A lot of people in the United States love to drink coffee. By some estimates, as many as 150 million people around the country like specialty coffees. That translates into half of the American population drinking cappuccinos, lattes, espressos, and coffees that are iced or served cold. Every year, small, independently owned coffee establishments bring in $12 billion. It has been estimated that 30% of people in the country may not drink the beverage every day but they do indulge from time to time. Whether they are using mix coffee or a French Press, more and more people are making it at home. About 86% of people who drink coffee later in the day, make it themselves at home.
Most people do not drink instant coffee at home. There is the idea out there that mix coffee does not taste very good. People who love coffee sometimes say that even the brands of instant coffee that are the best are still not very good. There are some very good reasons to have some of it on hand. It is cost-effective, can be made quickly and easily, has a long shelf life, and can just be a good plan B. The good news is that you can make it more than just a plan B for when other coffee is not available. These tips can help:
- If you are going to make it, you have to go hot or go home. When you are going to make decent mix coffee, the best thing you can do is to make it hot. This is one of the most sure-fire ways to make it taste a lot more like coffee brewed in other ways. Get the water boiling rapidly when you use it. The issue is that instant coffee granules cannot really dissolve all of the way in warm or moderately hot water. When this happens, you will find yourself with a cup of coffee that has gross granules floating all through it. That is one of the reasons it can taste bad.
- Use more than is directed. The instructions on the box or jar may say you should put in one spoonful for every cup of coffee, you should ignore that. These instructions may have been written when people drank smaller cups of coffee. Today’s cups of coffee are generally about nine ounces. One scoop if mix coffee is not enough for nine ounces of hot water. One thing you may want to try is to read the instructions on the container and then double the amount they recommend. This will give you a cup of coffee with a richer and fuller flavor.
- Add some spice to the mix coffee. Many people love pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and gingerbread flavors. This is the reason so many coffee shops sell lattes flavored with these flavors every holiday season. If you like that and are making instant coffee, add some ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, or whatever other spice strikes your fancy. Spices also have long shelf lives, are not expensive, and it takes just a little to have a big impact on the flavor of your mix coffee.
- Use instant coffee to make yourself a DIY mocha. Many people may think that all instant coffee is awful but most people do not feel the same way about instant hot chocolate. If you mix the two, voila! You have an easy to make mocha drink! You only need to use one half a serving of the hot chocolate mix and one scoop of your coffee crystals.
- Go for real sweeteners. Some people find that the best way to make their instant coffee taste better is to stir in some real sugar or honey. Adding milk or creamer can also help. When it comes to how people take their coffee, as many as 65% take it with cream and/or sugar. If you want sweetness with a flavor of a different sort, you may want to try maple syrup or honey. If you cannot use sugar for health reasons, there are some more natural no-calorie sweeteners such as Truvia that taste great.
Instant coffee may have a bad reputation but if you follow these steps, you can make it taste pretty good.
