Coffee Territory

You should show mettle in order to make coffee from coffee beans. If you want to have instant coffee, you will only need powder, a cup and boiling water. A lot of coffee-achievers are ready to sacrifice to wonderful taste and use doubtful cocktail from aromatizers with caffeine.

Three views of instant coffee

The instant coffee has been discovered at the dawn of the last century. According to one version, it was made for need of the American Army – there was not time in trenches to take trouble over the cezve (Turkish coffee pot).
Apparently, the aspirations of military departments have been successfully coincided with wishes of Brazilian government. This Latin-American country has always produced a great number of beans. Coffee is a perishable product – it loses its aroma very quickly, it is not simple in keeping, it should be observed definite temperature and moisture. That is way, a lot of raised and gathered grains got out of order still in the homeland.

The way to protect «Brazilian gold» has been seeking for a long time. The decision was very simple. We can keep for a long period dry product, so coffee should be dried out. In such a way has appeared the first kind of instant coffee – powder. The beans are fried, crumbled up and underwent treatment with a hot water. Per se, they make a very strong coffee. Ready concentrated drink is dried out and turned into the powder. It is the cheapest kind of coffee, but it practically has not any useful substances. At the end they add some aromatizers, so that to make it similar to real coffee even concerning the smell. Or it is also possible to give it coco’s aroma or «Amaretto», vanilla or chocolate. The producers of no scruples may put out coffee from dampen, ill-conditioned grains, and such exterior smells only help to sell low-quality product.

In several years, in 1930s it was discovered another kind of coffee, which now we can meet in any shop – granulated coffee (or agglomerated). At first it has the same preparation like by powdered coffee, but then coffee powder is moistened once more time. The grains are stuck together and form granules.

At last, only half a century ago it has appeared the third kind of coffee – sublimated (or chilled, also «freeze-dried»). In this case the coffee extract get frosted then dried in vacuum. It is considered, that such coffee does not yield to real, because it does not undergo cooking and keeps organoleptic property of fresh product. So if you want to drink a quick beverage, it is better to stop on sublimated. But in the shops customers often pass by such coffee – it is the most expensive.

Instant coffee vs coffee beans

Is it worth to drink instant coffee or to give preference to coffee beans?
There are some tips which help you to compare these two beverages.

• The instant coffee has inestimable advantages. It can be kept for a long time and be prepared quite quickly. Probably that is all.
• After gathering they are assorted. The best grains are sold as a whole, the smallest and the most defective, as well as its husk, go to production of coffee extract, in other words for dissoluble drink.
• In instant coffee they almost do not use precious Arabica beans. Why should they do it, if it is possible to use cheaper sort – Robusta? After all, the delicate flavor of Arabica will be lost in any case!



• Many people find instant coffee more invigorative. First, Robusta contains more caffeine than Arabica. Second, the producers, who aspiring to keep taste and give «invigorating» force to the beverage, add extra caffeine. That is why, having a cup of dissoluble extract, we feel a surge of energy. But how does it affect our heart? Too much water drowned the miller.
• But there is the reverse of the medal. They produce «useful coffee» without caffeine. Why do we need such drink which does not contain any useful substances and which does not give a little bit of vivacity?
• Even if you succeeded in finding your favorite and the most delicious kind of instant coffee, it would be difficult to buy it constantly. This product is frequently counterfeited. Some years ago, by opening airtight tin, it was possible to find out there some rubbish. Last time the falsifiers do not act so impudent. However we still have a risk to buy something of low-grade, instead of high-quality coffee. Nevertheless, consumers may not notice this fact, especially when coffee is «improved» by a fair amount of aromatizers.
• The production of good instant coffee is quite expansive. That is why, according to price, this drink is not cheaper than coffee in beans.
• The producers, aspiring to saving of money, do not always pay attention to the package of cheap instant coffee. Now and then, powder may get the smell of stuffiness, and tins may give coffee unpleasant metallic or paintwork flavor, as well as after-taste.
• Barista (a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks in bars and in restaurants) says that it is impossible to make two equal cups of coffee. In each cup coffee has its own «sounding». Can we say the same about dissoluble drink?

Related Posts:

• Kinds of coffee
• Coffee in beans
• Ground coffee
• Who invented instant coffee?
• Aromatized coffee

This entry was posted on Monday, April 12th, 2010 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Sorts Of Coffee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.