Best instant coffee sought

Good morning all. I have a request for you. I am looking for what you out there would consider a good (best?) instant coffee. In the morning, I sometimes am in a rush to get to work and I put the kettle on and then make a mug of instant to take along in the car. I just grab whatever at the grocery store and lately have gotten real tired of that nothing taste coffee I am slurping.

Any ideas? What kind of instant are you using and why do you like it?

wally(seeking to wake up with taste)

I've never really found an instant coffee that tastes great. The quickest method I've found is the Aeropress. Heat up the water, grind the coffee, pour, stir, press, go. I can't imagine it's too much slower than instant, and much faster than brewing a whole drip pot or french press.

They were giving away Starbucks Via in the lobby of my office building a couple of months ago. I'm surprised to agree with their advertising - it tastes remarkably like their drip coffee. Sadly, that's not much of an endorsement.

I'll ditto the Aeropress. We currently use a Keurig with Coffee People Jet Fuel cups for a quick morning cup, but for a low-cost alternative that is pretty much foolproof and instant, the Aeropress is a far cry better than instant. If you can measure out a serving of instant you can measure of scoop of ground coffee into the Aeropress.

http://www.amazon.com/AeroPress-Coffee- ... 284&sr=8-1

Have you tried making coffee concentrate yourself overnight, then mixing to strength and heating up to temp? I think it's mostly used for iced coffee, but you could just nuke it in the AM.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/06/style ... ticed.html

When we were having our kitchen redone I drank a lot of instant coffee because I didn't want to have to deal with coffee grounds. I experimented a bit and grew to like the Medaglio d'Oro instant espresso. Now I keep some at work and use the instant hot water there to make myself a cup sometimes. I actually prefer it to the brewed coffee at work.

I think I've only seen it at Whole Foods.

http://www.medagliadoro.com/products.htm#products03

Thanks for the responses. Might have to get one of those machines sometime.
Grits - I think I will try that Medaglio d'Oro. Thanks for the heads up.

I'll add my recommendation for the Aeropress.

A friend tried the Starbucks Via instant and said it wasn't awful. Some day I'll try. FYI, I did see it while zipping down the coffee aisle of the Naperville Costco. Don't recall the price or quantity though.

wallyV wrote:Thanks for the responses. Might have to get one of those machines sometime.
Grits - I think I will try that Medaglio d'Oro. Thanks for the heads up.

FYI, Fresh Farms on Touhy has a bunch of different instant coffees, although not Medaglio d'Oro. They even have Sanka.

Nescafe. Hands down, no question. And you can make Greek frappes with it, too.

Try Cafe Bustelo's instant coffee http://www.cubanfoodmarket.com/mm5/grap ... steloL.jpg I went camping recently and that's what I used. I brew regular Cafe Bustelo at home and the instant version doesn't stray too far from the original in taste. Not bad if you're in a hurry.

Marmish wrote:Nescafe. Hands down, no question. And you can make Greek frappes with it, too.

for Frappes yes..for regular instant I dont think it tastes all that good..

I think the Starbucks Via is pretty damn good for instant coffee but then again I like Starbucks coffee anyway

I'll put in my 2 cents for an Instant Coffee from India, "BRU INSTANT COFFEE". You can find it in Patel Bros. on Devon. In fact, this was the only 'coffee' you could get at the Irani Chai places when I was growing up in Hyderabad. They proudly advertise the fact that they use 30% Chicory!!

I've purchased Medaglio D'Oro at L'Appetito on Huron & State:

L'Appetito Imported Italian
30 E Huron St # 1, Chicago, IL
(312) 787-9881 ‎
lappetito.com

I've purchased Medaglio D'Oro from Joe Caputo's. I use it for baking. I'm not a big coffee drinker, so I can't comment on it.

Folgers...

And though it's not really 'quick' instant, I'd recommend making it Cowboy style.

~GS

Indianbadger wrote:I'll put in my 2 cents for an Instant Coffee from India, "BRU INSTANT COFFEE". You can find it in Patel Bros. on Devon. In fact, this was the only 'coffee' you could get at the Irani Chai places when I was growing up in Hyderabad. They proudly advertise the fact that they use 30% Chicory!!

Fresh Farms carries this in the Indian section ($3.39 for 3.5oz). This stuff has some serious chicory flavor as promised. I like it.

I brew one mug at a time with a small drip basket set right on top of the mug. You can use paper filters or the gold permanent filter. I use an electric water pot which heats very fast, much faster than my stove. Coffee in no time, always fresh!