Instant drinks are powdered coffee that is poured with boiling water. They differ in tastes and aromas from natural coffee. Because rejected grains are used in its production.
Beverages:
- affordable;
- prepare quickly;
- They are stored for a long time, so they are popular among the population.
Such drinks were invented back in 1901 in Japan by scientist Satori Kato. Then they were developed on an industrial scale by an English scientist. D.K. Washington. And in 1909 they began to produce them. But their popularity came in World War II.
A little history
When this type of coffee first appeared, the world received it ambiguously: the traditions of preparing the morning drink were violated. Yes, and its taste was far from usual.
The invention of this instant miracle is credited to many, but it is known for certain that David Strang patented this invention in 1890. But it received a form suitable for mass production only in 1906, thanks to the English Chemist George Constantine Washington. But already, in 1938, the most widespread and world-famous instant coffee of the Nescafe brand appeared. It got its name from the union of two words “Nestle” + “café”. After all, it was the Nestle technologist, at the request of the Brazilian government, who worked day and night for two years to create the ideal recipe.
What does the Brazilian government have to do with this? Despite the fact that in Brazil that year turned out to be incredibly fruitful and there was a need for long-term storage of large quantities of coffee beans. It was then that the government decided to turn to Nestle for help.
But the real “minute of glory” of instant coffee came during the Second World War. Because in conditions of complete lack of amenities, the option of an instant drink was most welcome.
Instant coffee with milk: the benefits and harms of a popular drink
There are several ways to prepare instant coffee with milk. Moreover, it is the recipe that can influence the benefits or harm of the drink.
It should be noted that the benefits of coffee with milk will be greater if you drink it without sugar. It is this component that causes the harm it can cause to the human body. In other words, two natural products: coffee and milk cannot cause harm to health. It is for this reason that this drink can be considered useful.
It is recommended to drink for people who suffer from low blood pressure. In addition, it will help you quickly restore strength and feel a surge of vigor. Caffeine has the ability to flush calcium from the body, but milk will help restore its balance. For this reason, the combination of these products is called very successful.
As for the harm of the drink, coffee can negatively affect the performance and condition of the heart and blood vessels. It is not recommended to abuse coffee. It is also prohibited for people who are lactose intolerant.
What is instant coffee?
Instant coffee is a decoction of coffee beans that is converted into water-soluble coffee using various technologies. That is, after all, there is coffee in it, you can’t argue with that. However, the thirst for profit works wonders and sometimes turns ordinary enterprising people into masters of deception.
Ideally, only coffee beans are used to prepare it. Usually these are Robusta beans, due to their lower cost and higher caffeine concentration, but more expensive brands also contain Arabica. The type of coffee beans does not matter when making instant coffee.
But an ideal is an ideal because it often remains unattainable. Often, instant coffee is prepared from beans that are not suitable for sale in their natural form. Plus, additives are sometimes added to substandard grains: flavorings, taste stabilizers, dyes, sugar, milk mixture, etc.
However, some manufacturers go even further and strip the coffee beans of their caffeine-containing shell, selling it separately. But the “naked” grains are used for the production of instant drinks. Accordingly, a drink made from such raw materials will not invigorate no matter how much you drink.
Production
Natural and instant drinks have their own technological processing processes. Starts with dry or wet processing. The Arabica will take two to three weeks to prepare under the Brazilian sun.
The most popular variety is Santos. The grain is fermented. Colombian Robusta, which competes with Arabica, is removed from the trees and washed, cleaned and sent to special fermentation containers for 24 hours.
Then the pulp is washed again with a powerful water jet. When the grains are “bare”, they must be dried in the sun and cleaned using a hulling machine. Their weight becomes 18% less. Then the grains are roasted,
Thanks to the heat, their intense flavors are revealed. The amount of caffeine and various additives - organic and inorganic - depends on the level of roasting of the beans. Then, the grains are sorted in factory floors.
Important! And here there are already differences. For premium bean coffee, large and undamaged raw materials are selected. Ground coffee must be sealed in vacuum packaging. The rejected remains are used for blending and for the synthesis of a soluble analogue of brewed drinks.
Then the coffee extract is obtained. The grains are ground and digested for up to several hours. High pressure is used for this process.
Production of instant coffee
To understand the process of turning coffee beans into instant coffee, you need to understand what types of instant coffee exist:
- Sublimated - looks like small grains or pebbles, dark caramel color;
- Powder – corresponds to the name: light caramel-colored powder;
- Granular - made from powder by wetting it until granules form, usually dark brown in color;
- Liquid – in the form of a concentrated liquid. Rarely seen.
There are two manufacturing methods:
- High temperature;
- Low temperature.
However, before this, the grains are cleaned, fried, crushed and boiled for about 8 hours. Next, one of the specified methods will be applied. For freeze-dried preparation, the liquid is frozen and vacuum dehydrated. That is, they sublimate - remove water from frozen raw materials without forming liquid. Hence the name of this species.
To prepare the powder, a high-temperature method is used: the liquid is filtered from various inclusions that do not dissolve and sprayed in a stream of hot air. When encountering hot air, the droplets instantly dry out and turn into powder.
The disadvantage of instant coffee is that after numerous impacts on coffee beans: frying, boiling, freezing, vacuum, spraying, steaming, the product loses its original qualities. Therefore, it cannot do without additives that improve taste and aroma.
However, additives are not always synthetic and harmful to health; some manufacturers add natural coffee oils to their product.
How to choose good options
If the crystals are light brown in color, then, according to the manufacturers, the coffee powder is produced by sublimation. That is, freeze drying. The biological properties remain in the product, and the smell is similar to custard.
In powder, the molecular structure of grains is destroyed due to exposure to high temperatures and pressure. Therefore, it is without natural flavors and benefits.
To choose a successful powdered coffee, you must pay attention to the labeling:
- Drinks with red labels or with a red spot are strong and are best consumed in the morning.
- With blue and green colors and the same spots, the drinks are not strong. They can be drunk day and evening.
- If there is no composition on the packages, then the drinks are completely natural and do not contain additives.
Read: Which ground coffee to choose
To take or not to take
After studying the types of instant coffee, a logical question arises: which type is better?
Due to the method of its manufacture, freeze-dried food retains its original qualities and beneficial properties better than others. However, the cost of its production is much higher, which makes this type more expensive than others.
But what option is definitely not worth taking (except perhaps only occasionally for the sake of pampering) is 3 in 1 coffee. In this case, the anger of true coffee lovers is righteous - this product will really do more harm than good: 10 grams per package. contains approximately 2-3 grams. coffee, and the rest is sugar and milk mixture. Thus, after drinking just a cup, you will receive a shock dose of sugar and no energy, except for a short-term excitement from an increase in insulin levels.
Famous brands of freeze-dried coffee
The best sublimate worth buying is Bushido, Ambassador, Carte Boire, Jardin, Starbucks Via Instant, Moccona, Grandos, Nescafe Gold, UCC, Tchibo Exclusive" and "Black Card".
Among them there are samples with chocolate or fruity notes, there are soft and hard, sweet or sour, and other differences in the bouquet. To understand which brand is suitable, you can rely on the description of the coffee, but it is better to buy a portion and enjoy a cup of aromatic drink. Only tasting allows you to understand that this variety is worth purchasing. Coffee lovers recommend buying coffee based on personal experience.
The taste of the final product will depend on 3 fundamental factors:
- Roasting degree.
- Compliance with the time and temperature of technological stages.
- The quality of the composition during final processing.
You can buy various brands in sticks for 1 serving, in large packages and even by weight. Sales will depend on the place of sale or the needs of the bulk of consumers (cafe or restaurant, home use or a large number of clients). High-quality coffee has long been a good purchase if you need a universal gift.
Who to believe
Instant coffee has long been ingrained in the lives of many Russians, and habits, as we know, are hard to break. Moreover, situations often occur when it is not possible to prepare a drink in the traditional way. Therefore, you just need to choose a quality product and a responsible manufacturer.
A quality drink has the following features:
- Ideal solubility. After stirring, in both cold and hot water, there should be no undissolved residue or sediment left.
- Natural aroma. The smell should resemble that of natural coffee beans. There should be no extraneous unnatural aromas, for example, a burning smell is often found. This product is of poor quality.
- Natural taste. It should be as similar as possible to the taste of coffee brewed from coffee beans. There should be no bitterness or foreign tastes. Very often, inexpensive brands of instant coffee suffer from the fact that their drink tastes like a burnt boot. And don’t believe those who say that a strong drink should be like that.
Further, in this article, you will see a list of the best instant coffee, compiled on the basis of scores received from Roskontrol, and according to ordinary people.
Rosskontrol compiled its rating of the best instant coffee based on a test purchase, followed by testing and examination of product quality. According to Roskontrol itself, such control procedures are carried out at least once every 3 months, which allows consumers to be confident in the relevance of information about the quality of the product.
All products listed below comply with Russian standards and do not contain any violations and are made from natural coffee beans.
Best instant coffee: Top 5 according to Roskontrol
Carte Noire.
The company is related to the American holding Mondelis. Production is located in Russia.
Sublimated coffee. Has good strength. Made from Arabica beans. The granules are regular in shape and have a golden color. The taste of coffee without bitterness.
Egoiste
Coffee is produced in Germany and Switzerland.
You can find out more about the types of this coffee, its composition, and reviews in our article.
Sublimated coffee. Made from Arabica beans of different varieties. Has good strength. The granules are regular in shape and have a golden color. The taste of coffee without bitterness. Leaves a pleasant chocolate-coffee aftertaste.
“Moscow coffee shop on shares” Arabica.
Country of origin: Russia.
Powdered instant coffee and freeze-dried coffee are available for sale. The taste is bitter. The aroma disappears when brewed. The granules are of the correct shape, no powder is observed.
Jardin
Production is located in Russia.
Medium strength coffee. Made from different varieties of Arabica. Has a good aroma. The taste is bitter. Correctly shaped granules.
Jacobs Monarch
Production is located in Russia.
Freeze-dried coffee. Made from Arabica beans. It has a good aroma, which disappears when the coffee is diluted in water. Correctly shaped granules. The strength is average. The taste is pleasant, not bitter.
But research is research, and the taste buds of the population cannot be deceived, so the following rating was compiled based on real reviews.
Powdered (powdered) coffee
Powdered (powdered) instant coffee is the oldest and cheapest industrial method of producing instant coffee. This method was the only one from 1910 until the start of World War II. Technologically, the process of extracting instant coffee looked like this: raw coffee was purified, after which it was roasted. Roasted coffee beans were crushed to a size of 1.5-2 mm, loaded into special batteries, where they were treated with hot water under pressure of 15 atmospheres for 3-4 hours. Then, the resulting extract was cooled, filtered and dried with hot air.
Today, almost all well-known manufacturers continue to produce powdered coffee. Mainly because of its cheapness. Powdered coffee is most often sold in tin packages (Real Cafe, Nescafe Brothero, Golden Brazil, Brazilian Plantation, Brazilian Gold), although exceptions are possible (Chibo Family, Yakobe Euryday).
Best instant coffee: Top 5 according to fans
Egoiste Noir.
It looks more than impressive: a black glass jar with a minimalist label. Not very invigorating. Made from Kenyan Arabica beans. Rich invigorating aroma and soft taste with a bitter aftertaste. Country of origin: Germany.
Carte Noire.
Pleasant rich aroma of coffee beans and balanced deep taste. Country of origin: Russia.
Bushido Original.
Made from 100% Arabica. Minimalist packaging in Japanese style. Strong coffee aroma and rich taste. This instant coffee will be appreciated by lovers of strong drinks. Country of origin: Switzerland.
Carte Noire Original.
Freeze-dried drink. Rich taste, color, aroma and quick invigorating effect. Country of origin: Russia.
Jardin Colombia Medellin.
Coffee from 100% Colombian Arabica. Classic taste and aroma without bitterness. Good invigorating effect. Country of origin: Switzerland.
Reviews of the brands presented in the ranking of the best instant coffee:
- Olga, 25 years old: I’m not a particular coffee connoisseur, but in the morning with breakfast I always drink a cup of instant coffee from Jacobs. For me, this is the most delicious coffee: an invigorating aroma and mild taste, nothing more is needed;
- Victor, 32 years old: My working day starts with a cup of coffee from Jardin. I don’t regret spending money on it, as this drink is worth every ruble. I am a coffee lover, but this brand’s instant coffee is not inferior in taste and aroma to a drink from a coffee shop.
- Elena, 40 years old: I try not to drink coffee often. But sometimes I want to. It makes no sense to keep a coffee machine for an exceptional occasion, so I always have instant coffee from Jacobs in stock. Classic taste and aroma, I like it.
We told you more about the nature of instant coffee. And now you can conclude that if the manufacturer is not trying to profit from coffee drink lovers, and does not skimp on raw materials and production, then instant coffee does not pose any danger. Therefore, the main thing when choosing an instant drink is choosing a responsible brand.
Explore, try, breathe and be cheerful!
Irina
Hello, I'm Irina. I have been a coffee expert for over 15 years. Over the past 6 years, I have tried every coffee there is to try and even opened my own coffee shop. Join me on this journey to learn more about coffee at Pokofemanim.ru
Natural coffee or instant coffee - features, difference
Making a water-soluble coffee drink without spending many hours extracting all the substances from the roasted raw materials is impossible. Together with caffeine, all components, including bitterness, are intensively digested.
And natural ground coffee is brewed just a few minutes after boiling. Accordingly, the main difference is the organoleptic characteristics.
The advantages of all types of instant drinks are a long shelf life and ease of use - aromatic and tasty coffee is ready in a couple of minutes.
Disadvantages: weak aroma, taste not like natural, no benefit from the drink.
But if we compare coffee granules and crystals, the product obtained as a result of sublimation has a brighter and richer bouquet.
Since it is impossible to track which raw materials are used for digestion, the production often uses leftovers and waste from the production of natural coffee beans and substandard beans. In this case, sublimation technology is powerless - it is impossible to preserve those taste characteristics that were not present in the original raw materials.
This means that what matters for the final taste of any water-soluble drink is:
- quality of raw materials;
- compliance with roasting technology;
- the type of aromatic substances that are processed into the coffee at the final stage.
Not every user will be able to understand and distinguish a freeze-dried product with natural or artificial essential oils.
