Introduction

I’m going to be teaching you 10 ways that you can make your instant coffee taste better than it does right now. Some of these methods I’ve learned from other coffee experts. Some of them are easy and you can implement them instantly, pun definitely was intended there, while others will be a little bit more difficult and may require you to go and buy some additional accessories. lets get started.

Let’s start with tip number one, and that is using the right measurements of instant coffee.

• This is going to be for my homies that think their instant coffee tastes a little too weak.
• Let’s start by taking a look at the back of your instant coffee package and looking at that suggested recipe.
• Most of the time this recipe is going to be one teaspoon of instant coffee to one cup of water.
• Now when you’re following a cooking recipe, that one cup of water is typically going to refer to 8 fluid ounces.
• but this is where things get a little weird, specifically when you’re referring to coffee.
• The American cup measuring system says that one cup of water is not 8 fluid ounces; it’s actually six fluid ounces.
• American measuring systems literally suck.
• so chances are you don’t have weak tasting instant coffee and you’re just using too much water.
• So next time, try using less water.
• I told you some of these tips are going to be extremely easy.

tip number two, using quality water.

• Your traditional cup of coffee is like 98% water.
• so if your water sucks, your coffee is also going to suck.

 I’m going to show you three ways that you can improve your water quality in instant coffee :

First way to get better water quality at home to make instant coffee:

• starting with using a simple filter.
• This is by far the easiest way to improve your water quality because a simple water filter can remove a lot of impurities like chlorine and lead.
• I like to run my tap water through a Brita filter.
• Just remember to periodically change the filter and you’ll be kosher.

 the second way to get better water quality at home

• You want to start by buying three different spring or mineral waters from the grocery store.
• Each of these waters is going to have three different mineral contents in it.
• and if you make three coffees using the same instant coffee, just switching the water and taste them.
• you’re going to see that they all taste completely different.
• It’s actually insane.
• If you like science, buckle up because we’re going to get into minerals and water and stuff.

There are four minerals responsible for altering the flavors of your instant coffee:

1. calcium,
2. magnesium,
3. potassium,
4. and sodium.

• Calcium and magnesium are going to contribute to water hardness, increasing this is going to add sweetness and structure to your coffee.
• and not having enough is going to make your coffee taste weak and boring.
• Frankly, the sodium and the potassium are going to contribute to your water’s alkalinity too little.
• and your coffee is going to taste acidic and sour.
• while too much, it’s probably going to taste chalky and flat.
• To be honest with you, most of the spring and mineral water that you can buy from the grocery store will literally tell you these mineral contents on the back of the packaging.
• and this is what kind of makes coffee so much fun because you could be using the same coffee beans but then use two different waters and get two completely different tasting cups.
• one that you might really enjoy and one that you might not like at all.
• Which brings me to my third way of getting better quality water at home, and that is kind of just becoming a chemist.
• You can go to the grocery store and buy some of distilled water.
• It’s the purest H2O that you can buy.
• There’s no other minerals in it at all.
• and then you can add the minerals to it.
• So you add one of these packets into your distilled water and it gives you the perfect, perfect mineral makeup to brew coffee.
• I almost feel like this is one of the most important tips that you can learn in the coffee world in general.
• I know this is an instant coffee video, but this applies to all coffee.

Tips no three:let’s talk about using the right water temperature in instant coffee.

• This is for my homies that say their coffee tastes bitter or burnt.
• It’s probably because you’re burning it.
• Instant coffee is extremely fragile.
• and if you use water that’s too hot, you are going to burn it.
• and it’s going to taste bad because of it.

 Here’s two ways to fix this:

• Don’t start by adding boiling water directly to your instant coffee.
• Instead, add some cold water, dissolve the instant coffee, and then add the boiling water to that.
• That way, the coffee is not going to burn.
• Alternatively, if you have a kettle where you can set custom temperatures, just set it to 180° F and brew with that temperature water the entire time.

tip number four:and this is where we get a little culinary

• I know this is going to sound weird, but don’t judge me.
• By adding a small pinch of salt to your coffee, it cuts the bitterness and it really brings out some of the sweetness of your coffee.
• Just remember that we’re not making pasta water here.
• All you need is a very, very small pinch.
• You don’t want to make pasta water; you don’t want it to taste salty as the sea.

tip number five:we’re going to be talking about how to sweeten your instant coffee intelligently

• there are different types of sweeteners that you should know about.
• when you should use them, and when you shouldn’t, and the different characteristics of these things.

We’re going to explore some of the main sweeteners outside of just the plain white sugar.

• This stuff is straightforward.
• it’s going to dissolve easily and it gives you a clean sweetness.
• But if you’re after something with a deeper flavor, that’s where the brown sugar is going to come into play.
• and it’s going to give you this richer, caramel-like flavor that’s great to pair with darker, deeper roasts or if you’re making something like a mocha or like a saltedFourth type of sweetener that I like to mention is maple syrup.
• Yes, the pancake hero can be your coffee’s best friend too.
• I think that maple syrup is a crucial element, especially in Autumn and Fall.
• It brings this woodsy kind of autumn sweetness that’s hard to beat.
• Putting maple syrup in a pumpkin spice latte? GameChanger, really.
• It just gives you a different flavor than brown sugar and white sugar would.
• I think each sweetener is good in its own ways, but I think it’s best to experiment with these things.
• figure out which one sings to your palette, and remember to always have balance with it.
• You don’t want it to be too sweet, and you don’t want it to be not sweet enough.
• We want this to complement the coffee.
• we don’t want it to overpower the coffee, of course, unless that’s what you want.

Tip number six is all about adding some zest in instant coffee.

• Adding a bit of citrus zest to your coffee can work wonders in brightening and freshening up that flavor.
• Each type of citrus brings its own unique characteristics.

 Let’s go over the main four citrus fruits that you can add in your instant coffee:

• starting with the one that’s most popular: lime.
• Lime has a sharp and tangy profile.
• A little bit of lime zest can add a surprising refreshing twist to your coffee, especially if you’re doing like a cold brew or an iced coffee.
• It could give it a little zing.
• I would say lemon zest is like a ray of sunshine to your coffee.
• It’s vibrant, it’s a little sweet, and it’s perfect for cutting through bitterness of coffee.
• I think it pairs exceptionally well with lighter roasted coffees.
• So if you have a lighter roasted instant coffee, lemon is your go-to.
• The sweetness of orange zest is classic.
• It’s in all sorts of desserts, and it pairs super well with coffee.
• It brings a warm yet familiar citrus note.
• and I think it enhances a lot of natural flavors that are found in coffee.
• One other thing about orange zest is that it works super well with other spices like cinnamon and Nutmeg if you’re one of those people that like things more on the interesting end and want to spice things up.
• That’s where grapefruit comes in.
• Grapefruit is slightly bitter with a hint of sweetness.
• I think this adds so much depth and texture and mouthfeel to your coffee that you wouldn’t normally get.
• Just like the salt and just like adding sweetness to your coffee, all of these things should be used in moderation.
• You do not need a lot, just a few zests is all you need.

Moving on to tip number seven. Let’s play around with the texture of our instant coffee.

• The way your coffee feels in your mouth can be just as important as the way that it tastes.
• It’s kind of weird.
• Here are three ways that you can play with the texture of your coffee to enhance it a little bit more.
• First up, frothing it.
• The famous fro whipped dalgona coffee is famous for a reason.
• To make dalgona coffee, whip equal parts of instant coffee, sugar, and hot water until they become creamy and light in texture.
• Then spoon that froth over cold or hot milk, and it’s like a cloud of coffee sitting on top of your milk offering a creamy texture with literally every single sip.

For method number two,

• we need to break out the machinery and blend it.
• This is great if you like cold and refreshing drinks because this is basically a coffee smoothie.
• All you got to do is take some milk, ice, and a sweetener of your choice and blend all of that stuff together inside of a blender.
• And what you’re left with is this Frappuccino.
• What’s great about this is that you can substitute this sweetener with anything that you’d like.
• So if you have vanilla syrup or caramel syrup or white mocha syrup or chocolate syrup, you could use any of those things and have a different flavored coffee smoothie.

 Method number three is making a shaken espresso-style drink.

• This is great if you want to replicate that brown sugar shake and espresso drink that you’d normally get from Starbucks and pay like $19 for.
• This is going to do the same job in a cocktail shaker like this.
• I’m using a Boston Shaker, but you can use any cocktail shaker that you have at home.
• Add a little bit of instant coffee, a little bit of sugar, and a small amount of water.
• Oh yeah, add ice too.
• If you don’t have ice, then it’s going to explode.
• And then you’ll want to seal it and then shake it as hard as you can until it’s frothy.
• Then from there, all you got to do is top it off with the milk of your choice.
• And boom, you have a shaken espresso, and you can customize the flavors that you use.
• But I would say the most common is that brown sugar and cinnamon variation that we just made.

Tip number eight is going to sound a little obvious, but it’s about using milk.

• Adding milk to your instant coffee can literally transform it.
• Adding milk to your coffee in different ratios can open up the possibilities of drinks that you can make.
• I think milk does two things extremely well.
• The first thing that it does is it acts like a buffer between your tongue and your coffee, and it’s buffering bitterness.
• The second thing that it does is it’s a great base for certain sauces and syrups.
• Let me explain. Say we have this white chocolate sauce.
• If I put this white chocolate sauce directly into plain black coffee and try to mix it together, it’s not going to mix very well.
• It’s going to be grainy, and it’s not going to be homogeneous.
• Versus if I take that same white chocolate sauce and I put that into a latte with a milk base, it’s going to dissolve much, much better.

I think Tip Nine is the most fun tip here, and it’s making coffee ice cubes.

• making coffee ice cubes is so much fun because it helps your coffee not get diluted by ice.
• Not only this, but it’s so easy to make ice cubes with instant coffee, and it’s super cheap too.
• Not only is it great to put coffee ice cubes inside of your coffee, but I find so many different ways to use these ice cubes.
• Like I’ll put these coffee ice cubes in my matcha latte, and it’s like a great combination of coffee and matcha.
• It’s actually so easy to make coffee ice cubes, and I’m not going to give you exact measurements because some ice cube trays are ginormous, and some of them are very small.
• So just make enough instant coffee that you think will fill that ice cube tray that you have, and then let it sit in the freezer overnight.
• and then the next morning,you have coffee ice cubes.

Bonus tip:

If you have a cool ice cube tray that can make ducks or something, that’d be really cool.

tip number 10: It’s just to keep trying different instant coffees.

• If you’ve tried the previous nine tips and you still can’t get your instant coffee to taste as good as maybe you’d want it to, you might just have a bad instant coffee.
• You might just have a dud.
• Go to the grocery store, try different instant coffees.
• But I will say, one of my favorite instant coffees to use is Juan Valdez Colombian.
• It tastes great, it’s affordable, and you can get it at a lot of different places.