Jar and spoonful of instant coffee
FOOD NEWS
Ranking Instant Coffee Brands From Worst To Best
BY Nicole Adams
9. Maxwell House
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.
8. Folgers
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.
7. Juan Valdez
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.
6. Starbucks
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.
5. Nescafé
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.