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- Instant coffee is made in two different ways: by drying a concentrated spray of coffee with super heated air or by freeze-drying the liquid into crystals.
- Most instant coffee is shelf stable for years, making it great to have on hand for whenever you want a quick cup as well as for use in cooking, brewing, and for making sweet treats.
- Waka Coffee's instant coffee is our top pick because it dissolves rapidly with just a few stirs and genuinely tastes like a freshly brewed cup.
Based on a quick glance, I'd estimate that I have about 35 servings of instant coffee in my pantry right now. While my wife and I split a pot of coffee every morning, those packets aren't just reserves or kept on hand for when I go camping. I drink a cup of instant coffee at least three times a week. It helps out on those days when the baby kept us up late, an article is taking longer than I expected, or when sometimes I just want more than my usual two cups. I'll also have a cup of instant decaf many evenings when coffee sounds great palate-wise, but like a not entirely great idea sleep-wise.
Beyond the mere convenience factor, instant coffee creates more variety for your sipping pleasure. When making single serving coffees, you can enjoy a light breakfast blend with your eggs and toast then a robust roast as you get down to work. You can whip up a blended coffee beverage, no barista required, and you can also enjoy precise control over the potency of your joe.
I've sourced a number of instant coffees for which I can personally vouch. In fact, most of these brands are currently in the aforementioned pantry, and one of them in the burgundy colored mug sitting beside my computer. I chose the best instant coffee I could find in a number of classic coffee categories, from iced to decaf to blended.
While all of these instant coffees share certain qualities, they are markedly distinct in terms of flavor profile and will be suited to different coffee drinkers or at least to different coffee drinking occasions.
Here are the best instant coffees you can buy:
- Best instant coffee overall: Waka Coffee
- Best instant iced coffee: Starbucks VIA Instant Sweetened Iced Coffee
- Best organic instant coffee: Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Coffee
- Best decaf instant coffee: Nescafe Taster's Choice Decaf
- Best low-cost instant coffee: Folgers Classic Roast
- Best instant latte: Alpine Start Coconut Creamer Latte
Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.
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