The point of instant coffee is making life easier for yourself. It may not taste exactly like a fresh brewed cup straight from your local independent coffee shop, but it should be enjoyable.

Furthermore, it should be balanced and have unique character. None of the 'burnt rubber with a side of mud' flavors that we expect from the instant coffee of our grandparents' generation. Yes, even instant coffee should taste good. I've tasted instant coffees from every major producer and chatted with the folks at Waka, Swift, Tandem, and Verve to better understand their processes, sourcing, and what flavor profiles they're aiming for with their instant coffee. As a solidly non-morning person, I also drink a lot of coffee. I teach classes on sensory analysis, pairings, and the origins of our favorite foods and beverages. I've been teaching and training in the specialty food world since 2015.

Best adaptogen instant coffee: Four Sigmatic Instant Mushroom Coffee with Chaga and Cordyceps.Best flavored instant coffee: Copper Cow Coffee Vietnamese Pour Over Coffee Filters, Vanilla.Best instant coffee subscription: Swift Mainstay Blend Subscription.Best decaf instant coffee: Tandem Coffee Roasters Sun Lamp Decaf.Best budget instant coffee: Starbucks VIA Instant Pike Place Roast Coffee.Best single-serve pour over instant coffee: Kuju Coffee Single-Serve Ethiopian Pour Over.Best Colombian instant coffee: Waka Quality Instant Colombian Coffee.Best instant coffee blend: Verve Streetlevel Instant Craft Coffee.Here are the best instant coffees of 2021

We mostly think of instant coffee as a powder that mixes with water to become a brew, but since the single-serve pour over requires the same amount of equipment and only a few more seconds of your time, we included a few of those in our list as well. This consists of an airtight package of ground coffee with a mechanism to anchor the coffee bag to your cup as you pour hot water over it. There's even a new category of instant-ish coffee: the single-serve pour over. Small producers like Waka and Swift (who partners with roasters like Verve and Tandem on their blends) are leading the game with flavorful offerings made using new technology. Instant coffee has a bad reputation for being heavily processed and lacking in flavor, but in the past few years, it's been catapulted into the modern coffee era. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from InsiderĪs well as other partner offers and accept our

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