Personally, we like instant coffee for the convenience it offers when on the road or out in the hills, especially as it eliminates the need for any other coffee-making apparatus.
However, many people just find the simplicity of an instant brew enough to make it their go-to cuppa.
Read on as we review the top instant coffees in Australia.
Jasper Fairtrade Organic Freeze Dried Coffee
If you like the sound of a fairtrade, organic, sustainably grown instant coffee, then this one’s for you. You’ll also be supporting an Australian family owned business.
Grown on the highest mountain slopes in Colombia, Jasper’s instant coffee utilises high-end Arabica beans to produce one of the best instant coffees on the market. With notes of sweet caramel and milk chocolate, you may even forget that this came out of a packet.
Moccona Classic Medium Roast
The most popular product from one of Australia’s favourite instant coffee brands, the Moccona Classic Medium Roast perfectly balances full bodied flavour with easy drinking smoothness.
A blend of Arabica and Robusta beans are the key here, resulting in it’s trademark deep flavour and rich aroma.
Robert Timms Italian Coffee Bag
The closest you will get to a plunger coffee without all the gear and hassle, these coffee bags from Robert Timms are used just like a tea bag.
The Italian Coffee Bags contains extra dark roasted beans and produce an easy drinking yet intense brew with smooth flavour and rich aroma.
NESCAFÉ Blend 43
Roasted and blended in Gympie, Australia, the Nescafe Blend 43 provides drinkers with a well-rounded coffee rich in aroma.
This full bodied blend is made from 100% Arabica and Robusta coffee beans.
NESCAFÉ Gold Original
Nescafe has dominated the instant coffee market since its inception, and the Gold Original represents their “classic” middle-of-the-range offering.
With a combination of Arabica and Robusta beans, this medium roast coffee has a rich, full flavour profile.
Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee
While most people in Australia won’t have heard of mushroom coffee, it has taken off in the USA in a big way.
Proponents claim the brew is packed with antioxidants and has the benefits of decreasing stress, boosting liver health, and providing focus without jitters.
Combining organic instant coffee with chaga and lion’s mane mushrooms, this blend is designed to support productivity, focus, and creativity.
Starbucks Via Instant Medium Roast
From coffee behemoths Starbucks comes this pack of handy coffee sachets containing a combination of Arabica instant and micro ground coffee.
While not cheap, this coffee receives rave reviews, with many drinkers appreciating the robust yet balanced flavour on offer when compared to other instant varieties.
How is Instant Coffee Made?
The process for making instant coffee is as follows:
- Beans (seeds) removed from coffee cherries
- Beans are roasted to bring out flavour and aroma
- Beans are finely ground
- Soluble and volatile contents of the beans are extracted using water
- Ground beans are dried using freeze-drying or spray-drying
Check out this video to see the process in action:
How To Make The Perfect Instant Coffee
Aside from choosing high-quality instant coffee, there are a few other tricks that can help you make a perfect brew.
- Store your coffee in an airtight container
- Use fresh water – not that which has been sitting in your kettle all day
- If you have hard tap water, run it through a filter
- Try dissolving your instant coffee in cold water before adding boiled water
- Try using water just before it has reached boiling point
At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference so trial and error is the best bet!
You may also like: The Best Coffee Grinder in Australia
How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?
Decaffeination in coffee occurs early on in the process, prior to the steps outlined above.
According to Coffee Confidential, there are currently four main methods for creating decaf coffee:
- Indirect-Solvent Process
- Direct-solvent Process
- Swiss Water Process
- Carbon Dioxide Process
The most common methods are the solvent methods, which involve the following steps:
- Unroasted beans are steamed
- They are then rinsed with a solvent to extract caffeine
- The process is repeated until desired % level of caffeine is removed
