My order came in today. The instructions were very vague. The packet said to combine with 8oz water. On their website it said to combine with "hot" water. I'm not famaliar with instant coffees in general so I poked around a bit and most suggest not using boiling water. I went with 8oz at 94C in a preheated mug.







The "brewing" experience wasn't as nice as I'd prefer. It was as easy as dumping the coffee into the mug but the bag has a lot of static and retains quite a bit of the coffee. So I found myself awkwardly poking my finger up in it to scoop the rest out. It then stuck to my finger and made me sticky. The bag doesn't empty neatly into the cup so some coffee sprinkled around the rim of the cup and the counter. I ended up having to wash my hands due to the stickiness. Minor annoyances but a different bag design may make it easier.

A 10s stir dissolved all the coffee. Pleasantly, the aromatics were as described. I clearly got a peach and wine note. It wasn't as aromatic as I would expect from a traditionally prepared coffee from B&W. The flavor hot had the notes as well but again not as distinct as a pour over. Still enjoyable. Nicely balanced. The true tell came as the coffee cooled. After it had cooled for a few minutes the initial taste still had the fruity/fermented notes that are typical of a B&W coffee (but again not as aromatic or distinct) and it had the chocolatey undertone but the aftertaste started to unravel. The aroma waned as if the coffee had given out what it had to offer. The sweetness was there. It was still a balanced cup. It is kind of hard to describe but there was a molasses/syrup taste that I wouldn't find in this type of coffee normally. Perhaps it has something to do with the processing. It started about halfway through the sip and lingered long in the aftertaste. As the coffee cooled close to room temp, I found it unpleasant. This is where a nice light roast pour over really shines. I usually find B&W coffee as a pour over to taste delicious at room temp. Not so with the instant. It gets kind of harsh and has an unpleasant lingering aftertaste. I ended up eating an apple to get rid of the after taste...

As a previous poster asked, would I throw away all my equipment if these were priced the same as whole bean or similarly? No way. There is a clear advantage to traditionally prepared coffee. A pour over has more distinction of aromatics and flavors, larger amount of aromatics, and more pleasant aftertaste. The instant does provide a decent balance of sweetness and acidity with flavors and aromas that are prized with speciality coffee while hot. But not to the standards most of us are used to.

Would I buy these again? Not to consume at home. I could see these being useful for light-packed travel. They do taste much better than most coffee you'd find outside of a specialty cafe with the flavors that you can't get outside of speciality coffee. I'd recommend consuming while hot to get the most out of these. It was fun to try, but I wouldn't buy them again.