Anyone know much about this brand? Sounds like they are brewing the coffee, and then turning it into a powder - quoting 25 year shelf life?

http://sprudge.com/voila-the-rise-of-sp ... 05575.html

It's no different then other instant coffee except that it's made with good coffee!

Most instant coffee is made with lots of robusta and is super over extracted when brewed. Then they freeze dry it, getting rid of all the water, and leaving you with a crystal/powder that can be added to hot water and turned back into coffee.

Several years ago Starbucks started making instant which is leagues better than Folgers, Maxwell House, etc., but still far from good.

Sudden Coffee and now Viola are using an old process with better ingredients and a focus on flavor. I have a sudden coffee subscription and I think it's great. Take it on an airplane, camping, work, etc. good coffee very easily.

If you're interested try out Sudden since it's available now (also pm me if you're willing to use my referral code!).

I'm a Viola backer though because I like that he's showcasing the origin and the roaster. I'm not actually sure where the coffee comes from and is roasted by that Sudden uses. I think I read an Ethiopian blend that Kalle roasts himself, but could be wrong.

Another cool thing is that Sudden is made using shots of espresso from a Linea, not some big batch brewer. A lot of work!

So you have tried the Sudden coffee? If so, care to share any impressions? I'm quite curious to know how well specialty coffee flavors hold up through the freeze drying process.

I got to try Sudden coffee the other day, and I will say it wasn't bad at all. Totally drinkable and better than any commodity coffee I've have. Its obviously not going to stand up to anything brewed to order, thought if you traveled a lot and cant be bothered to lug around an aeropress/porlex then it would be a suitable alternative.

Am I reading it correctly that it's ~10$ per cup?

[creative nickname] wrote:So you have tried the Sudden coffee? If so, care to share any impressions? I'm quite curious to know how well specialty coffee flavors hold up through the freeze drying process.

Yes I've had probably 15 cups of it already. With another dozen sitting in my coffee drawer. I like it quite a bit. It has a hint of a taste that I would describe as unpleasant at first, but that's in the background and after a couple sips I can't detect it anymore and I'm just enjoying a very nice cup of coffee. It's best once it cools to 160-170ish Fahrenheit.

They just changed their packaging this month and claim the new packets will keep the coffee fresh for quite a bit longer (years) over the old tubes. Taste about the same to me so far.

I was on a couple of flights this past week and had it with me. I asked the flight attendants for hot water and a stirring stick and had by far the best in flight coffee of my life! Can't beat that.

brianl wrote:Am I reading it correctly that it's ~10$ per cup?

Sudden is currently $2.50 a cup. I backed Viola at the 3 for $25 level better be good!

Fausto wrote:...the best in flight coffee of my life!

That's not a very high bar! :-)

But I'm glad to hear another person saying they like Sudden and about yet another potential new company. As a backpacker I've been hoping for improved instants for some time. Starbucks Via is currently the standard but I can't drink it without adding sugar or cream. I'll have to order some Sudden at some point and give it a try. At $2.50/cup it's reasonable for backpacking or the occasional airplane coffee... or emergency coffee. I just read yesterday that coffee is unavailable to the athletes in Rio. I'll bet they'd appreciate some Sudden.

There's another new company in this niche called Alpine Start. A friend gave me a couple of packages the other day to try.

I've seen the alpine start coffee advertising, it was started by a semi-pro climber...nothing I've read makes it sound like it would taste very good: bold & Italian never works for me.

Hey guys, I'm Kent the creator of Voilà. I came across this feed and wanted to answer a few questions. First, our coffee is definitely not $10 per cup haha. That's pretty crazy. I see where you got that from assuming the pledge levels were related to a retail price. The backer rewards are simply our way of thanking a backer for pledging to our campaign in a scalable way! Since this is how we're starting up, we want those who back us to also taste the coffee! So thank you so much Fausto!! It's awesome to have you behind what we are doing Pricing currently starts at $20 for 5 cups per month (free shipping) and reduces with quantity from there. With any of the quantities you also get to customize your taste preferences or choose a discovery box.

I get really excited about trying new coffees and roasters, so incorporating that into Voilà was really important to me. Because the coffee is already extracted properly, there's huge potential to have the transparency from farm to roaster to cup. That is why we are proud to display what coffee you are drinking on each pack.

In the process of developing Voilà, I ended up creating my own proprietary brewing method. Brewing in batches is not only more consistent from cup to cup, but allows for a profile similar to drip/filter coffee.

I don't find any "off taste" with Voilà at all. The last feedback I got was from Brian at Dear Coffee I Love You saying, "It's surprisingly clean and vibrant and better than you expect from instant coffee" but he also followed up with a personal message saying, "this is f***ing good!" haha!

Let me know if you have any more questions. Feel free to send me an email at kent@voila.coffee too.