Instant Coffee

[Saracen]

For the coffee purists out there, this thread is not for you. Yes, I know instant isn't "real" coffee, but for those of us that just want a quick, hot, easy, vaguely coffee-ish drink ..... instant it is.

So .....


.... for the rest of us, have you ever tried these fancy-ish coffees with very finely ground actual coffee in with an instant, that supposedly give a "real' coffee flavour?

And for any coffee enthusiasts still reading, and currently spraying their fresh-ground espresso up the wall in disgust at the notion of instant that tastes like 'real' coffee, I TOLD YOU this thread wasn't for you.

So, who's tried 'em?

I've tried Nescafe Azera (Americano and Espresso) and Lavazza (Classico) and, to my surprise (being a borderline coffee snob myself) I was quite impressed.

To my surprise, I preferred the Nescafe to the Lavazza, but all three weren't bad at all .... for an instant.

Are they as good as "real" coffee? No. But, IMHO, a lot, LOT better than the average, old-style instant. Quiteca bit dearer too, but nowhere near the cost of a pod coffee.

Surprisingly, one small scale TV blind taste test I saw found (IIRC) 3 out of 4 picked the Azera over several different pod coffees, which I why I tried them.

So, tried 'em? If so, what did you think?

[spacein_vader]

For the coffee purists out there, this thread is not for you. Yes, I know instant isn't "real" coffee, but for those of us that just want a quick, hot, easy, vaguely coffee-ish drink ..... instant it is.

So .....


.... for the rest of us, have you ever tried these fancy-ish coffees with very finely ground actual coffee in with an instant, that supposedly give a "real' coffee flavour?

And for any coffee enthusiasts still reading, and currently spraying their fresh-ground espresso up the wall in disgust at the notion of instant that tastes like 'real' coffee, I TOLD YOU this thread wasn't for you.

So, who's tried 'em?

I've tried Nescafe Azera (Americano and Espresso) and Lavazza (Classico) and, to my surprise (being a borderline coffee snob myself) I was quite impressed.

To my surprise, I preferred the Nescafe to the Lavazza, but all three weren't bad at all .... for an instant.

Are they as good as "real" coffee? No. But, IMHO, a lot, LOT better than the average, old-style instant. Quiteca bit dearer too, but nowhere near the cost of a pod coffee.

Surprisingly, one small scale TV blind taste test I saw found (IIRC) 3 out of 4 picked the Azera over several different pod coffees, which I why I tried them.

So, tried 'em? If so, what did you think?

I haven't tried them, but I will do now!

[Saracen]

I haven't tried them, but I will do now!

Not especially cheap, at around £5-£6 for a 100g pot (Nescafe, 95g for Lavazza) but, IMHO, worth it.

Different styles are available. Nescafe certainly do the aforementioned Americano and Espresso, but there were others. Warning - the pots are uncomfortably similar (colour, etc) and easily confused, so check the name, as customers can pick up, look and easily put back in the wrong pile. It's how I ended up with Espresso .... though as I was going to try it anyway, I wasn't bothered.


Currently (well, Saturday last) Waitrose have both Nescafe and Lavazza on offer, at around half price. The Nescafe, I think, was £3 instead of £5.75-ish.

If Waitrose have it half-ish price, odds are it's either a manufacturer promotion, or a price match, and in either case, other supermarkets are probably discounting too. I happen to shop at Waitrose so I know they were.

[Butcher]

Not especially cheap, at around £5-£6 for a 100g pot (Nescafe, 95g for Lavazza) but, IMHO, worth it.

Different styles are available. Nescafe certainly do the aforementioned Americano and Espresso, but there were others. Warning - the pots are uncomfortably similar (colour, etc) and easily confused, so check the name, as customers can pick up, look and easily put back in the wrong pile. It's how I ended up with Espresso .... though as I was going to try it anyway, I wasn't bothered.


Currently (well, Saturday last) Waitrose have both Nescafe and Lavazza on offer, at around half price. The Nescafe, I think, was £3 instead of £5.75-ish.

If Waitrose have it half-ish price, odds are it's either a manufacturer promotion, or a price match, and in either case, other supermarkets are probably discounting too. I happen to shop at Waitrose so I know they were.

How does that compare with pod coffee for price? Seems like it would be about 50p a cup (~10g of granules) which is not far off a pod, no? Instant in general seems quite expensive these days, unless you get the utter bargain basement tat.

[peterb]

I do use instant coffee when I'm out for the day and I don't want to take a gas stove, mug, cafetiere or coffee press, and water with me - much easier to make up a flask of instant! I generally use Sainsburys own brand granules. Its wet, warm and not too bad. I'm told that Lidl and Aldi's own brands are surprisingly good too (Ive used Aldi's ground coffee in the past and that was very good - IMHTO (in my humble taste's opinion)

[scaryjim]

I'd never bother buying them (if I'm in the market for an instant I want it cheap; taste is very much secondary!) but I've been provided with a cup of Kenco Millicano a couple of times, and while it's definitely a nice instant coffee, I don't think it offers enough improvement over other instant coffees to be worth the extra money.

That said, my "usual" instant is Douwe Egberts, so probably a little higher up the taste scale than most "generic" instant coffees, and more often than not you can find the Gold or Indulgence varieties on offer, which bumps you up the taste scale another notch....

[Ttaskmaster]

Real coffee... pfft - As if there were any competition... San Fermin by the Origin Coffee Company wins everything, hands down!!
Chuck that in yer Chemex flask and drop the mic.

For ages, my default has been Carte Noir, but they got bought out by (I think) Dowe Egberts and the brand imagery was comandeered for L'Or... which is a totally different recipe and tastes like buffalo bum.
Since then I've been looking for a replacement. I've tried Nescafe Azera of some kind, on a few occasions, and it wasn't bad... nothing I'd buy again, though.

Around the same time I got the wife into coffee, starting with caffetierre (which I hate). We both like espresso/macchiato, but that takes time and effort. Generally she likes things that taste like mud, whereas I prefer a lighter, milder, smooth instant. She goes for various Aldi brands and I'm usually forced to try them.

But my current fave is Little's... specifically the hazelnut version. It's very pricey for a very small jar, but good for occasional purchase. Ye'n get that in Waitrose, too!

[peterb]

<---snip

which is a totally different recipe and tastes like buffalo bum.

snip--->

This is a comparison from personal experience?

[Millennium]

This is a comparison from personal experience?

Hey it's not Ttaskmaster's fault if he happened to be lying in a field yawning and a buffalo sat on his open mouth!

[Ttaskmaster]

This is a comparison from personal experience?

Needed summat beginning with B... I'd already used badger earlier and I'd just washed my hands in the bison.

Hey it's not Ttaskmaster's fault if he happened to be lying in a field yawning and a buffalo sat on his open mouth!

Actually, in that situation, it would be!!

[g8ina]

Needed summat beginning with B... I'd already used badger earlier and I'd just washed my hands in the bison.
!

Thats only allowed if you am a Black Country mon or a Brummie

[g8ina]

We boycott all things Nestlé

So, Sally's pref on instant coffee would be Millicano. Me ? Can't stand instant, Im a coffee snob, I buy bulk ground coffee from Lidl

[Saracen]

How does that compare with pod coffee for price? Seems like it would be about 50p a cup (~10g of granules) which is not far off a pod, no? Instant in general seems quite expensive these days, unless you get the utter bargain basement tat.

If I remember correctly, the "heaped teaspoon" worked out at about 4g, implying 25 cups per pack, so at £5.75-ish, which is about 23p per cup. At the £3/100g I paid at the weekend, 12p per cup.

Last time I bought standard Nescafe instant, it was about £7 per 200g pot, though I ws told it had hit £10/jar. At £7, and assuming the same 4g, that's 14p per cup.


So ..... cost for Azera varies from about 12p (offer price) to 23p normal) price, compared to 14p to about 20p per cup, depending in price at £7 or the £10 the mum-in-law told me.

So, at normal prices, it's a bit dearer than standard instant, unless buying at offer price, though if standard instant has jumped in price, not by much.


As for pods, dunno. They seem to vary in price a lot, and are probably worth buying online, but 50p doesn't seem far off, suggesting this instant is between quarter and half the price.

But there's more to it than that.

With pod machines, you have to buy the machine, too, whereas all instant requires is a kettle I already have. By buying a machine, you lock into a restricted range of pods, and if you buy a significant quantity of pods (for best prices) you're kinda locked into buying anothrr machine of the same type if/whenbit croaks on you.

Also, I know of at least one (older) type machine where, having bought it, the manufacturer stopped sellingvit, in the UK, and now, the owners either have a useless machine, or have to import consumables, which means buying £100-ish at a time for viability. What happens if 3 pods inyo a £100 order, the machine dies? Because they can't replace it.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking pod machines, and for fairly heavy, regular users it may be the way to go. But they have their drawbacks.

[Saracen]

... and tastes like buffalo bum.

....

I've tasted Buffulo Mozarrella, but I admit buffalo bum is a culinary experience that, so far, escaped me. This is a situation I'm not keen to rectu ..... erm, rectify in a hurry.

So I bow to your superior knowledge, and experience if not good taste, in that matter.

[Ttaskmaster]

Thats only allowed if you am a Black Country mon or a Brummie

Not if you're into all that Bear Grylls stuff, it ain't.... Oh look, Bear. Another one that starts with a B!!

So I bow to your superior knowledge, and experience if not good taste, in that matter.

What, you never had Cape Buffalo biltong?
You haven't lived!!!

[Millennium]

Hi Saracen

We meet again! Lol

I'm not disagreeing with anything in your 3:17 post I just wanted to chime in on pods.

I've managed to buy my nespresso compatible pods all at 15p or less each including delivery costs. The machine was again a compatible and was about £25 and came with about 20-30 pods. So that means to make it cost effective you have to use it quite a lot. I've been using 2 pods per cup fairly regularly and have a large stock of pods already (I hope they keep well).

So if the actual machine I got keeps on kicking I think the overall cost is somewhat comparable per coffee (if I used 1 pod as I should ). Just wanted to post that out there.