How to choose the right one for you among instant coffee, coffee beans and coffee powder?

Which one is worth buying: instant coffee, coffee beans, or coffee powder? Many coffee lovers have this question. Today, I will introduce it to you!

Coffee beans refer to the coffee fruits that have been processed from the whole coffee cherry. They need to be roasted, ground, and brewed using coffee utensils before they can be consumed.

Coffee beans are generally divided into washed and dried types, flat beans and round beans. The color of coffee beans varies from dark to light. Through deep roasting, the coffee beans burst open, double in volume, and reduce in weight by nearly 1/4. During the roasting process, coffee beans gradually generate volatile flavor oils, achieving a perfect balance of flavors. Even in the same producing country, coffee beans will have subtle effects on the flavor and quality of coffee beans, as well as their own characteristics, due to differences in climate, altitude, and soil quality in different regions.

Coffee powder is roasted coffee beans ground into powder, which can be used for direct brewing or cooking, making it more convenient to eat. Coffee powder can also be divided into coarse grinding, medium grinding, fine grinding and ultra-fine grinding according to the grinding.

Instant coffee is a dry coffee extract obtained by evaporating the water in coffee beans. Instant coffee can be quickly dissolved in hot water, and it takes up less space and volume during storage and transportation, and is more durable. Different from the more complicated traditional coffee brewing method, it has gained widespread popularity.

Taste and aroma

Coffee is different from tea. There is a saying that aged tea is better. For example, Pu'er tea becomes more valuable as it ages. However, the longer coffee is stored, the more its aromatic oils will be lost. The amount of aromatic oils contained in coffee is fixed. The more they are lost, the weaker the fragrance will be. It will also bring about bad tastes such as sourness.

Because coffee powder has tiny particles, its contact area with the air is larger and more complete, so the relative aroma loss rate increases geometrically. 2 Coffee beans are relatively large, with a small contact area with the air, and the aroma loss rate is much lower than that of coffee powder.

There are many flavors of instant coffee, including two-in-one, two plus one, three-in-one, three plus one and so on.

Storage time

The best drinking period for coffee beans is about one month, and the coffee beans delivered by FreshFun every month are also enough for one month's consumption.

The best drinking period of coffee powder may be about one week, and most brands of coffee powder are packaged in large bottles. At our usual coffee drinking speed, it is not easy for us to finish the coffee powder we bought within the best drinking period. Therefore, the taste of the coffee we drink later will be greatly reduced, which is a waste of money, and the bad taste also affects our mood.

The storage time of instant coffee is about 2 years, which is relatively long, but it also means that instant coffee contains a lot of additives.

In conclusion, instant coffee is high in calories, contains many additives, is unhealthy, and is not pure;

Coffee powder saves time and does not need to be ground, but the aroma is seriously dispersed and the best drinking period is short;

The coffee beans are sugar-free and additive-free, with a fresh and pure aroma and a long optimal drinking period.

So, coffee lovers, if you want to drink a good cup of coffee, the most important thing you should buy is coffee beans.

Grind the coffee beans into coffee powder, make it now, and drink it now. The wonderful taste of coffee lies in the perfect transformation of the caffeine in the coffee beans during the roasting process. And you can DIY it at will according to your hobbies and make a cup of coffee that suits your taste best.

Finally, I will teach you how to use 5 steps to help you quickly choose the most suitable coffee beans/coffee powder!

Step 1: Choose coffee beans or coffee powder?

If you choose to buy coffee beans, you need to grind them into powder before brewing coffee. Buying coffee powder directly saves the step of grinding beans. If you have a coffee machine with a bean grinding function, of course you should buy coffee beans directly, otherwise why spend so much money on a fully automatic one? In fact, after the coffee beans are ground into powder, the contact area with the air increases, and the aroma is more likely to be lost than unground coffee beans. Coffee powder is mainly convenient, saving the time of grinding beans, and you can drink a cup of coffee quickly.

Step 2: Choose a single product or a mix?

Single origin coffee means that the coffee beans in this package come from the same variety of the same origin, and they completely retain their unique flavor. They are commonly found in high-quality coffee. Blended coffee, also known as blended coffee, is a mixture of beans from different origins. The flavor is richer. There are more blended beans sold on the market, which are more in line with the public taste.

Step 3: Origin of coffee beans

When choosing coffee beans, the origin information is actually the most important. Because the local environment and soil nurture the local coffee beans, the taste of coffee is closely related to the environment in which the beans grow, such as soil, humidity, and sunshine. When I buy coffee beans, in addition to looking at the brand information, I pay special attention to its origin.

We divide the origin of coffee beans into three levels: top, high-end, and mass:

I would like to introduce the famous Blue Mountain coffee beans. Blue Mountain coffee has a rich and mellow taste, with a well-balanced flavor, aroma, concentration, and sourness. It is recognized as the best coffee in the world, and other coffees cannot compare. The rare and expensive real Blue Mountain beans are originally produced in the Wallenford coffee plantation, but now the production area has expanded to the nearby Blue Mountain area at an altitude of more than 1,000 meters. As long as the tree species and processing procedures of the estate meet certain standards, the government will issue a guarantee to allow the use of the name "Blue Mountain".

There are three grades of Blue Mountain coffee beans: Blue Mountain coffee beans, High Mountain coffee beans and Jamaican coffee beans.

Generally speaking, coffee beans grown between 457 meters and 1524 meters above sea level are called high mountain coffee beans; those grown between 274 meters and 457 meters above sea level are called Jamaica coffee beans; and only coffee grown in the Blue Mountain area at an altitude of more than 1800 meters can be called Blue Mountain coffee beans. The price of Blue Mountain coffee beans is several times higher than that of high mountain coffee beans.

Step 4: Choose the degree of baking

The degree of roasting has a great influence on the taste of coffee. The smell we usually call "coffee aroma" comes from the burnt smell of deeply roasted coffee. The following figure explains the difference between coffees of various roasting degrees:

Step 5: Select the one-time purchase amount

It takes about 20g of coffee powder to make a 150ml cup of coffee. 200g of packaged coffee beans or coffee powder can make about 10 cups of coffee.

Roasted coffee beans are easily oxidized by oxygen in the air and need to be stored in a sealed, low-temperature, and dark place.

If unopened coffee beans can be placed in the refrigerator, the temperature will drop, and the oxidation rate of the coffee beans will certainly slow down. However, if they have been opened, it is not recommended to put them in the refrigerator. Among the important elements that affect coffee, humidity has the greatest impact on the taste of coffee. Coffee beans will absorb moisture and the taste will deteriorate to a great extent. It is recommended to place the opened coffee beans in a special sealed can or use a special sealing strip (clip), seal it and store it in a cool and dry place.