying process transforms the liquid coffee into fine crystals or powder and that’s packaged into the jars or sleeves that you find in stores. Simply add liquid, hot or cold, and the coffee crystals will dissolve into it, instantly.
So why are some instant coffees so crappy? When I asked why the instants from grocery aisle brands like Maxwell House and Folgers suck so bad, Café Grumpy’s Lead Coffee Roaster, Chris Cross, explained, “It’s not the instant coffee process that makes it bad, but rather the fact that, in the past, they used the cheapest junk coffee they could find.”
Industrial-sized coffee companies from generations past used their lesser brews for their instant coffee lines, seemingly as an afterthought. Now, some of our favorite independent roasters can compete. They’re using their high-quality beans and attentive brewing methods to make bangin’ instant coffee you can actually enjoy.
I’m a big coffee drinker and I admit it took me a while to come around on instant coffee. Starbucks’ instant coffee line has been around for a minute, but because its coffee is decidedly not my favorite, I brushed off its line of instant. However, when I saw the little orange boxes roll into Café Grumpy, I did a bit of a double take. If instant coffee is bad, why would it do this? Because its rules, that’s why. And so does its instant decaf.
My favorite brands of instant coffee unsurprisingly reflect my favorite coffee shops. Besides Café Grumpy, I also love the instant espresso from Blue Bottle, which comes in a jar instead of a packet. This is nice for personalizing how strong you like it or if you just want a half cup.
I eventually did try the Starbucks instant coffee, and the blonde roast is pretty good. (The medium and dark roast is not for me.) It includes microgrounds of coffee beans, so it gives you a bit of that brewed-at-home-coffee-sediment mouth-feel. Generally, if you like a brand’s regular coffee, you’ll like its instant coffee. You probably won’t find the Café Grumpy or Blue Bottle brands I mentioned above at your local Stop & Shop, but you can buy them online or go directly to the brick-and-mortar stores if you live near one.
You can, and should, use instant coffee for traveling and overnight shifts, but you can also use good-quality instant coffee to replace your morning brew without feeling like you missed out. Where you used to wake up late and forgo brewing pour-over because you lacked time, now you can fill your mug with coffee in the time it takes you to yawn.
At least once a week I make a quick shot of instant coffee in the morning before a run. For a full cup, follow the directions on the package, but I usually use a tablespoon of coffee per 10 ounces of water. Your taste buds will indicate if you need to add a bit more coffee or another splash of water.
Don’t forget that you can brew instants with any liquid. While regular coffee grounds require extraction with water, you can use hot milk and make an instant latte. Or cold liquid, for that matter, and finally have iced coffee that doesn’t melt your ice right away.
Instant coffee is also perfect for cooking and flavoring other drinks. Use a spoonful to add coffee flavor without diluting the recipe. Try it in desserts, marinades, or cocktails. The only downside to buying better instant coffee is the price. Well, I'll call it a trade-off. You pay a premium price for an excellent product. I don't suggest you leave your regular brewing routine behind in favor of instant coffee. Instead, consider it a helpful add-on.
