Paul Hopkins

Ok I admit it I’m a bit of a coffee snob. I’m not a fan of instant coffee, it’s not coffee! I like a nice, fresh brewed coffee. I don’t mind if it’s a cappuccino, espresso, americano or just a filter coffee. Personally 90% of the time I don’t get instant coffee, why use it? To make a proper filter coffee you boil a kettle, put some coffee in a cafetiere add the water to it, let it brew a little, poor into cup. This process is not exactly complicated or time consuming.

Again I ask why would use instant? Well there is one time in my life it would be useful and that’s at work, I have very little spare time and instant definitely saves on washing up, etc. so I’m always on the look out for something decent I can have.

I’ve tried a couple of options and so far the best is the Starbucks instant which wasn’t too bad (in the taste department) but I found it a little expensive. When I saw Kenco had released a new product called ‘Kenco Millicano’ described by Kenco as “our first ‘Wholebean Instant coffee’: a clever combination of instant coffee and finely-milled coffee beans. Made from high quality Arabica beans, Millicano delivers a smooth, full-bodied, velvety flavour and a rich aroma. So you can enjoy an instantly indulgent and satisfying coffee experience whenever you want it – every single day.” They conclude by saying “Discover Kenco Millicano, the closest thing to ‘proper’ coffee in an instant.”

This sounded very much like the Starbucks approach which kind of worked for me. However what I found inside was what looked like smaller granules of instant coffee. The taste isn’t bad it’s a good instant coffee but that’s all and you’d expect it to taste better with it’s premium price. By no means am I saying it’s a bad drink but it’s not proper coffee.

My Solution
If you want that proper coffee taste then go to the supermarket and pick up some ‘Lyons coffee bags’ (why these things haven’t caught on I’ll never know) put them in hot water, leave to brew (I find if you stir a little you get a much stronger flavour) and that’ll give you the best cup of ‘proper’ instant coffee on the market (it is proper coffee!!)