My grandmother was born in 1881 and died in 1979. She saw the rise of so many great inventions and changes in life – the car, the airplane, the telephone. But the greatest invention, in her opinion? Nescafe.
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I used to live on that shit when I was a starving student - I actually enjoyed that weird chemical, sour, tin-foil taste (have you ever shoveled a spoonful of it dry into your mouth? - don’t) and then, through the good graces of some great friends, I learned about real coffee (and how to make muffins) and good weed and my life was saved.
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I think it was on boingboing when it was current news but:
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Spoonfuls of instant were always one of the fastest ways to wake up, if not the most pleasant.
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One of the first things I did was do when I suspected a possible shortage was to send an order for 5 pounds of whole bean Sumatran and Ethiopian to Cherokee Rose. I have my kettle and French press and grinder (and a spare for each) so even with failures I should be doing OK at least for a while. Besides, I figured that a small coffee vendor might appreciate an extra order about now since walk-in business is probably nil.
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An electric cattle prod will wake you too. I’m not sure which would be worse.
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Or in muffins, mixed 1:1 with chocolate chips.
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I don’t understand.
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The best instant I’ve tasted is Starbucks. Almost, but not quite, entirely…
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I wish there was a good copy of the Chris Farley skit available, but this will have to do:
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Taster’s Choice is part of the Nescafé empire; Nescafé sells dozens of variations on the instant-coffee theme into various markets around the world. A few years ago, I discovered Nescafé Dolca, which was developed for the South American market but appears in the US exclusively in 99cent/DollarTree stores via Mexico.
I’m not going to call it good coffee, but it is by far the best instant coffee I’ve had. I’ve avoided Taster’s Choice for years, but I remember it as having a bitter, metallic front note that tapered into a lingering bitter aftertaste, and very little body (or, now that I’m old enough to know better, actual coffee flavor) to speak of.
Dolca is no doubt made from the same mixture of Robusta and ragweed, but it’s buffered with a hint of caramel - not enough to taste, not enough to give even a hint of sweetness, but just enough to cut the overwhelming bitterness and hate. For 99 cents a jar, highly recommended.
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I prefer the Starbucks VIA packets, but as long as it has caffeine, and is shelf-stable, I’ll drink just about anything. I just assumed they still made all the old instants, not just Folgers, so Taster’s Choice’s continued availability isn’t too surprising. Reading up on the process of instant-izing coffee (I got curious) was interesting. I especially liked coming across the occasional opinion of a coffee snob gasping at anything that wasn’t home-roasted, burr-ground, put in a Chemex, and poured over for exactly 3 minutes and 25 seconds with 201°F (94°C) spring water. If you have half an hour to make a cup of coffee, hey, more power to you, I guess. Everyone needs a hobby, especially these days.
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My parents used to drink Taster’s Choice when I was a kid so for the longest time I thought that’s what coffee was. There were cans of other brands in the grocery store, but I assumed everything was a powder you stirred into hot water. Later on, like in junior high, I discovered that OMG you could actually buy the coffee beans like the ones Juan Valdez showed in the commercial and grind then and it didn’t taste like whatever Taster’s Choice tasted like.
And in response to one of the other posts in this thread: yes, I have stuck a spoonful of the stuff right in my mouth, thank you very much.
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A similar product is popular in New England (particularly Road Island). But it’s chiefly mixed with milk and consumed cold, or used to flavor deserts and ice cream drinks. Particularly frappes (pronounced frap, not all French like) which New Englanders will swear to fucking god is something other than a milkshake. But is just a god damned milk shake.
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Yes but…
how does Tasters Choice go with sourdough soft pretzels?!
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I haven’t noticed a run on coffee. Should I be hoarding?
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