I know this is the most ridiculous group of people to comment on this, but.....

How many of you have actually TRIED instant coffee recently or experimented with it?

To be honest, I have a jar sitting in my desk, because there are times I just really CRAVE a coffee, and I find instant a LOT better than any coffee they have ever made around here in the office with their $1000 bunn pour-over. And I certainly find it better than virtually every restaurant on the planet (excluding coffee-houses of course). I drink my coffee with cream which certainly masks bitterness, but even black, I do not find it to be overly bitter. In the correct proportions, I am OK with instant. Though...I am now feeling slightly ashamed to say so....

Grant, my most recent foray into the dark world of instant coffee was some Starbucks VIA--think it was a Colombian. I was travelling for work to an impossibly remote location, and this was the best I could do. As instant coffee goes, it was, to paraphrase Ken Davids, the least worst. Ashy and flat with tasting notes of cardboard and a strange mouthfeel that was thin and chalky at the same time. Alas, it simply was not good at all. But...desparate times call for desparate measures, and it was the best available coffee proxy at the time and did deliver a dose of much-needed caffeine!

In the hot days of Athens summer,I try instant with cold water,a beverage,we call it frappe in Greece.
I have tried Nestle instant coffees,and I can say that there are some of them,which is good indeed.
They are in glass bottles,and I can remember two of them.
Cap Colombie,very aromatic,and Alta Rica,very strong.
Try them.I hope that you enjoy.

Grant wrote:I know this is the most ridiculous group of people to comment on this, but.....

How many of you have actually TRIED instant coffee recently or experimented with it?

To be honest, I have a jar sitting in my desk, because there are times I just really CRAVE a coffee, and I find instant a LOT better than any coffee they have ever made around here in the office with their $1000 bunn pour-over. And I certainly find it better than virtually every restaurant on the planet (excluding coffee-houses of course). I drink my coffee with cream which certainly masks bitterness, but even black, I do not find it to be overly bitter. In the correct proportions, I am OK with instant. Though...I am now feeling slightly ashamed to say so....

It's been a year or two since I've tried a cup of instant coffee. The Starbucks VIA has been the best instant coffee I've had to date. The other instant coffees I've tried, that would provide enough for cooking, haven't been very good. If I'm going to be cooking with coffee, I'm trying to avoid that bitter flavor instant coffee usually has, so I'm trying something different to get a better taste. If instant coffee works better than turkish coffee, then I'll consider using it instead. However, my own experience and certain influences -- James Hoffmann, Mark Prince, and other various coffee communities -- have convinced me that this is never the way to go if you want good flavor.

There's nothing wrong with drinking instant coffee. Most of us won't like or advocate it since it basically goes against the unwritten "first commandment" of specialty coffee: always grind your coffee fresh. If you like the stuff, more power to ya! Instant Coffee is certainly the cheaper and more convenient option.

I never found instant coffee that didn't have the gag factor that is until I wandered into a Korean market with mostly Russian food (only in Sacramento). I picked up some Indian coffee and it was surprisingly tasty and a pretty good match for the Indian Monsoon I roast.

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