Maxwell House’s instant coffee smells like chemicals. Despite comprising fine to medium granules, it leaves some "coffee sludge" at the mug’s bottom post-stirring.
It's a medium to dark roast but tastes burnt even with the addition of cream. Plus, its stale aftertaste screams that it’s been sitting in the package for a long time pre-purchase.
Folgers’ instant coffee is medium-bodied that smells and tastes a bit burnt. Adding cream takes away the burnt flavor and makes it taste better, but only slightly.
The taste is more like fresh-brewed than instant — but still not good enough. The fine- to medium-sized grounds dissolve well but leave a little sludge even after a good stir.
The Juan Valdez instant coffee is medium- to dark-bodied and freeze-dried. It features the largest granules and the lightest color among all the brands on this list.
It smells like a good, light coffee but tastes a bit harsh and almost dirty. It dissolves well without leaving any sludge and tastes better with cream but has a stale aftertaste.
Starbucks’ instant coffee is super fine like a powder. Although Starbucks says it dissolves in cold water, it needs quite a bit of help — even in hot water.
We tried the dark roast, but it tasted like a medium roast. It's a bit bitter yet surprisingly smooth, and though the flavor is decent, it's not a brand we would reach for again.
For this ranking, we tried Nescafé’s Taster's Choice instant coffee, a freeze-dried, light to medium roast with a light coffee smell. Sadly, it tastes stale.
Adding cream takes away that stale flavor, but the coffee still tastes a bit burnt. The granules range from fine to medium, but some grounds remain undissolved even after stirring.