Know Your Beans
Arabica: milder flavor and more expensive;
Robusta: sharper flavor and less expensive.
Instant coffee can be made quickly and thus saves much of your time in brewing. There is not much of a difference between conventional and instant coffee, the only variation being that the latter is more refined and processed to give it a finely powdered form.
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Nescafé Taster's Choice Instant Coffee
This brand has three varieties: House Blend (regular and decaf), Colombian, and French Roast. Both the varieties of House Blend are light to medium roasts, French is a dark roast, and Colombian is a medium roast. The Colombian variety is very popular. Its wonderful taste is obtained entirely from Arabica beans, and it mixes with hot water very easily.
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Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Instant Coffee
This brand has five varieties: Iced, French Roast, Decaf Italian Roast, Italian Roast, and Colombia. Of these, Italian Roast and Colombia are very popular. The former is a dark roast that has a strong flavor that may seem bitter (individual choice), while the latter is a medium roast that has a sweeter taste. French Roast is a light roast variety, whereas Iced is used for making iced coffee.
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Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Dark Instant Coffee
This brand is also catching up lately, although there are some who express reservations about it (individual choice). The coffee is a dark roast that is made completely from Arabica beans. It also qualifies as a Kosher product. The taste is not bitter, but strong enough.
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Folgers Instant Coffee
Folgers is one of the top instant coffee brands when it comes to popularity. It comes in 2 varieties: Classic Roast and Classic Decaf. It is a light to medium roast that is not very strong. However, it has a slightly acidic taste. It mixes well with hot water.
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Mount Hagen Organic Freeze Dried Coffee
This brand has two varieties: Organic and Organic Decaf. The Organic variety is a light to medium roast. Although the flavor is mild, it is quite tasteful. Being organic, it is a healthy coffee option, and it also qualifies as a Kosher product. It is made entirely from Arabica beans, and is suitable to make a hot as well as cold brew.
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Other Popular Names
The following is a list of some of the top brands of instant coffee that are very popular among users.
- Gregg's Rich Roast Instant Coffee
- HealthPak Coffee Instant Cafe De Sol
- Nescafé Clásico Instant Coffee
- Moccona Classic Instant Freeze Dried Coffee
- International Roast Granulated Coffee
- International Roast Instant Coffee Caterers Blend
- Kopiko
- Jimm's 5 in 1 Coffee Mix
- Great Taste Coffee
- Nescafé Alta Rica Instant Coffee
- Café Bustelo Instant Coffee
- Nescafé Noire Instant Coffee
- Maxwell House Instant Coffee
- Green Mountain Coffee Nantucket Blend
- Allegro Blend Light Roast
- Archer Farms Breakfast Blend
- Kickapoo Organic Driftless Morning
- Peet's House Blend
- Sam's Choice House Blend Medium Roast
- Eight O'Clock Original
- Melitta Classic Blend Medium Roast
- Victorian Inn Instant Cappuccino
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Some Easy Recipes
- Instant coffee mix (of your choice), ½ teaspoon
- Sugar, ½ teaspoon
- Milk, 1 cup
Procedure
Boil the milk and then add the sugar to it. Add ½ teaspoon of the instant coffee mix to the milk cup. Stir properly so that the mixture gets dissolved and froth is created. Your brew is ready. You can also keep the cup in the refrigerator and enjoy a cold drink.
Ingredients
- Instant coffee mix of your choice, 1 teaspoon
- Sugar (as per taste), 2 teaspoons
- Water
- Milk or creamer (as per taste)
- Flavor (cinnamon, cocoa powder, as per your choice)
(
Note: The ingredients should be adjusted according to the size of the mug.)
Procedure
Add the sugar and instant coffee powder to a mug. At the same time, heat the water and bring it to a boil. Once the water has boiled, first add one or two teaspoons of it to the coffee and sugar mixture in the mug. This will enable the coffee grounds to blend completely with the water and not leave any lumps. Then add the rest of the water, the milk or creamer, and the flavor. Stir it till it is well-blended and enjoy a tasteful cup of coffee. (Adding the milk or creamer and the flavor is optional. If you prefer a plain, watery coffee, then these 2 ingredients can be omitted).
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Instant Coffee Making Process
The process of making instant coffee is a lengthy one. It begins with the extraction process, where the coffee is brewed in an extraction machine. Soft water is passed through columns of heated (285 to 355°F, 140 to 180°C) and cooled (200°F or 100°C) coffee beans to extract the nutrients and flavor from them. This water is cooled and then filtered or evaporated. This is done to reduce the water content and maintain the heavier extracts of the coffee. After this, the aroma of the beans that is previously lost is obtained back by either roasting and grinding the beans, applying pressure on them, or passing steam through them. The next step in the process is drying or dehydrating the coffee powder to get bigger granules. It can be done in the following two ways.
Freeze Drying
The freeze drying process involves treating the hydrated powder inside another chamber under high pressure and temperature so that the frozen water crystals sublime; that is, they convert from a solid to a gaseous phase without undergoing the intermediate liquid phase. The powder is cooled and packaged.
Spray Drying
Here, the process remains the same as above till the step of roasting and grinding. Later, when the powder is hydrated with water, it is passed through a chamber wherein it is exposed to hot gas at a high temperature, and the resultant extracted dry powder is taken out through the nozzle outlet. The powder that is obtained is packaged.
Some Stimulating Stats
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In 2010, Folgers made instant coffee sales of 90 million dollars.
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The US is the world's biggest coffee consumer. As of 2013, 83% of the people over the age of 18 drank at least a cup every day. Brazil and Germany take the second and third place, respectively.
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The coffee market grows about 10-15% each year.
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More than 80% of the population of the United Kingdom prefers instant coffee, while a similar portion of the North American population prefers fresh coffee.
The list provided above includes some of the top and most popular brands of instant coffee that are available in the market. They not only taste good, but help you start your day with a refreshed state of mind.
