Who says instant coffee must taste bad: My favorite instant coffee award

This article was first published on What’s Worth Buying. Please follow this account to get more good articles. Author: CCTV Ning

Preface

I remember it was 2002, the day when I could sneak out and watch the World Cup during the day. An uncle friend who rode a bike with me and whose whole family was in Italy gave me a silver square vacuum packaging bag, saying it was a good thing, Italian coffee sent by a relative. At that time, I was still a silly boy who only knew Nestle and Maxwell's. I took the coffee he gave me home and made it, and then I realized that it was ground coffee beans, not the instant coffee I had been drinking before. While cursing my friend for being so dishonest, I couldn't help but look up on the Internet how to drink coffee powder. Google, which hadn't 404 yet, told me that the most common thing in Italian homes was a moka pot, so I found a store selling coffee utensils on the Internet and bought one. As a result, I, who loved drinking coffee, opened the door to a new world...

As a result, every time we had a party, I became the guy who made coffee for them. Later, that bad friend opened a coffee shop in the local area, and I often went there to eat and drink for free. By the way, I learned how to operate a Belgian pot, a syphon pot, and an automatic coffee machine. At that time, my favorite way to show off was to run to the bar and make a cup of cappuccino for my girlfriend at that time, now my wife...

Later, hand brewing became popular, and I tried it. But hand brewing is suitable for drinking it neat, and the light roasted fruit flavor is popular now, which makes the coffee into a cup of concentrated juice. To be honest, it is not suitable for me who is used to the taste of Italian coffee. In addition, due to the busy work and trivial matters, I can only use instant coffee (although it has been upgraded from fog-dried powder to frozen granules) to fool my drowsy brain and stomach every morning, so instant coffee occupies most of the coffee I drink.

Although instant coffee is a relatively low-end coffee, well-made instant coffee can reach or even exceed the quality of coffee made by some coffee machines. Yes, I am talking about American coffee machines. As for three-in-one coffee, I rarely drink it because it contains sugar and non-dairy creamer, but no milk powder. It is not very healthy and is only used to improve the taste occasionally. Generally, I use one spoon of coffee powder with two spoons of whole milk powder, because it takes too long for one person to open a can of evaporated milk and the evaporated milk will go bad; cold liquid milk will lower the temperature of the coffee, and heating liquid milk is too troublesome...

The total of the coffee orders purchased recently:

Instant coffee is mainly divided into two types: freeze-dried and fog-dried:

(1) Freeze-drying

Freeze-dried coffee means putting liquid coffee in a freeze dryer at minus dozens of degrees, and removing the ice by sublimating the water in the coffee liquid to obtain dry, irregularly shaped large coffee powder. This low-temperature method can preserve the nutrition and aroma of coffee to the greatest extent, and is currently a better drying method. Nestle Gold Medal, Davidoff, UCC, etc. mainly adopt this method.

(2) Mist drying method

Spray drying refers to a high-temperature evaporation extraction method. The coffee liquid is placed in a high-temperature ejector, and the water in the coffee evaporates under high temperature, leaving behind small particles of dry concentrated coffee extract. However, during the entire process, the high temperature will cause some volatile compounds in the coffee to evaporate and lose, especially caffeine and aroma. The spray drying method is relatively low-cost, and by properly controlling the temperature, a very cost-effective coffee powder can be obtained. Most of Nestle's regular coffee, G7, Maxwell House and Starbucks 3-in-1 are spray-dried coffee.

(3) Coffee liquid

Coffee liquid is actually concentrated coffee, packaged in small bags, so it is very convenient to carry and drink. Coffee liquid is extracted from coffee liquid by industrial extraction, either cold or hot, and then concentrated. It has a short shelf life and is expensive, so it is not common.

As for beans, ordinary instant coffee on the market probably comes in two types: Robusta and Arabica. Arabica coffee beans grow in cooler, high-altitude areas in tropical areas, and Robusta is usually below 600 meters above sea level. Most fog-dried coffee is Robusta, and some freeze-dried coffee is Arabica. Many people think that Arabica beans are better, but in fact, the grade and processing technology of the beans are more important. The difference between different types of coffee beans is still the different types of aroma and taste, as well as people's preference and acceptance of different coffee aromas and tastes. It is worth noting that the caffeine content of Robusta at 4.5-4.7% is significantly higher than that of Arabica at 1.1-1.7%. Everyone can take what they need, which is why everyone says that instant coffee has more caffeine than freshly ground coffee. For people like me who are insensitive to caffeine and hope that caffeine can slightly increase the basal metabolic rate to lose fat, a higher caffeine content is naturally better (by the way, the caffeine content of dark roasted beans is lower than that of light roasted beans because the amount of beans used is relatively small, so don't be fooled by the taste).

Instant coffee recommendation:

Freeze-dried type:

East Asian:

The only two countries in Asia that I admire for coffee are Japan and Vietnam. Vietnam produces its own coffee and has its own style, while Japan adheres to European traditions and has a very orthodox style. Personally, I prefer Japanese coffee.

UCC is probably the most popular Japanese instant coffee. There are many series: 117, 114; black label, green label, white label, etc. I feel that the difference between the different series is the acidity and bitterness. The bigger the number, the more bitter it will be, and the acidity will be lower; the darker the color of the label, the darker the coffee is roasted, and the taste is more "burnt".

I feel that Maxim instant coffee is also very good, similar to UCC. I usually buy whichever one has promotion. There are basically three flavors: mixed flavor, mocha flavor and original flavor.

The taste basically depends on the packaging. The darker the packaging, the darker the beans are roasted, the more bitter the taste, and the burntier the aroma.

European and American

The most common freeze-dried instant coffee is Nestle Gold. I have tried two types, one produced in France and one produced in Switzerland. They taste almost the same. I just bought it randomly. It tastes better than the ordinary powdered Nestle. It has a slightly sour taste and tastes more like freshly ground coffee.

Davidoff is a brand that deeply satisfies all the needs of men. Its perfume, cigars and coffee are all good. The downside is that its price is relatively high. I will only buy it when there is a big discount. However, Davidoff is indeed expensive for a reason. Its taste is unique.

There are rich, espresso and mild flavors to choose from. I personally prefer espresso:

Jacobs Rice Grain Cano Micro-Ground Freeze-Dried Instant Coffee is a coffee I like very much, it is very unique. 15% of micro-ground coffee powder is added to the instant coffee to increase the aroma of the instant coffee, fill the "volatile aroma" link that is the weakest part of instant coffee, and make the taste of instant coffee closer to freshly ground coffee.

Mist dry type:

Due to the scale of production, domestic instant coffee is basically fog-dried. However, there are many that taste and are better than Nestle and Maxwell:

Yunnan is located in the subtropics and tropics, and with its plateau terrain, the quality of its coffee beans is quite guaranteed. It is said that many large coffee companies now use Yunnan as a fixed coffee bean purchasing base.

Maoshang Village M70 high altitude pure coffee powder

Arabica beans grown at an altitude of more than 1,600 meters are used. The bitterness, acidity and aroma are relatively balanced. It is also good to drink without sugar or milk. It comes in 40 bags to avoid the coffee powder from agglomerating for a long time and the loss of aroma. It is an instant coffee worth buying. (It is recommended to buy during the Double 11 and Double 12 periods)

Zhongfei 4-pack pure black coffee powder

It’s also Yunnan beans, with 4 flavors, and very cost-effective.

Fancy type:

There are very few instant fancy coffees that are made of pure milk and pure coffee. Most of them have a lot of additives, which are unavoidable. So I only drink fancy instant coffee at certain times, such as when I am hungry and tired. However, there are also many fancy coffees with lighter "flavors" that taste good:

Nestle Gold Collection Cappuccino Instant Coffee

The taste of Nestle coffee is basically above average, especially this cappuccino. The milk foam is relatively delicate and rich, the milk flavor is relatively natural, and the sweetness is not high. It feels very recharging for the body when drinking it.

Maxwell House instant coffee (classic latte, classic cappuccino, vanilla cappuccino, toffee hazelnut, white coffee) combination pack, I think it is also suitable for drinking during tea breaks at work, it has a certain sweetness, the coffee is not too strong, it has both refreshing and energy effects, and it feels less irritating to the stomach. The price is cheap, it is very suitable to leave it at the workstation and drink with colleagues.

If you want something better, Starbucks has instant coffee. I personally prefer vanilla mocha, which has a rich milky flavor, and it is said that mocha has lower calories than cappuccino. At 8 yuan a cup, although it is more expensive than other brands of instant coffee, it is always cheaper than the store, and you don’t have to go there specifically, you can have a cup anytime, anywhere.

Matcha Latte, KFC has also recently been selling this kind of coffee without coffee. Matcha Latte is actually more appropriately called Milk Matcha, using Matcha instead of coffee. Compared with the strong aroma of coffee, Matcha is much fresher and more elegant. The bitter taste of Matcha is more adaptable to Chinese people. It is also felt that Matcha is healthier than coffee, so Matcha Latte is also loved by many people.

Since it is matcha, it is obviously wiser to buy a Japanese brand of matcha latte. AGF Blendy Uji Rich Matcha Latte imported from Japan has a very strong matcha and milk flavor, and the sweetness and bitterness of matcha are well matched. It is not difficult to drink at first, and it is very smooth even without dessert.

Summarize

I have introduced several coffees I like above, and I hope it will be helpful for you to choose instant coffee. Although drip coffee bags and capsule coffee are becoming more and more popular, instant coffee still has certain advantages in terms of convenience and cost-effectiveness, especially when you just want to take in a certain amount of caffeine and calories to quickly cheer yourself up, and you can have a cup anytime, anywhere without any tools.