I'm no more a coffee snob than I am a beer snob, but I know what I like. I drink my coffee black most of the time, so the flavor of the coffee itself needs to appeal to my palate. There are quite a few independent roasters in the Spokane/Coeur d'Alene/Sandpoint region where I have found a lot of good beans, but sometimes there isn't time for properly brewing a cup of joe. Power outages happen in winter, and I want to see whether I can just boil some water and make a passable cup in a hurry. This is my highly scientific subjective test.
In this test, I sampled two single-serve packets of Nescafe Taster's Choice (house blend and french roast) against the store brand classic roast. For Nescafe, I tore open the single-serving tubes and poured one of each flavor into mugs. While the Nescafe boxes are the same size, note that there are only 5 packets in the one with the french roast. For the store brand, I used a heaping teaspoon.
The two Nescafe packets had similar-looking contents, but the store brand was darker and more powdery. I added eight ounces of hot water from an electric kettle to each mug, and they all looked basically the same. The heaping teaspoon of store brand was because the instructions for a level teaspoon called for just six ounces, and I wanted similar quantities in each mug.
Nescafe House Blend
Bland. Would be inoffensive if not for the blandness. More coffee-like than the store brand at least. Of the three, this is the best in my opinion. Alas, it sets a low bar.
Nescafe French Roast
Slightly toasty-bitter like a well-roasted coffee, but not really like a good coffee, or even Starbucks. Your mileage may vary, of course, but this is just not to my liking. And paying the same price for one less serving might actually be a blessing in disguise.
Food Club Classic Roast
Coffee-adjacent brown beverage. Warm. Has some semblance of flavor. Cheap. Not good.
In Closing...
As coffee, these all fall below my standards, but the Nescafe House Blend is worth keeping on hand for when convenience trumps taste. I'd also consider taking it camping, because the convenience also beats the weight and bulk of proper coffee gear. Such preparedness has already paid off before. As for the other two, I may try mixing some of these into some chocolate almond milk to see whether it makes a passable dairy-free imitation Frappuccino. What are your thoughts on instant coffee? What else should I try that might not be as much of a disappointment?
