While Sting does not drink coffee (he loves tea, my beloved), millions of Brits consume coffee and aren’t happy with toast made with one side.
Tea is still a well-loved drink in the UK. However, you might be shocked to learn that, according to recent sales statistics, coffee is a LOT more popular drink than tea in the UK. On average, Brits consume 2.5 more dollars on instant coffee or ground than tea.
It doesn’t cover cafe drinks, nor do they include consumer purchases at supermarkets and other retailers, both online and offline. The source: Statista, hot drinks sales.
There’s one fact that might shock coffee drinkers, particularly those who are coffee connoisseurs as well as home Baristas… Only around one-quarter of coffee you buy from the UK is “proper coffee”, whole beans or coffee beans that have been pre-ground. The remaining three quarters are instant coffee.
Freshly roasting coffee beans are becoming more popular in the UK with more than 400 small-batch speciality roasters – and increasing in the coffee blog list of UK roasters. However, as per the Statista statistics, it’s growing at the rate of 2.3 per cent annually, and instant coffee is growing at 5.9 per cent, which means we’re the nation of instant coffee drinkers, and it’s getting more so.
If Sting was writing the lyrics for an Englishman living in New York, it might include “Don’t drink fresh coffee, I drink instant my dear” isn’t the same impact!
In this light, I’ve put together the seven things I think coffee-loving Brits must be aware of about instant coffee.
1: You’re Consuming Solid Coffee Grounds
One of the most popular instant coffees is known as “Barista Style” instant coffee, named because of the look of the coffee that appears to contain an appearance of a crema.
Crema is the beautiful foam of coffee on top of a well extracted espresso. Many Italians considered it disgusting at the beginning of espresso.
The espresso’s father, Achille Gaggia, turned an unpromising con through his ingenuity of conceiving the term “cafe crema” and employing it, or “schiuma” (Scum) as Italians were originally calling it, to be the primary reason for selling the coffee he invented making – and it was successful!.
While some initially were awed by the crema’s look, it has become one of the main components of a good espresso, not just because of its appearance but also its flavour and texture.
However, this is a product created as a natural byproduct of the extraction of coffee under pressure through coffee machines. How can they make it happen with instant coffee? They create that appearance by mixing extremely small coffee grounds and instant coffee. Many people will be shocked to discover that they are eating solid coffee grounds when they drink their Barista type instant coffee – like when they were eating some coffee beans.
I’m not averse to this; I often consume coffee beans (darker roast, I’d scratch my teeth if I tried this with lighter roast beans). I like chocolate-coated coffee beans especially.
2: Big Instant Brands Don’t Know How Much Caffeine is in Their Instant
When researching for a prior blog post for the coffee blog, I was trying to figure out the bottom of what amount of caffeine is present in the cup of instant. The information on the back of the jar of instant typically lists the amount of fat in coffee. It also lists saturates salts, sugars and, more specifically, the practically non-existent things and no information about the amount of caffeine in the jar.
One of the largest brands responded with a figure that could be considered a fatal dose of caffeine. It became clear that the person who spoke for this brand did not understand the distinction between milligrams and grams; alarm bells started to sound.
I continued to communicate with three major instant brands. In closing, I decided to find out whether I could figure it out by asking each of them to determine what percentage of Robusta they use in their different brands of instant and Arabica, and they didn’t inform me.
When the others said it was due to a policy, one said very candidly that it was because they do not know!
Based on what I could determine, they don’t have it because this isn’t necessarily the exact proportion; it’s based on the available information. I may be wrong; however, how could they know the percentage of Robusta used compared to the amount of Arabica?
Because Robusta contains more caffeine than other Arabica varieties, they would require the precise Robusta concerning the Arabica ratio as well as which varietal(s) from Arabica are included in each batch because they are also different in terms of caffeine amount – and if they don’t know the per cent of each is included to make their mixtures, it could be the reason they’re in such a hazy state regarding caffeine content.
Another possibility is that everyone has the exact information but doesn’t want some nagging blogger to tell everyone what proportion of Robusta is in their blends.
However, to be sincere, based on the information I’ve managed to determine, there’s less caffeine in instant coffee than in the freshly-brewed cup of coffee. There’s a lesser caffeine content in 100 per cent Arabica than in standard instant made up of Arabica or Robusta coffee beans or 100 per cent Robusta.
3: Decaf Contains Caffeine
You likely know many people do; however, most people do not. I’ve had conversations in the recent past where people thought “Decaffeinated” means caffeine; free it’s not an unreasonable assumption; however, it refers to “reduced caffeine”.
Decaf has lesser caffeine. However, it’s not entirely caffeine-free. There’s around 1-5mg caffeine in a cup of Decaf instant, depending on the quantity and strength, versus roughly 40-100mg when you drink full-on caffeine instantly.
You can find great whole beans or ground decaffeinated coffee in the present, made using this Swiss water decaf technique that produces a lovely freshly-brewed decaf that people won’t be able to discern is decaf!
- There’s an alternative, but it’s not the Cafetiere.
If you ask ten people about alternatives to instant espresso and I’d guess that eight of them would respond “cafetiere”. You might imagine “Pod” or “Disk” to be the answer. However, in reality, the majority of people believe that instant coffee is in a pod. However, this isn’t the case and more about this shortly.
The cafeteria or “plunger” coffee is quite popular and is a product that has many people. It is an extended procedure and is typically restricted to special events. Brewing a cafeteria typically requires between 4 and 8 minutes, depending on your recipe. If you’re doing it faster than this method, you will not likely get the most out of your coffee.
There are two significantly quicker manual coffee brewing methods that many people, myself including myself, utilize for their daily brewing process to make stonking coffee quickly. These are drip-over pour-over coffee makers, such as V60, Kalita Wave and Chemex, as well as the new Hybrid filters and immersion methods, such as the now-famous Aeropress (invented by the same man that invented the Aerobie flying rings) as well as the Oomph (of Dragon’s Den fame).
5: Your Instant Coffee Habits May be Preventing Weight Loss
If you’re trying to reduce your weight, you’re likely also to consider what you’re eating and drinking.
Consuming four cups of coffee a day, which is the much I usually drink, I believe it is unlikely to cause anyone to gain weight; however, is it only the coffee you’re drinking?
You can add one tablespoon of sugar to every coffee drink, and you’re talking about 15 grams of sugar added each day and 30-40 grams when you’ve got two sugars.
If you include milk as well, your macros go higher based on the amount of milk you put into it. Two or three sugars in an ounce of instant coffee might not appear over the top, but if you’re trying to cut back on carbohydrates, could these small cups of coffee hold back your progress?
How come so many Brits add milk and sugar in their coffees if they don’t know why? The answer is simple – most people don’t enjoy the taste of instant coffee. We tend to dislike it for its bitterness; therefore, we must add sugar or milk to make it more palatable.
Many people discover after drinking freshly brewed coffee, especially if they can taste it black that it’s not as sharp in flavour. In reality, it could have a variety of various subtle flavours that aren’t something we’re used to experiencing when we drink instant coffee.
As you explore various coffees, varieties, and blends with various origins, you might discover many different tasting coffees to choose from that you might find to be better than others. So if you prefer a sweeter cup of coffee, you can enjoy more sweet-tasting coffee without sugar.
In the past, when I used to drink instant coffee, I couldn’t imagine drinking it with milk and sugar. But today, I wouldn’t even think about ruining roasted freshly brewed the coffee by adding any other ingredient else to it since it could interfere with the amazing subtle flavours I get from the different varieties of coffee I’m always testing.
This is also good news in that my coffee drinking is no longer accompanied by an extra ingredient that may have hindered my weight loss in the last couple of many years (I lost a couple of stones because of a diet that was low in carbs and have managed to keep the weight off).
6: Instant Coffee Drinkers Need to Broaden Their Coffee Horizons.
Do you realize there existed numerous varieties of coffee? Many coffee drinkers have heard of Arabica. Some are aware of Robusta also, but many people believe they’re the two kinds of coffee.
In reality, Arabica and Robusta are two distinct species. Robusta is the seeds of Coffea canephora cherries. Arabica is the seeds that come from Coffea arabica cherry. It’s not beans, and in fact, they’re seeds. We call them beans, odd.
However, when it is Arabica, there are many different kinds of “varietals”, including many natural species and some manufactured hybrids.
Once you’ve started to try various varieties, you realize the variety of flavours you can enjoy from coffee. Alongside the various varieties, since coffee has different origins, its taste can vary based on the place it’s produced.
There are also the various processing techniques – the various ways of getting coffee beans (the seeds) separated from the flesh of the coffee cherry and dried. This creates a noticeable different taste.
Blends are also available that are not only Arabica and Robusta; however, there are many blended varieties and coffees with different origins blending to provide endless possibilities of various flavours.
There are various roasting techniques, as well as different roasting profiles.
There are so many choices in fresh coffee, it’s unbelievable. In my opinion, those who use instant coffee are missing out on a lot. Concerned.
7: Coffee Pods & Disks Are Not Instant – They’re Not Espresso Either
Because coffee pods and disk machines like Nespresso, Tassimo, and Nescafe Lavazza Modo Mio are so fast, many assume they contain instant coffee. Except for two or three specific Dolce Gusto pods, which include soluble coffee, the coffee pods and disks are made of real coffee beans that have been ground.
It was created by a Swiss inventor named Eric Favre. The young and resourceful college student came up with the idea for the Nespresso machine and landed himself at Nestle headquarters after landing an opportunity in the packaging industry.
He climbed the ladder until he reached the point where the inventor could present his idea, which was thrown down like a lead balloon. Nestle bigwigs thought that the invention could hurt the sale of instant, and they didn’t want to touch the idea with a 10-foot barge pole.
A few years later, Favre was offered an assignment to visit the Japanese Nestle factory, which he used to meet with his CEO Nestle Japan. After a few years, Favre became the CEO of a brand new company of Nestle named Nespresso!
What you may not know is that the same person who created Nespresso is the one responsible for what we refer to from the UK as the Lavazza A Modi Mio machines. It is a licensed version of pod machines, dubbed Monodor, which Eric Favre also invented.
Even though pod manufacturers like Nespresso declare their pods to be espresso, it’s not. When Favre created his coffee machine, Favre invented something different from espresso. It’s similar to it; however, it’s not identical.
Nespresso machines, for instance, make use of a greater pressure than traditional espresso. The water temperature is a little cooler than the one used in conventional espresso. It also has a lower water proportion in coffee than in espresso. It’s a completely different way of making a quick and powerful shot of coffee. It’s not as hot. However, it’s certainly not as hot. It’s Nespresso, not espresso.
I’m not knocking Nespresso in any way. I believe that Nespresso machines are excellent, and I have one close to my espresso maker. It’s extremely convenient when I’m on the go. There are plenty of compatible pods and an extensive selection of Nespresso capsules.