Do you sometimes still reach for instant coffee when you need a quick, caffeinated jolt of energy?
I can understand why - but I am on a mission to get you to switch from instant coffee today!
I’m James Bellis, founder, barista, and coffee trainer. For over 12 years, I’ve worked with more than 100 roasters across the UK, brewing coffee for over 199,000 people. I also hold an SCA Coffee Skills Diploma, which reflects my love for healthy coffee.
Here are some of our reasons why you need to switch from instant coffee today.
How Instant Coffee is Made
To explain why I think you need to switch from instant coffee to speciality-grade whole beans, it's important to understand how instant coffee is made.
It's made in two different ways - either through spray drying or freeze drying:
Spray Drying
It is a process where manufacturers roast, grind, and then brew whole bean coffee.
They make a concentrated coffee liquid, which is then sprayed as a fine mist through a very hot, very dry area.
By the time the coffee concentrate hits the ground, the water will have evaporated, leaving it as small crystals.
Freeze Drying
Also involves making a very concentrated coffee, which is then chilled at very low temperatures.
It creates slabs of frozen coffee, which are then broken down into crystals and then dried. This leaves behind the granules of instant coffee that you are probably familiar with.
Freeze-drying produces a slightly better product, as more of the lovely coffee aroma remains.
But with both methods, instant coffee companies sometimes also supplement the dry granules with additional flavours and aromas to make the product taste and smell a bit more like fresh coffee.
It's at this stage that the instant coffee is ready to drink.
In contrast, speciality-grade whole beans are processed in ways that do a lot more to maximise their natural flavours. There are three main ways that whole beans are made ready for consumption:
Natural Process
This is when coffee is dried with the cherry still on the bean. This allows the sugars and flavours of the fruit to impart themselves on the coffee bean.
Naturally, this makes naturally processed coffee beans have a much fruitier flavour and aroma, creating wine-like complexity and characteristics.
If you like your coffee with fruit flavours, choose a naturally processed coffee.
Washed coffee
Also known as wet-processed coffee, this is when the outer section of the coffee cherry is removed, then the beans are fermented before being washed and dried. This results in a coffee with bright, complex acidity and a great clarity of flavour.
Honey Processed
Honey-processed coffees can literally taste like someone has added brown sugar or honey to your cup.
However, honey isn’t actually involved – the name comes from the stickiness of the coffee beans that occurs during the process.
In many ways, honey-processed coffees are a balance of natural and washed coffees, as they’re fruity, but not in an exaggerated way like some naturals.
Clearly, the methods used for instant coffee place much less emphasis on retaining coffee's complex flavours, especially compared to natural, honey-processed, and washed coffees.
Instant Coffee Convenience
One of the few things in instant coffee's favour is its convenience. As you probably know, instant coffee is extremely quick and easy to use.
Simply add hot water to the granules, and they will rehydrate and make you a cup of coffee. It also creates very little washing up - just a mug and a spoon.
However, there are lots of very convenient brewing methods for whole bean or ground coffee, too.
We recommend the Aeropress because it is extremely quick but still makes a great cup of coffee.
This is because the Aeropress coffee maker uses pressure to create a delicious, clean tasting coffee with a nice amount of body - in less than two minutes!
You can only make one cup of coffee at a time, but the speed of the Aeropress more than makes up for that. It's also dishwasher-safe, making it a fabulously convenient device.
The Aeropress is a convenient alternative to instant coffee. If you're interested in learning more, we have an Aeropress coffee maker guide, and you can find our current Aeropress products on our shop.
Price
Another major benefit of instant coffee is that it is fairly cheap. However, this is not as good of a thing as it first appears.
One of the reasons why our coffee is a higher price than an instant coffee you can buy from a supermarket is because we pay premium prices to our coffee farmers and cooperatives.
This ensures that all of our coffee farmers are paid fair wages which can help them support their families and reinvest in sustainable farming methods.
You can learn more about the ways that we support our coffee farmers in our blog about ethical coffee.
Cheap coffees unfortunately tend to reflect unfair prices - so you're lucking out, but the coffee farmers definitely aren't.
Furthermore, with low prices you also usually get low quality coffees.
Quality
This is one of the biggest reasons why you need to switch from instant coffee today. Instant coffee tends to use Robusta coffee beans, which are known for:
- A strong and bitter taste with grainy or rubbery overtones
- High acid content
- High caffeine content
Compare this to Arabica, which tends to have smoother, sweeter flavours, albeit with a lower caffeine content.
Clearly, Arabica beans will be much more delicious! We've written a blog about the difference between Robusta and Arabica coffee beans if you'd like to know more.
Furthermore, when you compare the Robusta beans used in instant coffee to the speciality-grade Arabica beans that we use, there really is no competition between the two.
Speciality coffee is the highest grade of coffee available. On the 100-point Coffee Review Scale, speciality coffee scores 80 and above.
Only 3% of coffee worldwide is speciality-grade. And while a few speciality-grade Robustas are available, it is very unlikely they will be used in instant coffee.
Caffeine
Another one of the potential reasons why you might still drink instant coffee is the caffeine content. Robusta (commonly used in instant coffee because it's cheaper) gives you a hard-hitting energy boost.
With Balance ground coffee, you're getting a naturally clean coffee with clean energy. Coffee is a nuanced drink to be savoured and enjoyed, a bit like wine.
In our eyes, drinking instant coffee simply for the energy boost doesn't give you the same experience.
If you’d like to know more about our thoughts regarding caffeine and enjoying the experience of coffee, we discussed the effects of caffeine with Ryan, the founder of Blendsmiths, as well as how to drink coffee mindfully with Yulia of KARVE.
Flavour of Instant Coffee
Finally, we need to talk about the flavour differences between instant coffee and high-grade whole bean or ground coffee.
As we already mentioned, Robusta coffee beans tend to have a rubbery, burnt flavour.
But instant coffee made with Robusta takes the unwelcome flavours even further, as processing destroys many, if not all, of the good flavours in the original Robusta bean.
While this can be improved slightly if the manufacturer uses higher-quality Robusta coffee, this is unusual.
Arabica beans, on the other hand, are far more flavourful with common notes of chocolate, citrus and sugar.
Speciality-grade Arabica coffees have particularly nuanced notes and aromas - we've had coffees that tasted of black treacle, lavender, figs, and other delicious flavours!
You can see what other interesting flavours we currently have available in our shop.
Hopefully we've convinced you that you need to switch from instant coffee today. We want you to drink delicious, high-quality coffee and enjoy the entire experience - and instant coffee just can't give you that.
