Instant Coffee

Martha was at home working on a major advertising account.  She understood the importance of this campaign and considering that it was for the major company of Nestle, she was all to aware that the results of her work would help launch her to even bigger successes or would cause a step back in her career.  It had already been a long day for Martha and she found that she was getting considerably tired despite her attempts of telling herself to stay awake.  Finally, she realized that she was losing the battle between mind and body, so she decided that she needed a cup of coffee.  Not typically a coffee drinker, Martha didn't know where to turn to.  Little did she know that the solution to her problems was resting on her coffee table.

As one of the biggest producers of instant coffee, Nestle has catered to a niche market of coffee drinkers.  While no self respecting coffee lover would ever be caught dead drinking a cup of instant coffee, this type of coffee drink perfectly suits the needs of the occasional coffee drinker.  The thing is instant coffee is one of the quickest and easiest ways to make a cup of coffee (to learn more about this check out the article Instant Coffee in the Coffee Makers section) and has all of the characteristics that you would expect from a coffee.  It has the caffeine kick that many coffee drinkers want from their coffee and has a coffee-like taste that admittedly pales when compared to gourmet coffee drinks.  However, if you are interested in drinking instant coffee, chances are that you won't like the somewhat extreme flavor of specialty coffee drinks like espresso, mochas, and lattes that coffee lovers absolutely adore.

There is no question that Instant coffee is an inferior coffee drink when compared to other coffee drinks like Turkish coffee or even an Amerciano, as most Instant coffee blends use inferior coffee beans that grow from Robusta coffee plants.  However, it is still coffee, regardless of the opinions of coffee lovers that feel that there's something missing in terms of flavor from a cup of instant coffee.  However, as our mothers have always taught us - if you're going to do something, do it right, so here are the steps to make a good cup of Instant coffee:

1. Heat up water from some sort of heat source, whether it is a kettle or a stovetop pan.
2. Once the water has reached an appropriate temperature of just below boiling, add the water to a cup.
3. In this cup, there should be 3 teaspoonfuls of instant coffee mix.  Instant coffee mixes tend to have the coffee beans already ground up to a fine powder.
4. Once you have filled the cup 3/4 full with hot water, stir the water and coffee mix together.
5. Add any sweeteners such as sugar and any whiteners like milk or cream to your cup.  Stir until the color has changed to brown.
6. Drink up your cup of instant coffee.

Like all other coffee drinks, there is considerable room for experimentation when making a cup of instant coffee.  To add some extra flavor, many instant coffee drinkers add nutmeg, cinnamon, or even chocolate chips to their drink.  Concoct some different instant coffee recipes to find the perfect combination to satisfy your taste buds!