I started drinking coffee to stay up late to study, and it gradually became a habit, and I regarded coffee as my most frequent drink. A friend who loves tea asked me, "Tea is refreshing, delicious, and has little stimulation to the body, so why don't you drink tea?"

Me: You drink tea for enjoyment, but I drink coffee for utilitarian purposes, just to refresh myself. And tea is expensive.

Friend: Isn’t a cup of coffee also around 10, 20 or 30 yuan?!

Me: Huh, have you forgotten about instant coffee?

Starbucks coffee is indeed better than Nestle's instant coffee. No matter how thick-skinned I am, I can't say that the latter is better than the former in terms of taste and aroma. But when coffee becomes a daily necessity and I need to drink about two to three cups a day, it is difficult for me to be picky about the quality of coffee.

If it is about drinking, this statement would probably be: I am a drunkard who drinks every day, not a wine connoisseur.

Coffee contempt chain

There is a contempt chain in every hobby, and of course the same is true for coffee. At present, I estimate that the contempt chain is roughly: hand-grinded Italian coffee with latte art> hand-grinded Italian coffee> hand-grinded American coffee> Starbucks> Luckin Coffee> capsule coffee machine> drip coffee> instant coffee imported from tropical countries> instant coffee from supermarkets .

I tried to buy an Italian coffee machine once. The coffee beans that came with it were of good quality. The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee as soon as I opened the bag. After the first time I tried the joy (annoyance) of grinding beans, adding water, filtering, and frothing milk, I never tried it again. After drinking that really delicious cup of coffee, I thought while washing the filter: I don’t deserve so much free time, I don’t deserve to drink hand-ground coffee.

It is worth mentioning that there is also a pair of hand-ground coffees that despise each other: espresso and Americano. Americans are not used to Italian coffee, thinking it is too strong to swallow, while Italians look down on American coffee diluted with water, and even mock it as "foot washing water".

There is a saying that instant coffee is not real coffee.

Really?

The origin of instant coffee

Instant coffee was invented in 1901. However, in the United States, where coffee shops are everywhere, it was not widely accepted at first. The popularity of instant coffee was due to World War II.

In a book called "Five Hundred Years of Addiction: The History of Tobacco, Alcohol, Coffee and Opium", the author mentioned that the defense logistics department of European and American troops would supply coffee as a military supply, providing soldiers with instant coffee for refreshment. At that time, the entire society was short of supplies, and except for joining the army to fight, it was no longer a state where everyone could drink coffee.

Coffee has been introduced to China for a long time. From the record that "black wine (i.e. coffee) is aromatic and warm, it can strengthen the spleen and promote qi, and eliminate food stagnation. Emperor Dezong was sick and loved this tea in the palace.", we can see that Emperor Guangxu already loved coffee. However, the popularity of coffee in China actually depends on instant coffee. In 1989, Nestle launched 1+2 coffee (also called three-in-one instant coffee, i.e. coffee + sugar + non-dairy creamer), and the Chinese coffee market began to open up .

Starbucks, which is ahead of instant coffee in the coffee contempt chain, only entered China in 1988. Nowadays, coffee lovers who hold a cup of freshly ground coffee in their hands have all cultivated their love for this taste with Nestle instant coffee.

What is the difference between instant coffee and freshly ground coffee?

First, the difference lies in the raw materials. The key to whether a cup of coffee is good or not lies in the raw materials. The quality of the coffee beans and whether they are well roasted determine the taste of a cup of coffee. Instant coffee is doomed to fail when it comes to selecting beans. High-quality, complete, and beautiful beans are picked out, packaged, and sold, so how can they be used to make instant coffee? Only the lowest-quality coffee beans are used to produce instant products.

Secondly, the aroma of coffee is seriously lost during the production process. The production of instant coffee requires high-temperature steam to extract the final required ingredients. In this process, the aroma of coffee beans is consumed in large quantities. This is one of the reasons why instant coffee is not as fragrant as freshly ground coffee. Nowadays, some brands have begun to make cold-brewed liquid or solid instant coffee, focusing on "completely retaining the aroma of coffee", but this process is still very expensive. The finished product not only retains the aroma of coffee, but also retains the price of a cup of hand-ground coffee.

Third, compound coffee is mixed with too many additives. Compound coffee refers to coffee that has sugar and non-dairy creamer added, which makes it look like a cup of milky coffee with milk and sugar. The problem lies with the non-dairy creamer, which not only tastes bad but is also criticized for its ingredients. Non-dairy creamer is cheap and can replace dairy products that should be added to coffee at a low cost. The main ingredients of non-dairy creamer are hydrogenated vegetable oil and casein. Hydrogenated vegetable oil will produce trans fatty acids during production.

How to Drink Instant Coffee More Happily

Although the taste and texture of instant coffee are far inferior to good hand-ground coffee, it still wins in terms of price and convenience of brewing because of its extremely high cost-effectiveness .

I prefer black coffee, also known as clear coffee. Whether I drink instant coffee or go to Starbucks, I prefer American coffee the most. From my taste perception, if the taste of three-in-one instant coffee and Starbucks latte is as different as the Great Rift Valley in East Africa, then the difference between pure black coffee and Starbucks American coffee may be only a short street. The biggest drag on three-in-one instant coffee is the non-dairy creamer in it. Once milk is used instead of non-dairy creamer to match instant coffee, the taste is instantly improved a lot.

Happy instant method 1: brew black coffee. Of course, if you don’t like the taste of black coffee, please refer to the second method.

Happy instant second method: After brewing black coffee, add some milk and sugar for flavoring. After all, health is the first principle. Currently, more and more studies on trans fatty acids believe that it is harmful to the human body, so it is better to avoid non-dairy creamer as much as possible.

The third method of instant coffee: drink drip coffee instead. Drip coffee is not actually instant coffee. It is made by grinding coffee beans and putting them in bags, adding fresh-keeping gas to preserve them. When brewing, tear them open and pour hot water over them. Drip coffee is usually of good quality and much more affordable than freshly ground coffee. The first disadvantage is that it requires a high water temperature. The temperature of the water dispenser in the office usually cannot fully extract the coffee aroma. The second disadvantage is that it is more troublesome to sort the garbage after brewing.

My elders usually prefer tea to coffee. Knowing that I love coffee, they always worry and forward me articles like "Forward to your loved ones! 10 reasons why you should never drink coffee". Recently, when they ask me about it, I always say that I love soy milk, and everyone is satisfied.

After all, coffee is a liquid extracted from coffee beans and water, so if you think about it, it can be considered as soy milk, right? [Hand-covered face]