Waka Coffee & Tea: A Comprehensive Review
Waka Coffee is a company that set out to make a quality instant coffee product that uses only 100% Arabica coffee beans.
Their goal is to help coffee drinkers fall in love with instant coffee and the convenience this product offers.
As well as producing a quality instant coffee product, Waka is committed to helping create a better environment and the sustainability of the coffee industry. A portion of the proceeds of each sale is used to sponsor clean water projects around the globe.
Waka offers several instant coffee and instant tea products. Here is how each product tastes and compares to regular coffee or tea and to other instant products.
Waka Coffee and Tea Product Reviews
The company was gracious and sent us free samples of all their products for review. Here’s how each stacked up.
Waka Medium Roast Columbian Instant Coffee
Medium Roast Colombian is Waka Coffee’s flagship product.
I made a cup according to the directions on the packaging and added some milk and a teaspoon of sugar just like I do when I drink brewed coffee. I was pleased with the result. Waka tastes nice and in some cases, better than the brewed coffee I’ve had throughout my lifetime. Overall, it’s pretty much on par and just as enjoyable as traditionally brewed coffee.
Colombian does have a citrusy note which isn’t typical in brewed coffee unless it’s single-origin and never in most instant coffees since they are often made with Robusta beans.
I have a nice espresso machine and this is what I typically drink in the mornings. Would Waka replace this? No, but, it’s a great tasting product and I would choose it for camping or other occasions in which my espresso isn’t available or convenient. I definitely would prefer Waka Colombian to drip, pour-over, or French press. Waka Medium Roast Instant Coffee is also a great product to use to make the trendy Dalgona Coffee.
Waka Medium Roast’s Caffeine Amount
Waka Light Roast Indian Instant Coffee
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This instant coffee is perfect for those that prefer a blonde roast or less intensely flavored coffee.
Waka Indian Instant Coffee is a light roast instant which is a rare find. Most instant coffees are medium to dark in roast intensity.
This instant coffee produced a very smooth and easy to drink coffee that didn’t taste like instant coffee, which is a win in my book. The flavor was enjoyable and made for a great “sipping coffee”.
Waka sources only high-quality single-origin Arabica coffee beans from India for this product which is also hard to find with even whole bean coffee brands.
Overall, Waka Indian is a well-balanced instant coffee that will appeal to those who like less intense, lighter roasted coffee.
Waka Indian Instant Coffee’s Caffeine Amount?
Waka Decaffeinated Instant Coffee
Waka Decaf is a decaffeinated version of their Medium Roast Colombian Instant Coffee. It uses natural sugar cane derived ethyl acetate and spring water to remove most of the caffeine from the green coffee beans prior to roasting.
It’s nice to have a cup of coffee in the evenings with dessert or sitting around the fire. However, because this isn’t a regular occurrence for me, I avoid buying decaf coffee beans or decaf ground coffee because it would be stale before I use it all.
This is where Waka Decaf Instant Coffee is perfect. It stays fresh for a long time and it allows me to have the coffee flavor I love, but without the caffeine.
The flavor is exactly the same as their original medium roast Colombian which is rich, smooth, and citrusy. The freeze-dried crystals dissolve quickly for a nice compliment to an evening dessert.
Waka Decaf Medium Roast Colombian is a great choice to satisfy my evening coffee craving.
Waka Decafe’s Caffeine Amount?
Waka Instant Kenyan Black Tea
I’m not a regular tea drinker but I do enjoy a cup of hot tea or a glass of iced tea from time to time. I’ve had instant teas in the past and after a sip, it was obvious that the tea was instant and not freshly brewed. Therefore, I was curious if Waka had something different to offer since I really enjoyed their instant coffee products.
I opted to try Waka Instant Kenyan Black Tea hot and black first to be able to taste the full flavor of the product. I subsequently tried it with some milk and as iced tea.
Waka tasted just like a cup of freshly brewed black tea. I couldn’t tell the difference between this and freshly brewed. I’m also amazed at how such a little amount of powder can make a great cup of tea either hot or iced and it dissolves easily in either hot or cold water.
Waka has produced a solid instant tea product that’s convenient as well as enjoyable to drink.
Waka Instant Tea’s Caffeine Amount?
Waka Instant Matcha Tea Powder
I do love a good iced matcha tea when I eat sushi so I was excited to try Waka’s Matcha since all of their other products are so tasty.
Needless to say, Waka Matcha Powder is on par with their other products. I made a glass of iced matcha tea and it had a refreshing green tea flavor as bold as you’d expect from matcha.
Green tea smoothies, matcha latte’s, matcha frappe’s, etc., this product is perfect for use in all of these.
Waka Instant Matcha is made from single-origin tea leaves sourced from Japan and contains no additives. It’s just 100% ground tea leaves.
Waka Coffee Pricing
Waka Instant Coffee is a little more expensive than other instant coffees but in this case, you truly do get what you pay for. Cheaper brands often use low-quality Robusta beans which thus sacrifices much of the flavor and is generally why instant coffee has a bad reputation for not tasting good.
Waka’s 3.5 ounce, 35 serving instant coffee works out to be about $.74/cup. Their 80 serving option is just $.50/ cup. Waka Instant Tea is about $.07 per serving.
They do offer monthly subscriptions which does lower the price by 10%.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Waka makes great tasing and quality instant coffee and tea products. These are perfect for people on the go or for outings like camping and picnics when brewing coffee is either a hassle or not possible. Some people may even choose Waka as a replacement for their typical brewed coffee for a much more consistent experience, with both caffeine level and flavor.
The company is socially conscious and doing their part to make the planet a little better while providing consumers with a great product.
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