instant coffee?

lauraww

hi there,i usually drink nescafe gold blend and carte noire coffee but i want to try something else,can i have some recommendations as to which one i should get?

LizT

If you have to drink instant, Millicano is probably one of the best.


I used to drink instant coffee but I don't enjoy it as much anymore. I mostly drink freshly ground coffee and the difference in taste is unreal.

mathepac

My current favourites are Nescafe Azera and Carte Noire Instinct Wholebean instant. At a pinch the Instinct tastes cleaner & fresher IMHO. Instinct two spoons / mug, Azera 1 spoon / mug

chris85

Pick up a french press and some coffee. Much nicer.

vibe666

if you have to use instant, go with either the Kenco Millicano or the Carte Noire Instinct Wholebean instant, with the latter being a tad better imho and definitely having more of a wakeup kick to it.

i usually make my own, but use the Carte Noire Instinct in a pinch if i'm pushed for time, but i'm thinking of getting an aeropress as a better quick alternative to instant.

lauraww

vibe666 wrote: »

if you have to use instant, go with either the Kenco Millicano or the Carte Noire Instinct Wholebean instant, with the latter being a tad better imho and definitely having more of a wakeup kick to it.

i usually make my own, but use the Carte Noire Instinct in a pinch if i'm pushed for time, but i'm thinking of getting an aeropress as a better quick alternative to instant.

is it easy to make your own coffee rather than use instant?

i always assumed it was difficult and messy

vibe666

lauraww wrote: »

is it easy to make your own coffee rather than use instant?

i always assumed it was difficult and messy

the aeropress is a nice (imho) compromise between the two. http://aerobie.com/products/aeropress.htm

chris85

lauraww wrote: »

is it easy to make your own coffee rather than use instant?

i always assumed it was difficult and messy

A coffee press is handy. Just in goes the ground coffee (you can ground down yourself from whole beans with the right tools if you wanna go further with it), in goes the hot water (below boiling point) plunge down and ready to roll.

I use a Delonghi EC152 espresso machine, about €100 in most places, makes decent espresso and has frother so make very nice cappuccinos. Dont have a lot of space in my pad so suits me. Others here would pay a lot more for one, but I dont have the money or space.

I buy ground coffee as dont have effort or money to get grinder. Could get a cheap one but the more expensive ones seems to be much better at it so happy enough with the ground coffee till i can afford a decent grinder.

senordingdong

lizt wrote: »

I mostly drink freshly ground coffee and the difference in taste is unreal.

It's absolutely shocking how many people drink instant and are not only content, but don't consider that there is something beyond it.

vibe666

you could say that about anything really though, look at the amount of people who are content drinking crappy wine or beer.

Bannasidhe

senordingdong wrote: »

It's absolutely shocking how many people drink instant and are not only content, but don't consider that there is something beyond it.

I see them as being two completely different hot beverages - there is instantcoffee and realcoffee. Which one I drink depends on my mood but the instantcoffee of preference is Douwe Egberts Contential Dark. Haven't tried Millicano and I find Carte Noire lacks kick.

I find the snobbery towards instantcoffee quite amusing - do people also feel the same about tea bags vs leaves? I have friends who sneer with derision when offered instantcoffee but will happily drink the most awful plonk de plonk or what ever beer is 36 cans for 2 euro fiddy from Aldi.

senordingdong

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I see them as being two completely different hot beverages - there is instantcoffee and realcoffee. Which one I drink depends on my mood but the instantcoffee of preference is Douwe Egberts Contential Dark. Haven't tried Millicano and I find Carte Noire lacks kick.

I don't...I just see instant as something that as developed because people couldn't have been arsed making proper coffee, and the quality has been replaced with speed.
The same way that junk food has conquered so many because people can't be arsed with the effort of healthy and quality eating.

I find the snobbery towards instantcoffee quite amusing - do people also feel the same about tea bags vs leaves? I have friends who sneer with derision when offered instantcoffee but will happily drink the most awful plonk de plonk or what ever beer is 36 cans for 2 euro fiddy from Aldi.

The snobbery is amusing but like I said, it is an ignorance of what else is out there. I think if more people were exposed to real coffee then we would see instant disappear off the shelves.

Bannasidhe

senordingdong wrote: »

I don't...I just see instant as something that as developed because people couldn't have been arsed making proper coffee, and the quality has been replaced with speed.
The same way that junk food has conquered so many because people can't be arsed with the effort of healthy and quality eating.


The snobbery is amusing but like I said, it is an ignorance of what else is out there. I think if more people were exposed to real coffee then we would see instant disappear off the shelves.

I doubt that. There are many people who find realcoffee too harsh on their stomachs but who can drink instantcoffee. Or just don't like realcoffee. It's simply a matter of taste. I can't stand lattes but I don't look down on them as being nothing more then coffee flavoured hot milk. I just don't like them so I don't drink them. I'll have a double espresso please.

Outside of major urban areas most of the realcoffee sold in cafes/hotels etc in Ireland is mank. Weak, scorched, bitter and either scalding or tepid so when I go on holiday I bring a jar of Douwe, no way am I hauling my espresso machine up and down the country but I must have a caffeine fix so instant it is.

I have never gotten a drinkable cup of realcoffee in Mayo but the absolute worst place I have so far found to get coffee is Castletownbere (and Boston).

I am amazed that people buy Starbucks - its awful!

I am old enough to remember when it was nearly impossible to get instantcoffee in Ireland. My great-Aunt arrived from the US with a big jar of Nescafe and it was a revelation. No more fiddling with the percolator on the stove waiting for the 'coffee' to magically appear in the glass bulb at the top of the pot and grabbing the coffee pot before it spluttered all over the place- instantcoffee -just add water!

pleasant Co.

Bannasidhe wrote: »

I see them as being two completely different hot beverages - there is instantcoffee and realcoffee. Which one I drink depends on my mood

That's my POV exactly

senordingdong

Yeah that makes sense, each to their own and all that.
I don't hold a snobbery toward people who drink it as a matter of taste, just in instances like I mentioned above.

OldNotWIse

vibe666 wrote: »

you could say that about anything really though, look at the amount of people who are content drinking crappy wine or beer.

There's no such thing as a bad wine...only a better one

Bannasidhe

OldNotWIse wrote: »

There's no such thing as a bad wine...only a better one

OH was once given a bottle of wine for Xmas by a client - smelt like very ripe cheese (I refused to taste it) but she said it tasted like very very ripe cheese - it was a while before she could actually stop making faces long enough to speak after she had spit it out, she brushed her teeth, used mouthwash and drank a bottle of water - then declared that it was very bad wine.
And no - it wasn't corked. Just Bad.

senordingdong

Bannasidhe wrote: »

OH was once given a bottle of wine for Xmas by a client - smelt like very ripe cheese (I refused to taste it) but she said it tasted like very very ripe cheese - it was a while before she could actually stop making faces long enough to speak after she had spit it out, she brushed her teeth, used mouthwash and drank a bottle of water - then declared that it was very bad wine.
And no - it wasn't corked. Just Bad.

Can you remember what kind?

Bannasidhe

senordingdong wrote: »

Can you remember what kind?

A reisling I think. Southern Hemisphere - not NZ either SA or Chile. It was spectacularly awful.

senordingdong

A reisling!?!?! And it smelled like ripe cheese?!?!
Eugh...dude must have made it himself or something.

Anyway, isn't coffee spectacular.

Bannasidhe

senordingdong wrote: »

Anyway, isn't coffee spectacular.

It so is.

Am going to Tangier in Sept - really looking forward to trying the coffee.

I lecture on European expansionism in the 16th century. I do enjoy watching students as they sit there looking all disproving and judgemental and then I tell them that if Europeans hadn't taken control of commodities all those centuries ago we wouldn't have coffee or chocolate or spuds but mainly coffee. You can see the conflicted feeling play across their faces.....many many people died - this is a bad thing. But it means We have coffee - this is a good thing. Argggggggggghhhh!!!!

Then I go for coffee.

OldNotWIse

Bannasidhe wrote: »

OH was once given a bottle of wine for Xmas by a client - smelt like very ripe cheese (I refused to taste it) but she said it tasted like very very ripe cheese - it was a while before she could actually stop making faces long enough to speak after she had spit it out, she brushed her teeth, used mouthwash and drank a bottle of water - then declared that it was very bad wine.
And no - it wasn't corked. Just Bad.

lol, yeah I remember getting a free bottle of wine with an Indian meal in Spain before - I should have kept it for cleaning the tiles I'm normally not fussy about wine - I can appreciate a good one but I'll drink any ol' plonk that's there - but this one was beyond even my brillo pad of a tongue

vibe666

senordingdong wrote: »

A reisling!?!?! And it smelled like ripe cheese?!?!
Eugh...dude must have made it himself or something.

maybe it was foot cheese? :pac:

Slaphead07

Bannasidhe wrote: »

smelt like very ripe cheese .... it wasn't corked.

That's the classic smell of a very corked wine.

Bannasidhe

Slaphead07 wrote: »

That's the classic smell of a very corked wine.

or ripe Gorgonzola.

mathepac

Cheese - wine - feet? And pray tell, the very tenuous connection with coffee is...?

Bannasidhe

mathepac wrote: »

Cheese - wine - feet? And pray tell, the very tenuous connection with coffee is...?

Even Maxwell House is better then cheesy wine?

CSU

can't see what the hype about Kenco Millicano is tbh...

Bannasidhe

CSU wrote: »

can't see what the hype about Kenco Millicano is tbh...

I haven't tried it - I'm always wary of ads that say instantcoffee that tastes just like realcoffee. They never ever do. Anyone remember Red Mountain?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS_VsSVpbsM

Slaphead07

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Even Maxwell House is better then cheesy wine?

ah steady on now....

carbon nanotube

instant is horrible

you need fresh beans, i have a tassimo machine, less mess but a tad expensive.

but the coffee is yum.

Slaphead07

carbon nanotube wrote: »

you need fresh beans, i have a tassimo machine....

So not fresh beans then?

carbon nanotube

nothing wrong with tassimo pods, they are sealed and ground.

i assume you never tasted.?

PPC

Doesn't matter if they're sealed, oxidization starts as soon as the beans are ground as you've released the carbon dioxide that protects the aromatics.

Pod/capsule machines are slightly better than instant, but are no substitute for freshly ground coffee.

Slaphead07

carbon nanotube wrote: »

i assume you never tasted.?

I did. Not for me thanks. Stale and bitter.

LizT

carbon nanotube wrote: »

nothing wrong with tassimo pods, they are sealed and ground.

i assume you never tasted.?

They are slightly better than instant coffee but do you not think they taste quite stale?

vibe666

mathepac wrote: »

Cheese - wine - feet? And pray tell, the very tenuous connection with coffee is...?

thought maybe the guy had stomped the grapes himself in the bath with cheesy feet.

mathepac

Was the fecker at least drinking a cup of Nescafe?

vibe666

mathepac wrote: »

Was the fecker at least drinking a cup of Nescafe?

more likely maxwell house and telling himself it was as good as proper coffee.

i was only responding to another (albeit OT) post on the thread.

acotone

Thought this was about instant coffee ? i.m.o kenco Columbian is the best

vibe666

acotone wrote: »

Thought this was about instant coffee ? i.m.o kenco Columbian is the best

it is, but i compared it to wine, because some people will happily drink crap wine, just as some people will drink instant coffee, then someone said that there's no such thing as bad wine and someone else disagreed and said they had one that smelt of cheese, i said maybe it was foot cheese then someone who hadn't read the other posts wanted to know why we were talking about wine and then you started and here we are.

so yes, instant coffee is varying degrees of bad, but people will still happily drink it all the same.

Bannasidhe

vibe666 wrote: »

so yes, instant coffee is varying degrees of bad, but people will still happily drink it all the same.

People will also drink so called 'freshly brewed bean to cup' muck. I got an absolutely awful cup of coffee in Mallow yesterday from one of those bells and whistles machine which advertises how fresh their coffee is. People were queuing up to buy it. I think the machine forgot to put any coffee in mine.:mad:

I should have remembered to make myself a cup of Douwe Egberts instant in my travel cup. Would have been far nicer then the Bewleys real I ended up paying for...

Slaphead07

Bannasidhe wrote: »

People will also drink so called 'freshly brewed bean to cup' muck. I got an absolutely awful cup of coffee in Mallow yesterday from one of those bells and whistles machine which advertises how fresh their coffee is....

It's not necessarily the machine. If it's set for too little coffee, too high water temp, or poor quality coffee in the first place then you're going to get awful coffee.

OldNotWIse

vibe666 wrote: »

it is, but i compared it to wine, because some people will happily drink crap wine, just as some people will drink instant coffee, then someone said that there's no such thing as bad wine and someone else disagreed and said they had one that smelt of cheese, i said maybe it was foot cheese then someone who hadn't read the other posts wanted to know why we were talking about wine and then you started and here we are.

so yes, instant coffee is varying degrees of bad, but people will still happily drink it all the same.

hahaha couldnt have put it better myself. I have to admit I created part of the confusion with the "no such thing as a bad wine" comment - what I should have said was, "there is such a thing as a bad wine but I'm such an out n' out dipso I couldnt care less, and will drink it anyway even if it's clearly a better tile cleaner than wine"

draiochtanois

This post has been deleted.

corpo3030

Fresh ground is always best, but I use the M&S gold label instant. Its fairly mild stuff but I like it better than the Douwe Egberts. That now seems bitter to me, I think they've changed it somehow.

lauraww

ive decided to not drink instant coffee anymore,id rather drink tea to be honest,im going to start making my own fresh coffee every morning but i know i will have to invest.can someone tell me exactly what i need to get,whats the best machine,if machine is the right word and im assuming debenhams is the best place to shop for my coffee making needs?

Slaphead07

lauraww wrote: »

ive decided to not drink instant coffee anymore,id rather drink tea to be honest,im going to start making my own fresh coffee every morning but i know i will have to invest.can someone tell me exactly what i need to get,whats the best machine,if machine is the right word and im assuming debenhams is the best place to shop for my coffee making needs?

Spend money on a decent grinder. Get a french press/plunge pot in TK MAXX or wherever and a bag of good beans (3fe, Nicks, Badger & dodo etc) and you're off! If you want to do espressos, lattes and such then pick up a good machine (Gaggia Classic maybe) later on but, for now, assuming a limited budget, that'll get you going.

littlehedgehog

I really don't taste the buzz about Millicano at all - if I'm going to drink instant, it has to be Nescafe Espresso, which is lovely.

senordingdong

What a bout that new posh stuff from Carte Noir?
Has anybody tried it yet?

vibe666

senordingdong wrote: »

What a bout that new posh stuff from Carte Noir?
Has anybody tried it yet?

similar to millicano (same kind of microground beans and instant mixed together), but seems to have more of a caffeine kick than the millicano.