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Granted, I have my own espresso machine (as well as a drip coffee machine), but I still can't understand why people drink instant coffee. Actually, that's not true. I can understand why they drink it: it's fast (instant!) and incredibly easy. In a pinch, I suppose that it is better than nothing when you really need a cup to get you going. The real question is why do some people prefer it to a decent, freshly brewed coffee when taste tests have shown that instant doesn't even come close to non-instant coffees. In fact, one done by the St. Petersburg Times this week tested 11 brands of instant coffee and, out of 100 possible points, the best score was 31. Only one panelist said that she would consider buying the winning brand (Nescafe Taster's Choice) and the others all said that they would not buy it at all.
Instant coffee is made from coffee that has been made and dried . It was invented by a chemist around the turn of the last century, but was not sold commercially until 1938. Generally, the lowest quality beans are the ones used to make instant coffee and the higher quality ones are kept for other brewing methods.
If you drink coffee so rarely that instant is all you want to keep on hand, I can't argue with that, though you might as well pick up a cup at Starbucks instead. But if you drink coffee on a regular basis, isn't it worth the few extra seconds to put a filter and a spoonful of grounds into a machine and hit the "start" button?
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5-25-2006 @1:03PM jmchez said... I'm just surprised that you even have to ask the question. Even the newer machines that dispense coffee are better than instant coffee (the old machines were truly atrocious). With the advent of tea bag style coffee pods and single-serve makers even the excuse of going camping or being in a room without a coffee maker is no longer applicable.
Die, Instant Coffee, die!
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5-25-2006 @1:11PM Denise said... My mother drinks instant coffee. She has maybe a cup a day so making a pot would be a waste. She claims to like it. I had a cup the other day and not even dumping creamer and sugar in helped it.
I think I know what to get her at the next present-giving holiday.
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5-25-2006 @1:43PM liz said... to be perfectly honest, i grew up drinking the stuff and have a weird fondness for it. i like it at about 150% strength and adding milk and a little sweetner. it seems to have more body than brewed coffee, especially comparably-priced brewed coffee. it's not as good as a premium grind, but i prefer it over maxwell house drip coffee.
perhaps it's not unlike the australian affection for vegemite.
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5-25-2006 @1:57PM Peter Kovacs said... I will admit that I have a can of Taster's Choice at home. At some point fairly recently it became not worth the effort to make an entire pot in my french press, when chances were pretty good with a new child in the house that I wasn't going to finish the cup anyway. To make things worse, I take my coffee black.
It does the job though. As long as you're not expecting it to be any good its bearable.
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5-25-2006 @2:57PM Jack Andottie said... At 77 now, I grew up not caring for instant at all, but since Taster's Choice has come out with so many really good coffees, instant is now my preferencw.
Jackandottie@aol.com
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5-25-2006 @3:09PM Kathy said... I should probably own stock in Starbucks, I love their coffee so much. But I do like instant coffee as well, when prepared with milk instead of water. A quick Latte in the afternoon or evening when I'm too lazy to drive down to get one. But I've never been normal...............
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5-25-2006 @3:15PM Windy said... Yes, I like instant coffee. I think brew coffee has a burned taste to it. If they quit making it, I would not be a coffee drinker.
Windyrosa
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5-25-2006 @3:41PM Jonman said... Pfft. I agree that most instant coffee tastes of monkey-ass, but there is the occasional brand that's actually palatable. Here in the UK, Kenco do one called 'Columbian', that's suprisingly nice. It's actually nicer than the filter coffee that we have at work. Every person who claims to hate instant coffee that I've given it to has been gobsmacked that it's actually not only drinkable, but rather nice.
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5-25-2006 @4:01PM cthomps said... I recently bought instant coffee for a trip. I think the thing with instant is that it's quick and if you are trying to wean yourself off of the real stuff, it's a nice way to do. I love coffee...any coffee..like wine it just ages with me.
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5-25-2006 @4:53PM T WHITNEY said... Instant is not so bad when you only have a cup in the morning with a little french vanilla cream, then it is off to work. I leave the good stuff for the weekends watching the sun come up and horses play.
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5-25-2006 @7:15PM Bob said... How about those coffee bags you use like tea bags? I use Folgers brand myself. It's pretty tasty. It's kind of a taste in between instant and brewed coffee.
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5-25-2006 @9:42PM lori said... I have instant coffee in the house because I don't drink coffee often enough to keep my coffeemaker out on the counter. Besides, I once bought a 100-gram bag of beans to brew for myself, and it took me 3 years to finish the bag! I also like my coffee a lot milkier than most coffee shops will make it.
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5-25-2006 @9:48PM clarity said... some countries it seems very popular- cost? Jamaica was one I recall.
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5-25-2006 @11:11PM Dan said... It is simple Instant coffee isn't coffee its a completely different drink.They don't compare.
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5-26-2006 @3:47AM Gabriella True said... Don't hate because I like it. But I like real coffee too.
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5-27-2006 @12:41AM Bob Kreinheder said... Over a lifetime, over 50 years, there have only been a few memorable cups of coffee consumed and the rest was just coffee. So drinking a cup of coffee is better than taking a caffeine pill and instant does that just fine.
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5-27-2006 @12:52AM Bob Kreinheder said... Over a lifetime, over 50 years, there have only been a few memorable cups of coffee consumed and the rest was just coffee. So drinking a cup of coffee is better than taking a caffeine pill and instant does
that just fine.
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5-28-2006 @4:35PM Al Martinez said... I had some Nescafe in Poland that was outstanding. When I called about it in the States they said Americans don't like a strong coffee. Riighht!
The Polish version was almost black in color and although same container is over here its not even close. But then again I don't like Starbucks (tastes burnt). Green Mountain Coffee is very good, also like Seattles Best(until I heard that Starbuck bought them out). and last but not least Cafe Americana in Italy was appalling!!! They don't like strong coffee there either.
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6-07-2006 @2:37PM Rita Boler said... Instant coffee was a 50's and 60's thing everything went fast and instant coffee was for the "fast paced"
modern life style. The stuff is simply awful, it's hard to believe that people still drink it. I bet if you poll the age range of instant coffee drinkers they are over 55 years of age.
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6-07-2006 @11:07PM Christy said... It can be used to make a really nice ice coffee--made right, it's a thick, sweet icey drink--perfect buzz on a hot Summer day.
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