Instant coffee or brewed coffee?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by Dora M • Apr 7, 2014.

  1. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    I really like strong and aromatic coffee from Papua New Guinea, that has been grown organically. Usually I brew my coffee, but this particular coffee from PNG comes in the form of instant coffee granules, and it tastes really nice. I wouldn't trust many of the major instant coffee brands as I read that a lot of companies have no scruples to use pig blood as fillers and taste enhancers.
    How about you? What's your favourite type and brand of coffee
     
  2. mythman

    mythmanActive Member

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    Maybe I've burned-out my taste-buds (as I suspect we all will with old age), but I'm not very discerning about different coffees. I mean, sure I notice if the coffee I'm drinking is sweeter or fuller (more beany?); but I just drink it out of habit (like 'taking your vitamins') now.

    Even if I HAD a coffee-maker, I think I'd use 'instant'---it's less work ('put a spoonful of coffee in the cup & fill it with hot water' vs. 'put a filter in the basket & put some coffee in the filter & fill the coffee-machine with water & wait for the coffee to finish brewing ... and after you're done with coffee for the day then empty the filter basket and do it again tomorrow') :cool:
     
  3. ladybug

    ladybugMember

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    I like fresh brewed coffee. I rarely drink instant coffee, but I've tried certain samples of Starbucks instant coffee and they were actually pretty good. Overall I do think that the more expensive brands make a better brewed coffee. I like Caribou's medium roast that you can purchase at the grocery store and I also like a lot of the flavored coffees. It's nice when grocer's have plenty of sample packs too, which are usually around .99 per package and then that way you can try it them without spending too much in order to see if you like the flavor or not.
     
  4. Lostvalleyguy

    LostvalleyguyActive Member

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    Instant coffee - even the better stuff - still tastes like instant coffee to me. I am not too discriminating when it comes to my coffee but I prefer fresh brewed coffee. Instant is the stuff I will take when I am camping and don't want to take my coffee pot. Even as a coffee drinker, I would have a cup of tea rather than going with instant if tea were available.
     
  5. Steve

    SteveMember

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    My favorite coffee is the traditionally brewed coffee that we make here in Greece. We call it "Greek coffee" but rest of the world call it "Turkish coffee" (Its a culture thingy for us). This coffee is a bit heavy at first and you need to be careful at the end and do not shake it, but it has an excellent taste and it instantly wakes you up!
     
  6. Dora M

    Dora MWell-Known Member

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    Steve, in Serbia, where part of my family comes from, they also make a hefty black Greek/Turkish brew, an explosive caffeine and sugar syrup that keeps me awake all night and talking non-stop. :) I love the stuff, especially when my aunt makes it for me. I just have to refuse the little glass of plum raki (for those who haven't heard of it: it's a type of brandy common in Turkey and the Balkan countries) that comes as a traditional accompaniment with the coffee. I think combining alcohol with that strong type of coffee would be lethal for me... ;)
     
  7. That'sDevo

    That'sDevoActive Member

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    I enjoy gourmet coffee when I get the rare occasion to have it, which has been pretty much never for the entirety of this year. For me, as long its black and not decaf its good enough, I've drank some disgusting stuff to get my early morning coffee. Once the machine stopped working so for a few days I would microwave and strain my own coffee and it always ended up tasting like garbage water. (yet I drank it)
     
  8. megshoe

    megshoeMember

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    I much, much prefer homebrewed coffee because I really have a thing for coffee. However, when I was living abroad, or when I was a student with no coffee pot in my dorm, I drank a lot of the instant stuff. If you buy the really cheap stuff it can save you a lot of money, but I've never found it to be worth the taste trade off. This is obviously all in my head, but sometimes when I made a cup of cheap instant coffee I felt like I was scooping cancer into my mug. Not grounded in reality, but maybe indicative of my general distrusting attitude towards instant coffee...
     
  9. rossonomous

    rossonomousActive Member

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    I don't really have the time for brewed coffee so I just stick to instant coffee. Especially when I'm at work because it's quick, easy and hassle free. I do love a good, rich-tasting coffee, but I will save this for when I go for a coffee with friends or something similar.
     
  10. mythman

    mythmanActive Member

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    In Heaven, fresh-ground slow-brewed coffee will be as quick & effortless (maybe even more-so, if you want it over-with faster) as instant!
     
  11. AB91000

    AB91000Active Member

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    I never brew my own coffee.

    To be honest. I always buy my coffee from already made from retail stores. Such as Starbucks, and Mcdonalds. Sometimes i buy it from my local convenience store. That is rare though i find convenience store coffee to be cheaply made.

    i buy from Starbucks, and Mcdonalds all the time. It is a very expensive habit, but you like what you like.
     
  12. eagle22

    eagle22Active Member

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    I prefer to brew my coffee but every once in a while when I am low on time I will go with instant coffee. I know this is going to sound kind of funny but I don't really taste much of a difference, I just love the smell of waking up every morning to freshly brewed coffee! :)
     
  13. deathbyprayer

    deathbyprayerActive Member

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    Well, for me, I almost always drink instant coffee since I'm always on the rush and brewing my own coffee isn't really a part of my equation, although I do have a coffee brewer lying around in the kitchen. But I do brew coffee when I'm on a day off or if I feel like it or if I ran out of instant coffee to prepare. But I have to say brewing your own coffee somehow is rather tasty compared to instant coffee, I don't know maybe I just got used to the taste of instant coffee.
     
  14. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    I can't drink instant coffee or tea, they taste way too awful - and especially with tea, I believe the tea bags are even cheaper than the instant stuff. We had instant coffee in the coffee machines at work for a while and everyone complained about it. It literally tastes like mud water, and you don't get any of the aroma or fresh oils from the ground coffee. With the instant iced tea, they put additives in it, like dextrose, that give it a chalky flavor. Plus the instant stuff similarly is missing all the tannin you get in freshly brewed tea.

    I don't need any super expensive brands of fresh ground coffee or coffee beans, even those Eight O Clock coffee beans grind up well and make a great tasting pot of coffee. If you invest in a burr mill grinder you will definitely notice an improvement in the coffee as well, rather than wasting money on more expensive beans such as Starbucks or Seattle's Best.
     
  15. mythman

    mythmanActive Member

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    You know McD's is giving free small coffees with breakfast until the thirteenth (April 2014), right?

    And I wonder if there are any newsletter-etc. telling of OTHER good coffee-deals.

    But I think the BEST way to get discounts on coffee is to be a regular customer at the coffee-place!
     
  16. stacyje

    stacyjeActive Member

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    I love fresh brewed coffee, there nothing like a pot of fresh coffee, I have tried several times to do instant coffee and it never come out to my taste at all. Fresh Brewed coffee has a great taste and seems to be alot smoother to the taste.
     
  17. Steve

    SteveMember

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    Dora, i live in Creta and here they make one of the stronged raki's around! We do not combine alcohol with coffee but we try drinking shots of raki and immediately afterwards we drink a big gulp of beer! Talking about an nuclear explosion in your head! :)
     
  18. sazzydan

    sazzydanMember

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    I like both. If I have a little extra time then I would make a frshly brewed coffee, but it seems like hard work to do especially when you have just woken up!

    There are a lot of instant coffees that taste just as good these days, so sometimes it is better to pay a little more to get the quality instant stuff.
     
  19. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    I don't mind brewed coffee as long as it's strong, but instant is much better as it's fresher. Brewed coffee that isn't fresh doesn't taste good and I know people that reheat it, but that seems so wrong. Just make what you can drink and then make more.

    Brewing is messy and takes too long, so I don't brew unless I have a friend around because it's not worth it.
     
  20. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    I drank instant for many years.. I was just too lazy first thing to go through the trouble of doing anything more. Not that anyone else is lol, that's just why I personally drank instant. It was ok, but I was never fully happy with it. Once I found my energy in the mornings, I switched and the difference was big for me. I love it and will never go back to instant.