Back in the 1970s, there was an ad campaign aimed luring young people into the then-dying practice of drinking coffee. Coffee, we were told, was "the think drink." One thing led to another I guess, and we became way more wrapped up in coffee than the International Coffee Organization could have imagined. Do you ever stop and wonder if it's worth it, this long strange coffee trip?
Today, I run across "The Case Against 'Good' Coffee/Instant coffee tastes … just OK. And that’s fine by me" by the novelist Peter C. Baker in The New York Times.
Instant coffee reminded me why I started on coffee as a college student. I didn’t bring coffee into my life because I especially liked the taste of it, or appreciated the distinction between different roasting methods or bean types. I was aware — mostly from the examples of classmates and the movies — that it could magically reconfigure my energies, creating pockets of alertness where they otherwise might not have existed....
Over time, coffee became... a familiar default... [M]y experiments and purchases were motivated less by an innate lust for superior coffee and more by a vague sense, absorbed osmotically from my cultural milieu, that better coffee was something adults strive for.
Instant coffee renewed my appreciation for the alchemical powers that drew me to coffee in the first place....
ADDED: Later the same day, I rewatched the movie "My Dinner With Andre," and this line jumped out:
Grotowski and I got together at midnight in my hotel room in Belgrade, and we drank instant coffee out of the top of my shaving cream, and we talked from midnight till 11:00 the next morning
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94 comments:
100% Swede answers: Heresy!!!!
I mostly drink instant coffee, although I do think there's still a lot of terrible instant coffee out there. I found the store-brand from Harris Teeter supermarket here borderline undrinkable, and it's not because I'm some coffee snob -- I like Maxwell and Maxim instant coffees just fine. And some fancier coffees just taste burnt to me.
For me, the convenience of an electric kettle + instant coffee (or matcha, or teabags, or even powdered puerh) is unmatched. I can just go through my day and refill my mug whenever I like. Although I suspect I am consuming a lot more caffeine than is healthy as a result.
I’ve been reading a lot of English novels and it seems instant coffee is quite common over there. Personally, I haven’t had any for decades. Don’t want any.
We’ve got a semi-pro machine. It’s the bees knees if you like coffee drinks. I could go black but the other wants latte etc. Instant coffee is gross- not just taste but texture. Don’t you love yourself?
…coffee drinkers have nothing on tea drinkers in terms of fussiness. Last month the Scotsman I was hanging with was going to kill himself because Canada doesn’t have a good cuppa…
I like a good coffee. Most of the supermarket coffees are not good coffee, even when you use a coffee maker. Unfortunately, I recently had to give it up due to its effects on my heart rhythm. Sads.
This is blasphemy.
Everyone should have some instant coffee in their kitchen. Keeps forever and it's there when you need it.
I've been drinking instant coffee since the early seventies, living in an England that then still ran on tea.
Nescafe Classico has been my choice for 30 years.
Instant coffee is fine, but brewing coffee isn't really more elaborate. I put in grounds and water, and it makes a pot of coffee. It's not that different from boiling water, putting powder in a cup, and stirring them together.
I get coffee once a week, and they always ask "Medium or Dark Roast?" like I can tell the difference. They could serve me instant. Would I know? Maybe.
Some time ago I was familiar enough with a restaurant owner that I knew what kind of coffee they served: Maxwell House. I was tickled to read a Yelp Review at some later point where the women was saying she was something of a coffee snob, but she found the restaurant's coffee really excellent.
While I agree in principle with Paddy O at 2:39 pm, I have never found an instant coffee whose taste I liked, and so I brew my morning coffee.
If you drink decaf instant there's no limit on how much you can take in, in breaks to the kitchen.
I'll go ya' one better.
About 20 years ago I realized that I was only drinking morning coffee for the caffeine. So I switched to having a caffeine pill with a bottle of water immediately upon rising. No waiting, no muss, no fuss.
I like coffee, instant as much as regular, and will have some if offered, but the whole morning ritual of making special coffee with a special machine escapes me.
When I was working, somebody would usually come around in the afternoon with cafe cubano, and a cafecito was always welcome.
Great use for instant coffee - coffee buttercream frosting. On spice cake. Yum.
"Some time ago I was familiar enough with a restaurant owner that I knew what kind of coffee they served: Maxwell House. I was tickled to read a Yelp Review at some later point where the women was saying she was something of a coffee snob, but she found the restaurant's coffee really excellent."
This is the plot line of those famous Folger's crystals commercials, where they've secretly replaced a fine restaurant's coffee with Folger's crystals, and then the actors playing the patrons proclaim their enthusiastic love for the restaurants coffee and are then told it's Folger's crystals.
There's some high-quality instant available these days. The linked article talks about that. I buy the high-quality stuff... even though I can't taste the difference.
I drink instant coffee when we travel Down Under; it's always available in the hotel rooms along with an electric tea kettle. It's passable as a caffeine delivery system. But it is far inferior to a freshly brewed cup of coffee. No complicated equipment necessary, just a filter and funnel.
My Norwegian relatives drink weak instant coffee black, no cream, no sugar (too speedy).
I am the decadent rebel who grinds his beans and uses cream and sugar.
Life is too short for bad coffee.
Memories fade over time, but this brought me back half a century to a kitchen table where I’d sit before school with my siblings and mother, a single-mom and public schoolteacher. She’d sit for bit chatting us up, smoking a Salem cigarette while drinking a cup of Instant Sanka. Music from a transistor radio playing Cracklin Rose or Milk Train by the Everly Brothers no doubt in the background. I could never stomach the taste of coffee in those days, but here I am, waking up to a cup of Taster’s Choice everyday.
I drink one mug in the morning because, to me, the taste of hot black coffee is delicious. I'm not drinking it for the caffeine. You can pry the brewed cup from my cold dead hands.
I have instant coffee in the house for a fabu brownie recipe that calls for it.
What are some high-quality brands?
I only drink coffee once a year. On Easter I traditionally drink a demitasse (or two) of straight Turkish coffee served with a ramekin (or two) of creme brulee; or occasionally tiramisu - and, yes, tiramisu has coffee in it.
Sadly, I have not been able to do this for differing reasons the past few years.
Pro tip: When bringing a torch over to a friend's house for caramelizing the creme brulee, do NOT bring your soldering torch for electrical/piping, even if it is the butane one and not the propane one.
I have instant for backup in case my coffee machine dies.
I have an electric grinder and buy whole beans to make coffee. I can absolutely taste the difference.
I make filter coffee at home, mostly for the smell, which is a big part of the taste.
I take instant coffee with me when I travel and like it just fine, especially knowing how much less it costs than going to a cafe.
I occasionally splurged with Starbucks instant, but didn't notice much difference, and now don't see it on supermarket shelf.
I never learned to like coffee. I think it was the smell that turned me off. By the time I woke up my parents were on about their third pot and the smell permeated the house.
I tried instant coffee and I thought it was vile. I couldn't drink coffee until I started with brewed. Maybe the new stuff is better but I'm not willing to make the experiment.
I roast my own coffee beans and brew with a stove top espresso maker. This is better than Bustelo instant espresso, which is better than any coffee I've had from Dunkin Donuts or any restaurant which wasn't a fancy place.
Powdered coffee is useful to have around. You can dust a bit on top of vanilla ice cream, or microwave a mug of milk and then flavor it with the instant.
Aldi-brand instant coffee, one tablespoon in two cups of cold milk, one teaspoon turbino sugar. Divine instant breakfast.
"The Case Against 'Good' Coffee/Instant coffee tastes … just OK. And that’s fine by me"
I like goldfish crackers but don't care for cheezits. I'm sure there's got to be a NYT article in there somewhere. On the other hand, why should I care what anyone thinks about my preference and why would I want to try to make a case either way regarding mine?
Ah yes, Mrs. Olsen and her Folger's. That sly minx.
I remember the margarine ads where some French guy in a big white hat and a moustache declared "no deeferance!" after tasting the whatever the heck it was at the end of the pitch.
'Truth' in advertising, 60s style.
I used to drink a lot of drip-brewed coffee (depending on what job I had) and I drink it black so there's no fuss. (I like my coffee like I like my women: hot and silent)
(I like my women like I like my coffee: sliding off the top of my car because I forgot it was up there)
Enough. For years, I drank Folger's or coffee that was free or on sale in a drip machine. One cup in the morning and rarely another. I just got out of the habit. Then a lady friend gave me a Keurig and some pods. Now I am stuck in the convenience of it. Too expensive. I used to make a pot, drink one cup and (gasp!) microwave it hot the next day and sometimes a third day. I am no gourmand when it comes to coffee. And I don't like it on my steaks or in my food.
Instant coffee doesn't taste very good at all though. For years I drank one cup of VERY strong instant coffee with heavy cream and sugar every morning. I never considered it to be more than a quick and easy caffeine delivery method, and for that it is quite effective. I'm a lazy single old man, and I still grind my coffee beans every morning.
With the new K-cup options, brewing a fresh cup of coffee takes less than a minute. Plastic strainers that fit the machines allow any type of grounds you want. So, time isn't that big of a deal any longer. Ground, or instant, is really just a matter of choice.
Grew up in a mainly tea-drinking family, with occasional instant coffee. Coke was my pick-me-up, colloquially known as The Black Asprin.
These days, black tea no sugar. It's a great palate cleanser as well as a pick-me-up.
I suppose if you can't tell the difference between plant based soy burgers and a T-bone steak, you might as well not waste money and time on the real item.
In a nod to my French Creole ancestors we start each day with cafe aux lait made from freshly ground French roast coffee (Costco) and chicory from New Orleans Roast (mail order in 5 pound bags).
The only thing better would be to have it with a plate of biegnets from Morning Call, or a cappuccino and cornetto from a cafe in Rome.
Philistines.
I can taste the difference, so I buy expensive coffee from an importer/roaster in Houston, and grind the frozen beans fresh each day. I've never been able to tell the difference between regular drip El Cheapo machines and elaborate scientific brewing apparatuses. But I love waking up to fresh-brewed smells and I go through about 9 cups a day, enjoying every one.
I see the sense of drinking instant if it makes no difference to the individual, and I definitely pack it while camping or traveling.
As for @rehajm 14:27: "Last month the Scotsman I was hanging with was going to kill himself because Canada doesn’t have a good cuppa…"
He'd better exercise some caution expressing those thoughts out loud, considering their Public Health system's proactive approach to MAID.
Well we've got a Cuisinart drip coffee maker in our house and it makes some pretty good cups of Peet's Major Dickinson's blend for breakfast for my wife and me. Hey it's California and if you believe the story Peet's coffee roasting shop in Berkeley was visited by the future founder of Starbucks. But the procedure is overly complicated if all you want is a single cup of coffee.
And so my go to machine for a single cup of coffee during the day--or after dinner is a Nespresso. You fill the back up with water, let the machine heat up (takes a couple of minutes) put a capsule in, a cup under the spout--and 75 seconds later you have a nice cup of coffee--or an espresso. There's a container for the spent capsules and you empty that out after a dozen cups or so. But it's clean and there's no washing up afterwards--other than for the cup.
Lots of different coffee flavors and roasts are available. Only downside is that your homemade cup of coffee is a bit more expensive than say a cup of instant--but it's also a danged sight cheaper than storebought Starbucks coffee.
I grind my coffee beans every morning. Most of the roasted beans are from Columbia, but sometimes from Hawaii or Jamaica. It is so incredibly fresh and aromatic, I can't imagine using instant coffee. Yet my wife, who loves coffee as much as I do, is often content to just use Folgers instant coffee. Go figure. I guess it's just a matter of taste.
You don't need elaborate anything.
A decent grinder (people who don't grind their beans fresh are evil) and a coffee maker.
And almost all have an auto-on function.
Set it up the night before and wake up to the lovely coffee smell (all but AA).
Many years since I've drunk instant coffee. I remember it as being so bad that going without coffee was preferable.
I used to have a carafe type coffee maker in my office and would just be sipping at coffee all day. By the end of the day it was pretty nasty.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Keurig.
I was at a trade show 10 or so years ago where one of the booths was sampling Keurig coffee. I took the sample more out of courtesy than desire and WOW! One of the best cups of coffee ever. When I got home I bought a Keurig maker and have been using it ever since. I cycle a K-cup twice and it fills my 20oz Stanley cup. The cup keeps it hot all day as I sip little by little.
No mess, no cleaning, no grounds. Just fill the maker with water every couple days. Toss the Kcup and put a new one in, press the button and wait 60 seconds. Only complaint is that it will only make 10oz per cycle. Since my Stanley cup won't fit under, doesn't matter anyway.
I've tried different flavors and have stabilized on "Donut Shop Coffee" and "Nantucket Blend"
I even travel with a Keurig maker. Non-Electric and a bit of work. It is a big plastic carafe with a rubber top. Open the bottom, pop in a Kcup, fill the top section with hot water, place over a cup and press down on the lid. Just as good as the coffee from the maker. Made by Presto, available at the portal.
John Henry
[We] usually rely heavily on [our] vision to make sense of [our] surroundings, so taking away visual clues can sometimes trick the brain. It is very hard to distinguish between apple, pear, and potato when they all look the same. Taking away the sense of smell then makes it even harder to distinguish between all three. The nose and mouth are connected through the same airway which means that you taste and smell foods at the same time. Their sense of taste can recognize salty, sweet, bitter, sour and savory (MSG), but when you combine this with the sense of smell they can recognize many other individual ‘tastes’. .Take away smell and sight and you limit your brain’s ability to tell the difference between certain foods.
Those of us with sinusitis often experience a diminished sense of smell that results in bland-tasting food. The other day, I asked a server for hand sanitizer which resulted in a comment from another diner indicating that the alcohol had a heavy dose of smell-good, but I smelled nothing and my brewed coffee was weak-tasting.
I was picky about coffee for decades. Nothing but the best.
Then had my return-to-instant phase in 2019, then started hankering for ordinary brewed coffee like Hills Bros.
I still keep Tasters Choice around just in case.
I never drank coffee in college, but I picked up the habit when I graduated and went to work in 1977 at a chemical plant as a chemical engineer. Everyone else had a cup of coffee in the styrofoam cup, so I thought, why not? And I got hooked, even though in retrospect it was pretty vile, sometimes sitting in a carafe on the burner for hours on end.
Today, I'm retired, and drink my own homebrewed coffee. I use the Kroger store brand and it is fine. Sometimes, when we travel and stay at a VRBO, esp in Europe, we take Taster's Choice. It works for me!
i use a drip maker (except when camping, when i use a percolator that sets on a stove/campfire)
No french press, no latte dah, do muss, no fuss.
I DO put cream and splenda (stupid diabetes).. And i pour in a (litte) nestlee's quik powder (not much)
fancy coffee is for fools.
(some people (apparently) spend as much for a cup of coffee as i do for a can of decaf ground coffee)
[$4.98 for 11.3 oz at fareway]
Your friend History probably drinks instant coffee. I'm not interested in being his buddy. He sounds a massive dick.
I never had a cup of coffee my entire life.
Well, this post is certain to stir up a brew-ha-ha...
It really depends on your palate - or taste buds if you prefer.
Just as there are people who cannot tell the difference between "Gallo Hearty Burgundy" and a grand cru Romanée-Conti from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy, there are people who cannot tell the difference between instant coffee and a well-made cup of coffee from one of the better Blue Mountain estates in Jamaica.
I've been drinking wine longer than I have coffee - though not by much - and was fortunate to grow up among people who appreciated high quality coffee, lightly roasted and freshly ground. We drank mostly Jamaica Blue Mountain as long as I can remember, at least from the mid-1950s, along with various other blends for for specific situations and good espresso.
My main reaction to those who don't appreciate good coffee is "thank you for not making prices for good coffee become as insane as the price of good wine".
As much as the coffee revolution started in the early '70s, Starbucks, Peets and their epigoni really did the nation a disservice, popularizing low quality (often Robusta) coffee beans roasted to the point of being burnt to disguise the poor flavor.
Although I often use an electric drip brewer for convenience, nothing makes better coffee than a Chemex filter pot using water heated precisely to 192 or 196 (there are differences of opinion) degrees Farenheit.
I mix up my supplements at home in order to get proper dosages. It takes about 2 days to get used to anything that is not overwhelmingly repulsive. Even then your taste buds are very flexible.
Longjack Extract is the worst tasting supplement I take. But it is all learned response. What changes are the neurotransmitters released on consumption and you can train and control that.
If people were honest they would admit that all coffee is bitter and is a learned taste. But people are willing to go through the 2-3 days of learning the taste for tribal affiliations.
"Expensive" coffee is just like expensive anything. It is a cultural signal of superior status. Bonus points if you only drink "free trade" coffee. In the same category as owning a Prius and shitting strawberry ice cream.
Madison Man, they might be asking you about medium vs dark roast because of caffeine content, maybe? Generally the lighter the roast, the more caffeine (which I find as lovely and mysterious as the fact that Guinness is more or less a light beer!).
When my husband was in high school, he was on the swim team. One night he had to pull an all-nighter studying for a test and ate a spoonful of instant coffee to stay awake; he was so impressed with the results that he decided he'd try it before his next swim meet - only, TWO spoonfuls.
So, as any competitive swimmer will tell you (apparently), you know how many strokes will get you to the end of the pool. He was so wired that he slammed headfirst (butterfly was his stroke) into the wall on his first lap. Evidently he was on pace for a PR up to that point, though...
He came in last, needless to say.
Instant is distinctly inferior to brewed, and as was pointed out above, brewing a pot of coffee is not a big chore. I have a coffee maker with a timer and a thermal carafe. It set it up the night before (it takes about a minute to grind the beans and put the water in) to brew at 6:30am so it’s there when I wake up. It stays hot for several hours, so I can enjoy my 3 or so cups through lunchtime.
If in a pinch I have to have instant, Starbucks Via is slightly better than the usual instants. My Mexican uncle used to say “Nescafé no es cafe.” I’m also pretty sure instant has less caffeine. It doesn’t seem to give me as much of a “kick” as brewed coffee.
For once I agree with Readering: Nescafe Clasico.
Instant coffee is an abomination. It is to coffee as canned Chef Boyardi ravioli is to dinner in Florence.
My Mom moved in with me a year ago Eclipse day. She drinks instant coffee, tea and hot chocolate quite a bit, and her arthritis was making it hard for her to lift the tea kettle, so we got her a hot water dispenser that has hot water all day, so she can have a cup whenever she feels like it. SHE loves it.(the one we got is currently unavailable, but there are quite a few to choose from!) You can get it through the Amazon Althouse porthole!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B4YL6R9Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
My dad used to drink instant coffee long ago. We started brewing at home when we saw an Alton Brown episode of his show "Good Eats" about how to brew coffee on the Food Network. We like the morning routine, and enjoy the subtle differences between the different beans that we buy. We're usually pour over, easy to brew a big pot. But I also use a little French press, moka pot and Aeropress too. The coffees do taste different when you use a different brewing technique. It's a fun little "hobby" here at home.
BTW, the best coffee out, diner coffee! I'm not sure what they do differently.
My system is practically instant. I buy preground coffee and I use a Vario single cup filter thing. Takes a couple minutes longer than the time it takes to boil water.
Instant coffee is horrible, compared to brewed coffee.
I like Coffee regardless of how it's prepared, but I have my favorites. Tim Hortons dark roast or Starbucks Caffe Verona top the list, but dark roasts from Aldi are nearly as good. Death Wish instant is also surprisingly good (at least to my taste), and Cafe Bustelo instant as well. And - oh yes - Moka Coffee in Madison has a Jamaican coffee with a subtle maple flavor that is just fine by me.
Always black, no sugar or sweetener, unless we're making a latte in our Mr. Coffee latte machine which froths the milk while drip brewing the coffee, just enough for MadTownGal and me to enjoy on a nice morning on the front porch.
I have drunk instant, and store-brand instant for decades. It's fine. It starts to lose quality if you let the sunlight get at it.
55 years ago I went to NYC with a college friend that lived in Brooklyn (I think). His girlfriend was Italian and I believe she had a glass of coffee and poured about an inch of sugar into the coffee in the glass. Did not stir and drank it. Am I misremembering?
If you're going to drink instant coffee you might as well drink tea. Its just as cheap and tastes better. Most people pour tons of sugar and creame in their coffee, so they might as well drink instant.
I've become a bit of coffee snob as compensation for cutting back on wine and fatty foods. I've never been one for sweets. Hopefully, medical science will discover that red wine with roast beef or breakfast sausage and hashbrowns are the new health foods and I can go back to Folger's coffee.
BTW, is that Mrs. Olsen's coffee?
I'm old enough to remember that Coffee Achievers commercial. No joke.
Not that I needed selling; college had already caffeinated me, and almost anything that's been dripped or perked--even gas-station sludge--is OK as long as it's hot and black.
I did have to switch to half-caf some years back.
We keep some instant around for when the power goes out.
We went cold brew.
All you need is the kit. Its a 2 quart Mason Jar, with cap/handle, and a Stainless steel screen to steep the grounds in. Grounds in the SS filter/screen, into the mason jar, fill with water, cap, put in fridge. overnight or longer, you have coffee concentrate. Mix it 1/3 to 1/2 with hot water, on per cup basis. Its great because we dont waste left over brewed coffee anymore
https://www.amazon.com/Cold-Brew-Coffee-Maker-64/dp/B0C737ZQLV/ref=sr_1_3?
But, You do need a conical bur coffee grinder, to get a good coarse grind. We only do whole beans. Off the shelf ground coffee leaves a lot of sludge in the brew.
https://www.amazon.com/OXO-BREW-Conical-Coffee-Grinder/dp/B07CSKGLMM/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?
Looking up the equipment, I see we have been doing it for over 4 years now. Have zero regrets.
Year and a half ago, the kids gave us an under sink hot water tap. Instant 200F water from the tap. Now, our morning routine is putting a glass measuring cup with some concentrate in the Micro wave to warm it. Use it to put in our cup, and then top off with 200F water.
I use the hot water tap for lots of things other than coffee. If we move, I would have to put one in the new house. Strange, I had no idea it was something wanted, but now I need it.
The nice thing about cold brew, you can make it really strong and its not bitter. Of course if you are into the iced coffee drinks, you are all set with concentrate in the fridge.
I drink a pot of coffee a day. I've used all kinds of brew methods, even roasted my own for awhile. But for the last 20 years, I've used the only drip coffee maker, Technivorm, that brews at the proper temperature. I found a few decent supermarket coffees that don't go sour cold. Not Maxwell House, or Folgers, they are terrible coffees.
Keep in mind, most people drink Starbucks. They don't like coffee, they like a shot of coffee in their sweetened blended milk drink. And Starbucks started burning their bean 25+ years ago since that goes better with sugar milk.
Cafeteria coffee was better when it was brewed in the big multi-gallon tanks. It didn't burn from being kept on heat because there was enough convective flow. But the real key is to brew at the right temperature, that's a commercial machine or Technivorm.
The Mr. Coffee isn't a real complicated piece of equipment.
Though work has a Keurig, so I have one of those refillable pods and keep some coffee in the fridge there. Kroger brand I think.
When I was working in England in the nineties, I remember getting a kick out of the”We proudly serve Timothy’s instant coffee” on signs for cafes. But I never cared for it. Making coffee is part of the ritual of getting up, and good coffee is a pleasure.
“ Expensive" coffee is just like expensive anything. It is a cultural signal of superior status.”
I had an economics professor who would tell you that price was a solid indicator of quality because the people who can afford it are, after all, free to choose, which is not true of the people who mostly consume the cheap stuff.
CT Ginger said...
"Instant coffee is an abomination. It is to coffee as canned Chef Boyardi ravioli is to dinner in Florence."
Hey! hey! hey! None of that!
Any coffee that keeps you from commiting a felony first thing in the morning is good coffee. Annoying people are alive today because of coffee. Never forget that.
Instant coffee is better than Keurig. I don't like the taste much of either bit instant has more kick. There's some good instant out there. Whenever I want a small cup of weak coffee I choose Keurig.
Coffee snobs, wine snobs, beer snobs, vinyl snobs, cigar snobs, book snobs, etc.
They're everywhere.
I hold no such pretentious affectations myself!!!
But if a slight rush of positive feedback provided by feeling better about yourself because of an unjustified belief in your heightened and superior sensitivities feels good, do it.
Also, instant coffee sucks. The freeze drying process filters out the rat droppings and insect detritus that bring the flavor to the party.
Also again, I spent thirty minutes yesterday searching for that French chockonuts commercial and failed. Ruined my day.
Concentrated OJ is much improved over the years. Maybe instant coffee is too. Cafeteria coffee at 18YO was my introduction to the joys of coffee. I'm a pot a day guy too. After that I apply it topically.
He was so wired that he slammed headfirst (butterfly was his stroke) into the wall on his first lap
If he did slam in headfirst (ouch!), that's a DQ too because he didn't finish the lap with a 2-hand touch (above, at, or below the water line).
I have a drip machine and change up the brand and strength of coffee regularly. Several of them are very good in my view. Plus, as a human, my coffee making procedure deviates a bit wrt amount of water and coffee. I’m not OCD about it, but I do love my morning coffee perk.
I'm not a coffee drinker, normally. I get my daily caffeine from Coke Zero. When I went to Hawaii in 2019, I made an exception, because the local coffee was so good. We toured a coffee plantation and I sampled some of their Kona coffee, which was excellent. I like Irish Coffee when visiting an Irish pub. Overall, though, I'm not drinking the cheap stuff. Life's too short to drink cheap beer, whiskey, coffee, etc. Have the good stuff! You're worth it.
Get mine from the gas station in my suburban Twin Cities neighborhood. $1.39 for a 24-oz. serving if I use a refillable mug. That first mug is usually my allotment for the day, as it’s the equivalent of 3 cups. Starbucks is better, but last time I checked it was about triple that price and it’s not three times better.
I don't know if this is still the case - but as a coffee-loving student traveler in the late 1980s, I was struck at how much better tasting European instant coffee (esp. Nescafe) was than its equivalent in the US and Canada. Maybe we have finally caught up to the concept of "better" instant coffee?
Starbucks went broke in my city as its coffee is awful.Esspresso or nothing.
I brought back instant espresso packets (Nescafé) from Italy that were very good. If you watch South Korean shows, you’ll commonly see them drink instant. It all depends on quality. I do single cup pour over, which is low effort. (And takes up no space in a small kitchen) I was in an office recently that had Nespresso Vertuo coffee. It really is delicious.
Did you know that first Irish cream was made with Nesquik, and the first Irish coffee was made for American travelers in Ireland during WWII?
Even on very short notice, the Irish can do amazing things. I visited there once, and I ran out of gas. A local stopped and offered to help. I asked if he had any gas, and he said no but then he pulled a flask out of his jacket. "It's pure alcohol," he said, "we can use this".
"Ah, we can put that in the tank."
"God no, man, we will drink it."
Some or all of what I wrote might be fiction.
My elaborate home brew ritual is:
Fill electric kettle with fresh water and turn on.
Run scalding hot water in a French Press for about a minute.
Dry the press and add too much Cafe Du Mond ground coffee.
Fill the press with water from the kettle and cover with all-metal filter.
Wait for a couple minutes.
While waiting do the scalding hot water thing with coffee cup.
Add heavy cream and preferred sweet stuff if you choose.
Press filter down.
Enjoy.
If this is too complicated for you, I suspect the only cooking appliance you really need is a microwave.
FWIW, any coffee maker that includes parts not made of glass or steel will likely develope mold in plastic crevices that rarely dry completely.
When we lived in Greece, I made my own fresh ground, filtered coffee daily. One day, a friend introduced me to Nescafé Gold . . . a smooth, medium roast flavor. I shelved all my coffee contraptions. When we move back to the US, I discovered that Nescafé Gold is marketed as Taster’s Choice. Costco sells the large 210 cup jars of Taster’s Choice . . . hard to beat.
wendybar, thanks for the hot water dispenser recommendation. I never knew this existed.
Madison Man, I just brought up your point about DQing in swimming to my husband - he said, "Huh! That's right. I never thought about that." Pause. "To be honest, I can't remember much after hitting my head."
"What are some high-quality brands?"
I just buy the Mount Hagen freeze dried coffee at Whole Foods.
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I love our under sink hot water dispenser. If you have a garbage disposal you have a 120v plug under the sink to power it.
https://www.amazon.com/InSinkErator-H-HOT150SN-SS-Instant-Dispenser-Stainless/dp/B01LR7AJOQ/ref=sr_1_6?
Instant coffee can be drinkable in a pinch, but I generally only use it as an ingredient in homemade Irish cream.
"Whenever I want a small cup of weak coffee I choose Keurig."
You know the strength is adjustable, right?
I have a Brim 'instant' hot water heater, though it takes a couple of minutes, it has a 1,000 W induction heating element. But it heats the water to your specification, and you can use the little kettle for a pour over. I have a plastic pour over kit I bought for about $8 at Starbucks, and clean it in the dishwasher, and it has never gotten moldy. It makes very good coffee once you figure out everything to your liking. I am sure that you can get a cheaper hot water kettle, but my kids are just going to waste all of the money I leave to them anyway, so why shouldn't I get to waste some of it? It looks very nice on my kitchen counter, and doesn't take up very much space.
I think that life's little pleasures are mostly all of what we get on this planet.
I have a cheap $30 5 cup coffee maker that is the best I have owned: small, quick, and keeps the coffee at the right temperature without burning. I set it up in the evening and hit the button in the morning, quick and easy. Instant coffee just isn't the same, and I have tried that route.
They're trying to tell us that coffee brewing is destroying the climate. I suppose instant is kinder to Gaia.
Some of it, maybe a lot, is nostalgia. I believe a lot of WWII (and later?) soldiers drank instant in the war and continued to do so. Others here have mentioned drinking it in college. I think my Mom always had a cup of instant every morning up to 2015.
I have a weird fondness for Nestea Instant. When I was a kid (1970s) I drank it by the gallon (iced and unsweetened, natch), and continued in college and thereafter. I had middle-range tea bags for drinking hot (Stash and that sort), but still guzzled the Nestea iced. They discontinued it some years ago, and I also mostly switched to Luzianne iced, made in a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Pot, but I still have a jar of Lipton Instant around. It doesn't really taste like tea for the most part, but I adore the bitterness of it. Very quenching, I think.
as it’s the equivalent of 3 cups
The standard cup of coffee is 5 oz, so 24 oz is very close to 5 cups of coffee :)
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