- Instant coffee is made in two different ways: by drying a concentrated spray of coffee with super-heated air or by freeze-drying the liquid into crystals.
- Most instant coffee is shelf-stable for years, making it great to have on hand for whenever you want a quick cup as well as for use in cooking, brewing, and for making sweet treats.
- Waka Coffee's instant coffee is our top pick because it dissolves rapidly with just a few stirs and genuinely tastes like a freshly brewed cup.
Besides convenience, instant coffee offers variety. When making a single-serving cup of coffee, you can enjoy a light breakfast blend with your eggs and toast then a robust roast as you get down to work. You can whip up a blended coffee beverage, no barista required, and you can also enjoy precise control over the potency of your joe. Best of all, there is no specialty machinery required.
From our research and testing, we chose the best instant coffee, based on a number of categories, from iced to decaf to blended. While all of these instant coffees share certain qualities, they are markedly distinct in terms of flavor profile and will be suited to different coffee drinkers or at least to different coffee drinking occasions. Being that taste is also a matter of personal preference and enjoyment, we explain why we considered these picks based on a variety of other factors.
Here are the best instant coffees you can buy:
- Best instant coffee overall: Waka Coffee
- Best instant iced coffee: Starbucks VIA Instant Sweetened Iced Coffee
- Best organic instant coffee: Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Coffee
- Best decaf instant coffee: Nescafe Taster's Choice Decaf
- Best low-cost instant coffee: Folgers Classic Roast
- Best instant latte: Alpine Start Coconut Creamer Latte
Updated on 3/18/2020 by Les Shu: Prices and links are current at time of posting. We are currently researching and trying new options for consideration in our next update.
The best instant coffee overall
Waka Coffee Quality Instant Coffee will fool even discerning coffee drinkers into thinking it is fresh brewed.
Waka Coffee's medium-roast instant coffee has a smooth, low-acidity taste with a slight citrus hint and a genuine roasted flavor without any hint of burning. Its rich, fresh taste comes from the large freeze-dried crystals contained in each of the eight 0.1-ounce packets that come in a box. Freeze-drying preserves the flavor of coffee better than air drying, which can produce those notes.
The crystals dissolve remarkably quickly and completely, leaving no sludgy residue at the bottom of the cup while delivering full flavor. Long story short, if you want the taste of a freshly brewed cup of quality Arabica coffee, a packet of Waka and 8 ounces of hot water is all you need.
CoffeeReview called Waka's instant "crisply sweet ... with lingering notes of caramel and apricot" and an overall "appealing 100% Colombian coffee in [an] instant format."
The best instant iced coffee
Starbucks VIA Instant Sweetened Iced Coffee tastes great even when stirred into cold water, so you really can enjoy coffee anywhere within a matter of seconds.
Starbucks VIA Sweetened Iced Coffee is great when using cold water because that's precisely how it was intended to be prepared. It's lightly sweetened with natural sugar cane and enjoys a mild, refreshing flavor thanks to medium-roast Arabica beans sourced from South and Central America.
I will say that this coffee has a bit of that bitter, burnt taste you know from many instant coffees and with which you may well already associate Starbucks in general. The instant coffees are made using both sprayed and air-dried particles, as well as blended-in, super-fine ground coffee beans. This arrangement delivers plenty of flavor, but some drinkers will find off notes.
That said, when served with plenty of ice, this stuff is so refreshing you'll probably slurp down a big glass so fast you'll hardly notice. And I do mean big: Each packet contains enough instant coffee for two servings or 16 ounces of coffee in total.
The best organic instant coffee
Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Coffee tastes good, and it's certified fair trade and organic.
Before we talk about the flavor of Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Coffee's instant coffee, let's talk about its background. First of all, it's organic, so you know there are no harmful pesticides, additives, or genetically modified ingredients in there.
Second, it's fair-trade certified, meaning that while the people producing the coffee are from developing nations, they are guaranteed to receive payment and to work in conditions comparable to those found in developed countries.
And third, the stuff is pretty affordable even given those stipulations: A 3.53-ounce glass jar of Mount Hagen Organic Fairtrade Coffee will produce about 30 proper cups, meaning each serving costs only 50 cents (at current pricing).
The flavor profile is rather mild and might even be too light for some coffee drinkers who want a robust cup.
The best decaf instant coffee
A mug of Nescafe Taster's Choice Decaf tastes about as good as any regular instant coffee and almost as good as any fresh pot of decaf.
There's nothing mind-blowing about the flavor of Nescafe Taster's Choice Decaf instant coffee. It's a light-to-medium slow-roasted house blend that wouldn't be out of place at a diner, in the break room, or in your own kitchen.
There aren't fruity notes that call to mind a fresh plate of berries or a toffee/caramel sweetness that inspires thoughts of holiday cheer. It just tastes like a basic cup of decent coffee. But with so many instant coffees tasting decidedly less than decent, that's not a putdown, it's a nod of approval.
The Nescafe Taster's Choice Decaf instant coffee actually deserves better than decent — it is good. And you get 80 packets in a box, making it a good value.
The best low-cost instant coffee
Each 8-ounce jar of Folgers Classic Roast instant coffee can make up to 130 cups of joe, so each serving will cost around a nickel.
Folgers Classic Roast instant doesn't make great coffee, but it's almost as good as fresh brewed Folgers, a taste many people appreciate as a sort of baseline for decent joe. Beyond the great price and decent flavor when used to make coffee, this stuff is actually a great choice for use in other culinary practices.
When mixed into cakes, cookies, or pastries; used in sauces or rubs; or even added in the homebrewing process for beer, the quick-dissolving crystals and generic coffee flavor are perfect. Of course, that low price means you can scoop in as much coffee as your recipe calls for and then some.
The brand's serving size is just 6 fluid ounces — not even a whole cup — and even at that size, if you use the "rounded teaspoon" of coffee crystals they recommend, you're going to get a pretty weak cup. That said, an 8-fluid-ounce serving will give you better-tasting coffee that still costs you less than a dime.
The best instant latte
When you need a burst of sweetness and flavor in a few seconds, a packet of Alpine Start Coconut Creamer Latte has you covered.
Black coffee is not only a fine beverage in and of itself, but it's also the starting point for all sorts of beloved drinks, from the latte to the cappuccino to the dirty chai and beyond. So with great instant coffee, you can quickly make your favorite fancy coffee treat. Or, you can cut out all the steps by using Alpine Start Coconut Creamer Latte instant coffee.
The coffee crystals and sweetened creamer powder found in a packet of Alpine Start Coconut Creamer Latte produce a rich, smooth drink that won't compare to what a barista makes, but is plenty good for instant and will satisfy your sweet tooth and caffeine craving at the same time.
Because it is made with non-dairy coconut-based creamer, it's safe for people who avoid milk. Don't worry if you don't much care for coconut, you'll hardly taste that flavor at all, but instead will enjoy a taste more akin to actual creamer.
The Alpine Start Coconut Creamer Latte is the priciest instant coffee on our list, but it's also the only one that whips up more than mere black coffee, of course. We wouldn't recommend it for everyday drinking but think of it as a nice break from the usual.