Today’s specialty instant coffee options help you enjoy high-quality coffee in countless different and easy ways.
BY VASILEIA FANARIOTI
SPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE
Cover photo courtesy of Steeped Coffee
Whether you are a coffee lover or a coffee professional, you know that the most satisfying cups of coffee are the ones that taste bright, zingy, and fresh. But what if you don’t have time to brew a cup of coffee from scratch? Or what if you’re away from your home setup and don’t have enough space to carry your brewing gear? Either way, you have more options for specialty instant coffee these days than ever.
We have rounded up four ways that you can drink specialty instant coffee on the spot without having to think too much about it. And the best part? They are all so different from one another!
Specialty Freeze-Dried Coffee
In recent years there has been an emergence of specialty freeze-dried coffees that are not only convenient to brew, but also taste great. Take the partnership between Swift Cup Coffee and The Barn as an example.
The Barn is well-known for sourcing and roasting seasonal high-quality coffees and maintaining direct relationships with the farms they partner with. Swift Cup uses a proprietary process to brew the coffee before slowly dehydrating it through freeze drying. This allows the coffee to retain its original flavor and aroma.
Each sachet has the coffee content of a double espresso. You can either put it in a mug and add 250ml of water, or split it into two 5-oz. cups and get two coffee drinks out of it. Whichever you choose, this specialty freeze-dried coffee works best with a water temperature of 167 to 175 degrees Fahrenheit, much like green tea.
Specialty Instant Coffee in a Single-Serve Bag
Coffee in a single-serve bag is not a new concept—in fact, it has been around for quite some time now. One of the best examples is Steeped Coffee.
Steeped is a fresh take on the single-serve coffee bag. It’s fully compostable and made with 100% specialty coffee. To prepare, simply put the Steeped filter bag into a standard 10-oz. cup, slowly pour your hot water over it, agitate, and let it steep for 5 minutes. Then you are good to go!
Flash-Frozen Specialty Coffee
This is a coffee to melt for—quite literally. Cometeer is the first and only flash-frozen specialty coffee. It is made with high-quality coffee beans that are roasted and then sealed in recyclable aluminum capsules. The capsules are then flash-frozen at -321 degrees Fahrenheit in an oxygen-free environment to lock in peak flavor.
When you are ready to drink, place the frozen puck in a cup and add hot water. In just a few minutes, you’ll have a fresh cup of coffee with all the flavor and aroma intact. Or you can just melt the coffee puck and use it to craft iced coffees, coffee cocktails, and even sauces for baking.
Cometeer arrives on dry ice and can last 24 hours at room temperature, or up to three days in the fridge.
Specialty-Coffee Concentrate
Last but not least, there is coffee concentrate. This is another great option for brewing specialty instant coffee without all the hassle. There are a few different brands to choose from, one of which is OneBy Coffee.
Their cold-brew concentrate comes in a 250ml bottle, and each tablespoon has the caffeine content of one cup of coffee. All you need to do is add it to your favorite liquid, hot or cold, and enjoy.
So, there you have it! All these specialty instant options are extremely convenient, can be carried around everywhere, and can be used in a variety of different settings—whether you’re at home, out on a hike, in a hotel room, or even on an airplane. And the best part is that they all deliver a great-tasting cup of coffee.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vasileia Fanarioti (she/her) is a freelance copywriter and editor with a primary focus on the coffee niche. She has also been a volunteer copywriter for the I’M NOT A BARISTA NPO, providing content to help educate people about baristas and their work. You can follow her adventures at thewanderingbean.net.
