Why You Should Care About Instant Coffee

[@LanceHedrick]

Excited to see the discussion this video will facilitate! While I won't be switching to instant anytime soon, and am not encouraging anyone to do so, I think with the market share instant has, it is an important and valid area that needs to be considered heavily. Since we, the coffee community, seem to have a big voice that can and does drive trends in the market (looking at you Timemore grinders and Meticulous), I think we can shift some focus on instant. Oh! Don't forget to hit the like and subscribe if you haven't ;) Cheers!

[@Stan_sprinkle]

I’ve been wondering if there had been some kind of scientific breakthrough with this stuff. Blue bottle’s instants, a roaster called Tweed in Dallas now has an instant that I’ve seen in the better shops here in Austin.

[@LanceHedrick]

People claim to have break throughs but they seem to me to be inconsequential and largely marketing tools. I'm sure something has changed (lower temp for extraction is one) but nothing that fundamentally changes anything.

[@lorenzowang7933]

Lance we'd love to send you some microbatch instant we're making @ LoricCoffee. The sublimated coffee you have here still looks very much like overextracted spray dried coffee compared to ours. We roast, brew w/ a Ground Control, and sublimate at extra low temp cycles and the result is FAR more golden and fluffy compared to the factory stuff. Even most 3rd wave roaster doing instant are sublimating at too high a temp, causing secondary cooking.

[@The_Coffee_Rabbit_Hole]

High extraction bugs infested coffee 😅.... very interesting topic , mich better wake up than the news 😒 ... anyone tried to dry-freeze a good shot of espresso to see how it re hydrate ? Sound like a nice experiment

[@kylemessineo8542]

Idc what anyone says instant coffee is not it! Idk why nestle & these other big instant coffee companies are making the big coffee wigs push this garbage for 🤷‍♂️ how can you guys say it’s all about the beans, speciality coffee, altitude, roasted on date etc and they try to sell us on nasty instant coffee 🤔 This isn’t cool, I hope the kick back from these companies is worth the selling out!

[@BenMcGaghey]

Hello from Hasty Coffee in Canada! It's great to see people talking about specialty instant again. We've been making it in Canada for a bunch of different roasters over the last 4 years. It's been a wild ride scaling the product but I can't imagine a world without it now.

[@AdamNajak1]

If only you shipped to the UK you have such an amazing selection 😢

[@Didgeridoo42]

The first snortable coffee

[@LanceHedrick]

It's coming.

[@mhas9110]

Pure Colombian you say😂

[@thanhnamnguyen5280]

Hit me with that line of colombiana 😤

[@andrewstorer4875]

Yes, I'll have a café insufflatto 👃🏼

[@martinaraya8728]

All coffee is snortable if you are brave enough

[@sam_musey]

Actually, a big shoutout to Lance, who finds time and energy to hangout in the comments to engage with us, witty commentators...😌

[@LanceHedrick]

Hahaha! When they're conversations I find important, I like to ensureI'm part of the convo!

[@alexcrouse]

@@LanceHedrick How are we supposed to talk about you behind your back if you're watching?

[@LanceHedrick]

Reddit has many threads I don't look at lol

[@quarkonium3795]

@@alexcrouseDon't listen to Lance! He's trying to get you to post on Reddit so he can spy on you 😂

[@kylemessineo8542]

He’s never engaged with me ever and I’ve asked Lance several questions 🤷‍♂️

[@texarkana3781]

My roommate used to add a layer of Nescafe in the middle of the puck in a Bialetti moka pot. He called it "fortifying" . You'd b shocked by the amount of "crema" that came out! Tasted pretty good in a generous hot milk drink and definately woke you up!

[@heyayran]

I usually enjoy fortifying instant coffee with stale or overnight espresso/long black. It's arguably way better than just plain instant coffee.

[@inviktus1983]

More coffee per coffee!

[@daddyov2]

The secret ingredient in this coffee is coffee

[@jk01973]

I will try that 1day.

[@primitive_data]

I love how you dive into so many different areas of coffee lore. Always learn something new. Keep up the good work 💪🏻

[@LanceHedrick]

Thank you! I enjoy bringing up a plethora of topics. Keeps things fresh and keeps us all, myself included, informed.

[@PhilippeCarphin]

As a coffee aficionado, I think good instant coffee is pretty decent. While I was visiting my mom and her husband at their summer home, my step dad who knew I was somewhat of a coffee aficionado was kind of apologetic that all he had was instant coffee. He was making breakfast for everyone and I'm not fussy but he still said something to the effect of "sorry all I have is instant coffee". I was surprised by how good it was and since then I've had a can of instant coffee in my office at work. While nowhere near as good as espresso made with freshly ground medium-light roast beans, it's still good. My take is this: if you don't judge it by how well it reproduces the taste of freshly brewed coffee, you can appreciate its flavor as a completely different beverage that also happens to be made with coffee. At work we have an automatic espresso machine but the coffee is so darkly roasted that I prefer my Nestlé taster's choice instant coffee most of the time. Now I just ordered a hand grinder for the office and I'll be making french press coffee and later pour over once I settle on what pour-over equipment I want to buy.

[@tasmaniandoc]

I couldn't be more excited about this topic. My local roasters just finished setting up the sublimator this spring and the result is impressive: easy to make and the flavor of the cup is great. I can now recommend the introduction to delicious black coffee to my coworkers without any equipment costs. Thank you for highlighting this technological process.

[@SymonTU]

I recently wrote a review for my industrial coffee production course. I learned that the solubility of industrial instant coffee comes from a process called foaming. This process involves injecting the evaporated concentrate with dry air or an inert gas. This creates more surface area and lots of pores as it dries, making it easier for water to penetrate the dry granule. This is in contrast to specialty fine dense powder

[@PhillipLangenkamp]

I love this! I'm really hopeful that there is an increased demand (and a responding improvement in availability, options, and quality) for decaf coffee and instant coffee. Not every cup you drink needs to be a fully caffeinated 11/10 experience. The small sacrifices of quality can be made up through the benefits of other elements (such as speed and portability for instant coffee or the ability to drink a late evening coffee or espresso and still be able to fall asleep for decaf coffee). If demand improves, the options and quality will improve. If options and quality improves, the demand will improve. I'm here for the positive feedback loop!

[@1101naomi]

My father drank tasters choice original when I was young and the aroma of it is very nostalgic to me. If I were to pick one up (because I had to) it would be this one.

[@petertuckergoettler5720]

Helps Me Out, merci. Coffee Kick.

[@Boyetto-san]

Very interesting point you make about the big-picture implications. I think the way that we can intellectually adjust to the concept of specialty instant is really that it's not there to outright replace what we coffee nerds and spcialty cafes already do. It's there so that everyone else, the majority of people, who don't wanna faff about with equipment and technique can just have a higher median coffee experience, and thus familiarize themselves with the specialty coffee flavor spectrum, where those people would otherwise just go through life thinking that coffee is just supposed to taste like burnt charcoal water that you make palatable using sugar and non-dairy creamer. That, in the end, is where the third wave is still really incomplete: in convincing more people that properly good coffee is supposed to taste different, and that that's a good thing.

[@alexwilson27]

You might call this video an INSTANT classic

[@LanceHedrick]

Haha love it

[@tuanisthename]

gold

[@jonathonbaron2914]

More like Classico

[@DackDavenport]

Christian cage will hear about this!

[@nimexwolf]

It's unreal that you come out with this today... I just picked up instant coffee within the last few months and just re-upped it yesterday because I realized how great it is! You're on the money with this one, instant coffee is going to be popping off in the future! My big fear, however, is that we start seeing companies step in to create "instant coffee pods". That would be incredibly wasteful and I hope we do NOT see those pop up.

[@LanceHedrick]

I don't think that would happen..doesn't really make much sense and considering the cost to manufacture proper instant is already high, more resources will make it more difficult (adding a pod). Would ovrrprice competition too much

[@nimexwolf]

@@LanceHedrick I certainly hope so! From my POV, we're already seeing some awful business practices in the vaping industry with the popularization of disposable vapes that come with the battery, juice, and coil. (Why are we being so wasteful!!??) I never thought that would have an issue, but here we are! Don't mind me I'm just blabbering!

[@LanceHedrick]

That's a scary thing. Where there is money, there is waste. Oh me oh my

[@godgrinder666]

Unfortunately it's already a thing in China and Japan. Lots of instant coffee or cold brew concentrates are packaged in single-portion pods.

[@abueloraton]

It´s been popping off for decades. It has been the standard in many countries.

[@jasonlinn]

I love specialty instant for when I'm backpacking in the wilderness. Nothing better than waking up with a scenic view and a genuinely good cup.

[@cossym]

I usually pack some freshly ground coffee and use a moka pot... Specialty instant seems like a great choice over this! Way less faff

[@sarahrosen4985]

​@@cossymhave you tried Turkish coffee instead? Don't need a moka pot. Any pot you can boil the hot water and coffee grounds in can work. Slightly less faff.

[@cossym]

@@sarahrosen4985 I've not but am certainly open to trying it! Particularly when I'm wild camping or backpacking and want to save on weight ☺️ thanks for the suggestion

[@JayFunningham]

You don't carry a water filter, hand grinder, aeropress and Kruve glassware with you camping? Amateur!

[@sarahrosen4985]

@@JayFunningham the cool kids take their bripe.

[@deyesed]

I've been espousing this for a couple years now. By removing the water and using airtight containers, the delicate VOCs are preserved quite well. It's delicious when reconstituted correctly (i.e. dissolved first in cold water).

[@LanceHedrick]

Eh- I haven't seen much of a difference. It's not like I'm adding hot water then letting it sit for an hour lol Adding to hot is fine if heating with immediate drinking temp

[@deyesed]

@@LanceHedrickah well not everyone has a kettle with a wide temperature range hehe

[@LanceHedrick]

Lololol true

[@abueloraton]

Yep, the Nescafé clásico added to boiling milk to accompany sweet bread has been the standard breakfast and dinner addition in Mexico for many decades.

[@georgeatte788]

I drank instant coffee before getting to know specialty. After getting into specialty I learned that the most important thing for me to know was that the coffee is ethically sourced and the farmers are getting their fair share. If these specialty roasters get into making a better instant coffee than what's available today, I will definitely go back to it. I love the ritual of making hand brewed coffee, but I will love the convenience of pouring hot water and getting my coffee in seconds more

[@PassportDates]

I was shopping for instant coffee and somehow found this instead. I moved to Turkey and here we are having this more than any other coffee. Thanks for this video!

[@ondrejmitas3325]

Love this wonderful video! I also appreciate that instant is useful for different recipes, not possible with other coffee preparations. For example a Greek frappe. It is certainly better with Classic than Gold, but last two summers I made it with Barn Ethiopia and it was really something special.

[@LanceHedrick]

Definitely! Frappe and dalgona and other beverages require it. Switching to specialty is the move!

[@jk01973]

You must try instant coffee sprinkled over vanilla ice-cream.

[@thejustinchambers941]

Love seeing the luminous 🎉

[@mukkaar]

Instant is great for hiking and trips. I wouldn't drink it at home, personally when I don't want to make coffee, I just make tea. I like both, frankly, I drank last month only tea since I finally upgraded to better tea and used precise seeping time.

[@veganpotterthevegan]

Definitely loving my Swift instant. There is an unexplainable note every origin/blend has that I've never gotten from any other coffee. But it's definitely good. It's definitely more than good enough to be my traveling coffee. Massive convenience with being in fully compostable packaging, nothing extra to clean/carry when I used to always have a hand grinder and French press

[@ashdunford4764]

There's a local roaster near me that makes an instant speciality (Australia) and it's called 'magic bogan dust'

[@maxs5724]

happy to see Leuchtfeuer featured here. One of the best german roasters! And not as overhyped the barn.

[@funny4178]

Just curious does the sustainability test about these instant coffee considered the waste created during the processing of these coffees or just the consumption of said coffee?

[@Cat-Dog-Mouse]

That mustache fits you soo well man 🤠 Awesome!!!

[@healwithfrequency]

Try Beanies Instant Coffees... I am in Canada and order them all the way from the UK they are so good. Maple Fudge and Sticky Toffee Pudding are a must try!!

[@doc8125]

world instant coffee championship when?

[@LanceHedrick]

That's the question! Need that super auto bank

[@AntMelz]

I've found specialty coffee instants is super expensive. A roaster in Vegas had it and also Black and White as you've mentioned to one. As an occasional home roaster I'd love to know how to make my own instant at home! I'd like it to be more accessible for when I travel (which is a lot for work lol)

[@1101naomi]

I never laughed so much watching you taste the nescafes😂 On another note, cometeer told me their frozen coffee can be thawed and used within 24hrs before needing to be refrozen. I recently traveled with a few and yes they are tsa approved. Drank one and refroze the others for my morning coffees. I was quite content.

[@LanceHedrick]

Oh sure. But getting them shipped is a massive carbon footprint. Dried ice, etc. I'm not a fan of that. Not against it in the sense i wont condemn, of course, but would prefer we pool resources to something not requiring massive freezers lol

[@1101naomi]

@@LanceHedrick ah .... for sure! I reused everything but the dry ice but I get what you’re saying.

[@LanceHedrick]

Yeah. And aluminum is difficult to recycle in the majority of the US. Most cities don't have aluminum recycling as an option.

[@_thripple]

Lance, I’m fairly certain aluminum is among the most recycled/most easy to recycle material in the US. I don’t like Cometeer’s approach for other reasons you already mentioned, but I’m not so sure about that aluminum comment. Any idea where you got that from? @lancehedrick

[@LanceHedrick]

@@_thripple as of 2012, only 50% of Americans had access to curbside aluminum recycling. In 2018, 670,000 tons of aluminum (cans) were recycled. In 2018, 2,660,000 tons were landfilled. This only takes into account aluminum cans, which are very often separated from waste even if not recycled. Data for things outside of cans is incredibly minimal. Overall, the handling of recycling of the US for aluminum is quite abysmal, though it is a 100% recyclable material. You can go to the EPA website for these stats.

[@jimmythefish]

Decent instant coffee is a lifesaver on fast/light outdoor trips. I normally use my Snow Peak field grinder and titanium French press and put beans in a ziplock bag but if I really wanna go light the good instant these days is quite good.

[@MrRespectable-gw2xd]

Great Video! I was getting worried about you using Nestle... but you covered (some) of my concerns, I wouldn't use Nestle products ever at all. By the way Leuchtfeuer would be pronounced 'Loiktfoier' with the eu being an oi as in 'oi what are you drinking?' and the ch being that well known German language kkrrrkkk sound from the top back of the throat and tongue high. It's German, it means 'Beacon'

[@q_branch_]

Did you and James coordinate this release? 🧐

[@W34Z3L]

Leuchtfeuer!! Wow my favorite. Greetings from Germany. Never tried their instant coffee though. Still great to see your shoutout

[@JanGoh-jb5ge]

I drink an instant coffee most afternoons. I toss in some pumpkin spice and oat milk and it's fine. We call it a 'garbo coffee' in my house, acknowledging that it's kinda crap. But when you want a hot coffee-ish drink in the afternoon for a pick-me-up, it's such an easier option than brewing something better.

[@drsteee]

Is there coming a video about the EK43?? Looks clean 😍

[@mrg4081]

First time seeing your videos today. Before landing on this video, I just got done watching some tool that calls himself some sort of "coffee expert," reviewing several other instant coffees. Unlike yourself, he was extremely unlikable and annoying. His first remark on one coffee brands notes/flavors were "honeydew and lemony citrus." I've tried coffee from all over the world and have yet had a cup that made me think of honeydew, lol. Reminded me of some sort of wine tasting snob that couldn't tell a $20 bottle of wine from a $300 bottle, if blindfolded. You could tell his ratings were baised off the packaging alone, super annoying. Unlike him, you did a blind test and did supringly very well by guessing which companies were in each cup, which was very impressive, to say the least. I really enjoyed watching your video. Keep up the good work!

[@leroythecoffeegeek4611]

Great that you’re so considerate of people with misophonia. I’m not dismissing it at all, it’s a genuine sensory perception sensitivity syndrome but what about all the poor buggers out there with physiological conditions like hyperacusis or even tinnitus?

[@cloudcitydigital]

It's excellent for backpacking!

[@nat2world]

yo! you mentioned good water at the end, does that still matter since there’s no more extraction going on? or like your Rao video, it’s still about highlighting better flavours? … i think it was brian quan who suggested distilled water for instant, whats your take? :) … thanks for the vid, i’m excited to have been trying more and more speciality instant coffee for early morning or long roadtrips when its hard to find good cafés!

[@Vliegmachinist]

Hi Lance, thanks for the awesome video's! It convinced me to get the Bambino Plus and the Sette 270. About your video. Have you tried UCC instant coffee? Me and a buddy come across it in Asia during layovers, it seems quite popular and available there. It's surprisingly good for an instant coffee!

[@svgs650r]

The problem with the top shelf instants is the price is not commensurate with the experience

[@mamaharumi]

A big fan of specialty instant. I also really like the concept of the Onyx concentrate (it tastes terrible, though).

[@LanceHedrick]

Ah yikes..sorry you don't like it!

[@eduardofcgo]

When they mean "sustainable", they really mean big margins and sustainable for their business

[@LanceHedrick]

Well, if you listened to what I said, it was not an ad for nestle. The margin for specialty instant is almost nonexistent.

[@eduardofcgo]

@@LanceHedrick yes Lance, I meant when Nestle says it’s sustainable!

[@WalterGirao]

It's the other way around. Big corporations thrive on small margins. It weeds out the smaller competitors. What this means is that "small specialty coffee" is getting so big that now they want a bite of that instant coffee market too. In rock and roll terms, they're "selling out"... And I'm fine with that

[@eduardofcgo]

​@@WalterGirao Processed food in general has much bigger margins, with instant coffee big companies can sell a lower quality product for much more. They can even extract more out of the bean. Like they say, its much more "efficient". I would guess that the equipment for making instant coffee has become more accessible to small companies.

[@spuds129]

Wow! Thank you for this insightful video and linking the papers. It is so nice to be able to see the spurces so easily.

[@Turkos245]

saturnbirds fairly decent too, just have to figure out which one you like but let me do some iced latte equivalents before I get my espresso machine this year

[@BensCoffeeRants]

They definitely need the higher quality ones from small roasters to step up production and try to keep the costs lower, because the few good quality instant options I've seen were pretty pricey, although I've had pricier coffees ordering a pour over at a cafe. $4 Canadian for a instant coffee packet seems a bit much.

[@Stan_sprinkle]

Wow and a Daddy Hoff instant video today. What a week!

[@rallegade]

I love love love the way you pronounced leuchtfeur! 😂 It's German but the French pronunciation actually fits it rather well! I can never unhear that again! Also cheers for enlightening us once again! I had no clue what the difference between a classic and gold actually was (also never drink them which doesn't help on that)

[@QuaffeeCoZaRoastery]

So which is beter? Pods or Specialty instant?

[@ShinSuperSaiyajin]

As a fan of UCC and Moccino instant coffee, this is a much-needed video! I still love making my espressos and lattes but never forget that instant coffee is still good!

[@JWomack]

I was stranded at the in-laws for a month with no access to espresso, so I tried this certified organic coffee that is distributed from Germany to big-box grocery stores in the southern U.S. After over-dosing it slightly I really enjoyed it! That lead me to pick up some instant from B&W Roasters that you mentioned, and since then some instant from Hex Roasters. Not espresso, but pretty good!

[@negligiblethreat]

Hi Lance, in German "eu" is usually pronounced kind of like "oi" would be pronounced in English. So the "Leuchtfeuer" roastery is pronounced rather like "loichtfoier". Like always, thanks for the vid - and thanks for pointing me in that roastery's way!

[@johnbhisitkul5290]

Another really good topic. Now I want to know which roasters are doing it the best so I can try some. Is this a potential separate thread where viewers chime in their favorite, or is it too small a universe of people who actually try these for that?

[@skrinix]

had my first experience with instant coffees in the middle east and mediterranean. definitely was a change. the flavor of instant for non-specialty brands does sometimes have an artificial aftertaste which is unpleasant. I think there is a ton of room for development on the specialty side and i’m intrigued! thanks for the video. definitely going to look into some of those specialty brands.

[@davidhunternyc1]

So the Nescafe Classic won this tasting?

[@max1000000ify]

Lance coming up with any excuse to exert his dominance over his audience by starting deep into their soul while slurping imperiously over and over again... What a power move.

[@DKay-sy8xu]

I have always wanted to try Nescafe Classic, but I can only get Nescafe Clasico dark roast. I don't know why they won't sell Nescafe Classic in the states :(

[@tylermoore1407]

How does instant compare to pod style coffees?

[@thru_and_thru]

Grew up in Ireland and all we had was instant coffee…maxwell house and Nescafé. When I was old enough to start going to Dublin for day trips I discovered cafes that had espresso machines and thought I was so “cool” walking around with my coffee cup in hand lol. I believe there was one cafe in Dublin that was actually very serious about coffee and this was Bewley’s in the heart of the city. Now it’s a different story obviously as it is in any city…or even towns. But damn it all started with that jar of instant coffee and I used to think it tasted absolutely amazing!

[@znicho]

What are your thoughts on coffee tea bags? Goes stale too quickly?

[@dwirandypradhika6752]

Something like cometeer could be the answer to specialty instant if they figured out the distribution imo. We have other industries that figured out shipping of frozen goods and they made it economic, they just need to get coffee into the frozen section of supermarkets. I think the problem with flash frozen coffee is the economics, something about that process seems to make it very expensive to produce, thus only allowing big manufacturers with industrial brewers to make it viable even with cheap commodity coffee. But frozen coffee ice cubes might be just as expensive. I'm not well-versed in that area, so enlighten me!

[@merP.-YT]

So this might sound a bit criminal of an idea. But if we're working with dehydrated powders of coffee and we're losing acidity and brightness as a consequence of the process, could it be worth playing around with adding very small amounts of anhydrous acid to compensate?

[@M8D88P]

When See Luminous, always 🔥🔥🔥

[@gasmoneyindustry]

Yes. I was a barista for about 20 years. Over the past 3 years I basically drink instant with powdered vanilla flavoring. Early 2000’s me would definitely be side eyeing me hard now days.

[@user33housecats]

Instant coffee even has a caffeine free herbal version in Dandyblend, or you can brew up caffeine free herbal coffee using Teeccino! For when you want coffee at night

[@heartsncandy8464]

I decided giving instant coffee a try and I’ve been hooked. My recipe is to heat milk, add sugar and coffee, mix with a milk frother wand. After obsessing over whether I was getting the correct extraction with my bambino, I’ve been content with instant.

[@SunriseLAW]

The future of American coffee can be found at Circle K and Lance would be doing a public service to do a video on it. They got rid of the pump-thermos system seen all over. They went with a 'super-automatic coffee maker' of some sort. It grinds your selection of beans, makes a puck inside the machine, and then brews it. I had the person at the counter show me how to use it. The coffee came, then he made sure to say "that light color is not milk"... it is crema. I feel the cost savings of that type of system will soon spread to other venues.

[@LanceHedrick]

Issue is I don't live in the USA. I live in Europe. But sounds like a video is needed for sure!

[@SunriseLAW]

@@LanceHedrick Thank you, please pass it along to a colleague stateside who can go to a Circle K and confirm what I am telling you. Faster all our road-coffee is converted... the better. It is a UNIQUE case of a big company spending lots of $$ to bring extremely great coffee to the American Road... a Revolution in American Road Coffee. If you are in touch with an 'influencer' here... it could possibly lead to a major corporate sponsorship that a 'coffee person' can actually believe in. Yes... it is THAT great. OH, and you can stop the brew early for a stronger cup and it costs all of $2 or so. !!!

[@FrF]

Lance, as a language lover I want to give you a thumbs up for using the term "apologia" (7:30) :-)

[@jacobbellman9832]

How does the waste argument change if you compost your used filters and coffee grounds? I feel like that is often overlooked.

[@Mvrderface]

real fun to see Delta coffee somewhere!

[@Christian_Swift_Coffee]

Wow! Truly a great video! An eloquently executed journey through instant coffees history. Well done. I’d love to further this conversation

[@Frodo-]

Another amazing use for instant coffee is to etch damascus knife blades :D. Cool video, I had no idea about the specialty instant coffee options. I have tried Cometeer coffee and was very impressed with the quality in those.

[@skimkidwc]

This made me breakout one of my luminous instants! Def excited to revisit it before work tomorrow

[@OrcadianOtter]

Lance sings again!! 💙🎶

[@mejasiu]

Lance, did you know that James was going to do a video on instant? Interesting timing 🤔

[@LanceHedrick]

He texted me this morning. Bummer. Always tanks my views lol

[@mejasiu]

@@LanceHedrick I feel you! Still want to let you know I appreciate you and what you do! Thank you!

[@markjones127]

I'm into ultralight backpacking and sometimes instant is just easier, I've tried a few and use Nescafe Azera Americano, but one important factor for me was at altitude, and especially after hours of hiking I find my taste buds become really flat, as if they just don't work the same anymore, and the main factor for me is water just cools down insanely fast at altitude so I was sick of making pour over and Aeropress coffee which was always cold no matter what I did, in a tent at a few 1000 feet when it's around freezing, instant coffee just works better for me, you really want you coffee to be hot when it's freezing, lukewarm coffee is miserable when there's ice forming inside your tent!

[@gr0nd_]

Hi Lance, I was wondering if you could explain a bit more about the "sustainability" aspect of instant coffee. Are you referring to the fact that you get more bang for your buck per bean? It seemed to me that there are lot of processes the coffee goes through to become an instant coffee and I guess in terms of energy that would be less efficient than brewing whole bean coffee at home? Thanks :)

[@LanceHedrick]

I linked all papers in caption

[@Lostboy811]

Instant coffee is getting better especially now that somebody thought why don't we use good coffee beans for Instant coffee.

[@petertuckergoettler5720]

Still Good Stuff, merci. Coffee Kick.

[@NativeNewYorker66]

Great video! Last fall I went to Tokyo for vacation. The hotel had a breakfast buffet, but surprisingly did not have an automatic espresso/latte/cappuccino machine you see at many hotels. Instead they had a big pot of drip coffee that was undrinkable. Knowing I had six more mornings at this hotel restaurant , I went to a Don Quijote to purchase instant coffee. When I got there I was torn between the glass jar of Nescafé and the single brewing packs that sit on top of a cup and steep until done. I have never seen this before. It looked a bit tricky so I ended up buying the Nescafé Clásico . In the end, instant was good for enough for breakfast and way better than the awful coffee the hotel served. 😊

[@t00thr0t]

Those little packs for your cup are great, wonder why they’re not more popular all over the world

[@NativeNewYorker66]

@@t00thr0t That’s good to know. I think Americans and other cultures might find it too complicated/fussy to bother. That’s why I ended up choosing instant coffee in a jar. : )

[@Rasengandattebayo82]

​@NativeNewYorker66 that's interesting to see them not being as popular overseas.I think the little bags are basically drip bags where you kind of get the best of both worlds for filter coffee + convenience since you just open the bag and pour hot water in the filter bag with ground beans and you get a nice cup of specialty coffee after it all seeps through. You get to dump the bag after like a v60 and other pourovers so its kind of like portable pre-ground filtered coffee but you just have to pour water in then its done in a few minutes.

[@geniouscommenter]

I ordered some instant coffee from Perc in Georgia a couple weeks ago. Not bad, worth a try

[@NailsbyAmbie]

I drink Juan Valdez instant coffee. I can’t believe how good it is compared to the pods.

[@riteshramtohul6746]

I love my espresso but when i want decaf at night, i use instant. I only managed to find one shop that sells decaf coffee beans in my country. Everything else is either pre ground or instant. The beans actually taste awesome but goes stale quicker than normal beans. Also, they are usually not a fresh batch. I think they are more brittle because of the decaf process, making them hard to dial in. Pre ground decaf is even worst. The decaf instant i got tastes great, not burned but has nice sweetness and acidity.

[@thomask1424]

You had me at "a priori".

[@leroythecoffeegeek4611]

I’ve had some great specialty instant coffees over the last few years, mostly from Australia and New Zealand but I was lucky enough to try a couple of the Savage geishas as well which were really nice. I’m not ready for it to fully replace my filter brews but I’ve always got something in the cupboard for when a quick and easy brew is needed. Great video but you might want to make it clearer that the ‘sustainability’ you’re talking about is actually from a resource point of view from crop to cup (and arguably financially, although that depends on market factors). There’s no way you can say that it’s socially sustainable as the instant market is dominated by the biggest coffee companies in the world whose practices and behaviour at origin are still highly questionable.

[@dankorother3112]

really happy to see Leuchtfeuer featured here! their roasts are among the best in the lackluster world of German roasters, here's to hoping it'll improve in the future. although if it doesn't, I sure as hell will try myself.

[@LanceHedrick]

It's not terrible! And it isn't their fault. We need more to pool resources and focus on improving systematically instant coffee

[@dankorother3112]

@@LanceHedrick absolutely! I think it could also be a great first contact for people to get into specialty. the effort is probably the biggest hurdle, behind the conception of coffee as something that's not allowed to taste good of course haha

[@LanceHedrick]

@dankorother3112 agreed. First step and convenience in a pinch. My worry is people will gloss over the video thinking I'm praising instant in it's current form when I'm reality I am pushing for a bigger focus on it. Nestle doesn't need all that market.

[@WalterGirao]

The real use case for this is making new drinks/deserts/food that are not trying to emulate traditional brewed coffee.

[@Zane0202]

never mentioned Blue bottle’s instant coffee. i thought they were the only one in the space with specialty instant

[@simon.revill]

With steamed milk to create a flat white, instant isn’t bad. Otherwise, instant is best with brown sugar and warm milk.

[@kevinbutler9786]

I was recently camping without a setup and decided to try instant in a pinch. I actually found starbucks instant in the grocery store and if memory serves me right it was even a light roast maybe. Anyways, it wasn't terrible but do you know who makes their instant?

[@LanceHedrick]

I put a few in the caption! Hopefully more will start.

[@kungfutigerrob]

Hi! I've noticed different formats to the editing and cut shots on various videos, changing it up. This video was fast paced with great editing and funky upbeat music. If this is helped by Hugo's effort and skill, please congratulate him on an excellent job. It seems to me that Lance and Hugo have made a great partnership and the results are very entertaining.

[@George-fo4cv]

Not a fan of instant coffee as a drink, but I think that's one of the best ways to incorporate coffee flavour in food. Best homemade coffee cake I've made or had was with instant coffee.

[@trevorjameson3213]

Yes, same here sort of. When I have a bowl of cereal and have extra milk left in the bowl, I'll take a little folgers crystals or nescafe' and sprinkle it in the milk and stir it around until it dissolves. Then drink the coffee milk in the bowl. It tastes really good that way.

[@macehead]

That Luminous box makes me think I will feel Claritin clear after drinking👍🏻

[@LightZone9]

Perc roastery in Savannah Georgia makes/offers an instant coffee that is a good alternative when traveling. It's definitely better than 99%of the "in room" coffee alternatives.

[@Caffeinated_Runner]

All I want to know is where’d you get that button up…it’s so sick I want it.

[@RodneyClang]

I can’t imagine the amount of energy and time it takes to surface these ideas and create this quality of content. Always interesting Lance. Love you !

[@Shottty101]

I know Cometeer isn't necessarily the best carbon footprint-wise, but at its best (my fav so far muhondo from Sq Mile) I've had ones that I would say were on-par with a decent pour-over which is nuts.

[@tonyperotti9212]

Thanks for this. My local specialty roaster (Ceremony Coffee Roasters in Annapolis, MD) offers instant. I may try it based upon this video. I do enjoy their coffee very much. I need an option for coffee at the office when my morning V60 is done. I'm drinking Cometeer but powdered instant might be a better option.

[@jasonlinn]

It's good! I've taken it on many backpacking trips