Top 10+ Instant Coffee Brands
Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Coffee
Colombia blend
2000+ reviews
Flavor
Balanced & Nutty
A smooth coffee with a signature nutty flavor.
Ingredients
Soluble and Micro-ground Arabica Coffee (100%).
Starbucks Via comes in single-serve packets (typically 50 per package when bought in bulk). The unusual mix of both soluble and ground coffee makes for a slightly different texture to other coffees.
Caffeine: 130-140mg per serving (see more).
Mount Hagen
Organic
200+ reviews
Flavor
Smooth, rich.
Ingredients
100% organic coffee.
Mount Hagen is processed in Germany and is regarded as one of the best organic (and fair trade) instant coffees available.
Caffeine: Unlisted (but estimated at 50-60mg per serving).
Nescafé Azera
Americano Instant Coffee
1800+ reviews
Flavor
Smooth, aromatic, well grounded coffee.
Availability
Azera is sold in the UK, but is shipped by Amazon to the US. It is an enormously popular instant coffee. Check out the Nescafé Intensa version if you are after a stronger coffee.
Nescafe Clasico
Dark Roast
480+ reviews
Flavor
Rich, bold.
Ingredients
100% Coffee.
Nescafe has an enormous range of blends and coffees, but this two-pack consistently remains a top seller. Each jar makes around 100 cups (depending on your preference). This makes it one of the most economical without compromising on flavor.
Caffeine: 57-65 mg per serving.
Douwe Egberts Pure Gold
Pure Gold
1700+ reviews
Flavor
Medium, well-balanced.
Ingredients
100% Freeze-Dried instant coffee
Douwe Egberts (Also known as the Moccona brand in some countries) is a Dutch-made coffee, that many regard as having a superior flavor. There is a darker roast available called Pure Indulgence. Douwe Egberts can be a little more expensive than other brands.
Caffeine: Unlisted (but their faq lists an estimated amount of 60mg per serve).
Cafe Bustelo
Espresso instant coffee
5200+ reviews
Flavor
Dark, bold.
Ingredients
100% Freeze-Dried instant coffee
Cafe Bustelo is a latin-american brand (although owned by Smuckers). Coffee is sourced from the central american region, and is a blend of both arabica and robusta beans.
Caffeine: 60-90 mg per 1 tsp.
Folgers
Classic Roast
780+ reviews
Flavor
Classic, full.
Ingredients
Instant coffee
Folgers is a very popular brand of freeze-dried instant coffee – due to the price point, and ease of preparation.
Caffeine: Unlisted (but an early reference suggests 71mg per serving).
Starbucks Via Ready Brew Decaf
Italian Roast
2000+ reviews
Flavor
Roasty & sweet.
Ingredients
Soluble and Micro-ground Arabica Coffee (100%)
No list would be complete without a decaffeinated coffee. Starbucks Via Italian Roast is one of the highest-rated decaf coffees. It comes in single servings (50 per packet) along with the unique blend of both soluble coffee and micro-ground.
Caffeine: Decaf is not caffeine-free, but will have small amounts of caffeine.
Nescafe Taster’s Choice
House Blend
490+ reviews
Flavor
Smooth and well-balanced.
Ingredients
Soluble and Micro-ground Arabica Coffee (100%)
The House Blend is a light-medium roast that is preferred by many. Coffee is freeze-dried and dissolves near-instantly in hot water.
Caffeine: 65 mg per serving.
Jacobs Kronung
House Blend
240+ reviews
Flavor
Rich and flavorful.
Ingredients
Freeze-dried instant coffee.
Jacobs is a coffee manufactured in Germany. Despite the house blend being referred to as “rich” – many consider this to be a mild flavor, with less acidity.
Caffeine: Unlisted (but estimated at around 60 mg per serve).
New Instant Coffee Brands to Consider
The following brands sent us samples of their instant coffees. These brands are trying to offer something different than the mainstream brands above.
Waka Coffee
100% Arabica Instant Coffee
Flavor
Smooth and citrusy
Ingredients
100% Arabica freeze-dried coffee.
Waka Instant Coffee claims to taste as good as brewed coffee but without the time it takes to typically brew coffee. Its coffee beans are sourced from Columbia and 4% of each sale goes towards clean water projects in developing nations.
Caffeine: 56-84 mg per 8 fl oz serving. Their decaf version has about 4 mg per serving.
See our full Waka review here.
Waka also offers a light roast instant made from single-origin Arabica beans from India. We reviewed that version here.
Alpine Start Instant Coffee
100% Arabica Instant Coffee from Colombia
Flavor
Medium roast, full flavor profile
Ingredients
100% Arabica high altitude coffee from Colombia.
Alpine Start Instant Coffee was developed by outdoor adventurists as a way to get great-tasting coffee while out in the wilderness. Alpine Start dissolves easily in both hot and cold water. They also have two other versions: Coconut Creamer Latte and Dirty Chai Latte.
Caffeine: 120 mg per 8 fl oz serving.
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