Tender – with cream and cinnamon
First you need to properly prepare instant coffee. To do this, the granules are filled with hot water. The optimal dosage is 2 teaspoons per 250 ml. For a small cup, divide the quantity in half.
The most common mistake is using boiling water. Coffee should be prepared from slightly (2-3 minutes) cooled boiled water.
Add sugar to the finished drink if necessary. Heat 40 g of liquid cream to 50-60 ⁰C, beat with a blender or mixer for 30 seconds. Alternatively, you can make foam from milk. Pour the whipped mixture into instant coffee and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of cinnamon. A gentle drink of vigor is ready!
Brew instant coffee
Everyone is used to preparing instant coffee the way it is written on the package. But if the granules are boiled rather than brewed, the taste will change noticeably. It's very easy to do this:
- Pour cold water into a small saucepan (the volume should correspond to the number of finished servings).
- Add granules to the container at the rate of 1 - 2 spoons per serving.
- Place the dishes on low heat and cook the mixture until it begins to boil, then remove from the stove and pour into cups.
The peculiarity of this method of preparation is that the drink acquires a richer and brighter taste. At the same time, the same pleasant aroma will spread throughout the apartment as when preparing ground grains in a Turk.
Nutritious – with chocolate and condensed milk
This instant coffee recipe is especially for those with a sweet tooth. It’s better to prepare the “filling” first so that the drink doesn’t have time to cool down. To do this, you need to heat 150 ml of milk. Add 20 g of dark chocolate to it, beat everything together with a mixer until smooth.
- Don't miss: How instant coffee differs from natural coffee
Now quickly brew instant coffee and pour the resulting mixture into it. Next add 2 tablespoons of condensed milk. This drink will invigorate and replenish the body with endorphins!
Characteristic
Production
When a plant produces a soluble extract, the grains go through several stages of processing. What is described in the article “What is coffee made from?”
As a result, coffee granules or powder lose the taste properties that are characteristic of the beans. But we will teach you how to make a tasty, aromatic and healthy drink from instant coffee.
Before we tell you how to brew the instant version, let’s find out its advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages and disadvantages
Among the advantages of the drink: it is quickly prepared, has a rich taste, and can be diluted with various ingredients.
There are more disadvantages compared to its natural grain counterpart. The drink has an adverse effect on kidney function. It washes away calcium, magnesium, potassium, disrupts the water balance, and promotes the formation of stones.
No matter how tasty the powdered extract is prepared, it should not be drunk by people who have problems with the cardiovascular system: coronary heart disease, hypertension, cerebrovascular accidents.
It is not recommended to drink instant coffee for people with chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and duodenum: cholecystitis, gastritis, colitis, ulcers.
The limitation is due to the increased acidity of the product - 3-4 pH. The normal value for the gastrointestinal tract is 5–7 pH, for the duodenum – 5.6–7.9 pH.
Types and selection criteria
Coffee powder extract may contain bean waste and food additives (E636) to enhance the aftertaste and aroma. The finished hot drink emits a noticeable chemical smell, and the taste becomes cloying.
Interesting! How many cups of coffee will be produced from 1 kg of beans?
Continuing the topic, we recommend that you read the article “Freeze-dried coffee: what does it mean and how is it made.”
The article “The most important things about granulated coffee” contains information about this type.
When choosing delicious coffee from powder, sublimate or granules, pay attention to trusted brands and user reviews.
Before preparing, pay attention to the additives and brewing method indicated on the package.
Egyptian foam
Equipment: two glasses or mugs, a cocktail straw. One teaspoon of instant coffee and the same amount of sugar are poured into the first container. Pour filtered water on top, literally barely covering the ingredients. Cut the lower end of the tube 1 cm lengthwise into two halves. Bend the cut parts perpendicular to the base, like a propeller. Now you need to lower the “blades” into the contents of the cup and intensively rotate the base held between your palms. The mixture will very soon turn into a foamy cream.
Manual whisking with a cut cocktail straw is a life hack that many baristas use. Effective and very fast!
In the second container, prepare classic instant coffee with milk. One spoon of granules should be filled with 120 ml of hot water, then add 60-70 ml of warm milk. Without delay, spread the creamy foam on top. Vanilla mixed with cinnamon and chocolate chips will help soften the taste and decorate the cocktail.
Cooking features
Coffee lovers only recognize drinks that are made from ground beans. Moreover, the fresher the grind, the better. Such an opinion is a tribute to tradition. Previously, the food industry could not completely replicate the taste of natural cappuccino. Only a surrogate drink was made from instant coffee. The taste is similar, but clearly far from the original.
Now the situation has changed dramatically. The capabilities of the food industry make it possible to perfectly convey all the notes of taste. Sometimes even gourmets cannot distinguish instant coffee from coffee brewed in a Turk or prepared in a coffee machine. When preparing such a drink, you need to take into account several important features:
The more expensive the instant coffee, the better it is. Cheap brands are seriously inferior in taste to expensive ones.
The brewing temperature specified by the manufacturer must be observed.
Cappuccino from instant coffee should be made taking into account the proportions of coffee and milk. Some gourmets believe that there should be twice as much milk and milk foam. Others believe that the total proportion of milk and milk foam should be equal to the volume of coffee.
Cappuccino should be poured into heated mugs.
Healthy – with ginger and honey
They start by preparing a healing infusion. Peel the ginger root, cut into thin layers or grate on a coarse grater. 1 cm of root in length is enough per serving. After pouring boiling water over the ginger, let it steep for 5-6 minutes. Pour 1 teaspoon of coffee into a mug, add a spoonful of honey and the same amount of lemon juice. During this time, the infusion has time to cool down; it can be heated in the microwave. Then pour the mixture into a mug, stir until the granules and honey dissolve.
Ginger root has all-round benefits. Only fresh, not dried product should be prepared. Tip: thin slices will look more aesthetically pleasing than grated ginger.
Mocha - for cold lovers
Iced coffee is prepared in many countries, and for good reason. Once you learn how to brew instant iced coffee correctly, you can't help but fall in love with it. The main ingredient is frozen coffee cubes. To do this, you need to prepare instant coffee, cool it and place it in the freezer in a special form.
So, a handful of brown ice is poured into a glass. Heated milk is poured on top. If you add chocolate syrup to the cocktail, it will be incredibly delicious.
If you like mocha, it is better to prepare coffee ice in large quantities, with a reserve. When choosing a glass, you need to provide a place for the ice to melt.
How to make good coffee at home
The best coffee is the one you like. However, some recommendations may be useful.
There is a stereotype that making good coffee on your own, at home, is almost impossible. The stereotype is carefully cultivated and therefore very widespread. And even fair in many ways, if by “excellent coffee” we mean professionally prepared espresso and its many relatives. Capricious lattes and cappuccinos really require expensive equipment - the espresso machine alone costs as much as a domestic car. Knowledge and skills are no less important - the best baristas have been mastering this profession for years.
However, despite the popularity and persistent mantras of marketers, espresso is far from the best way to make coffee. And what’s more, it’s far from the only one. At home, more delicate and accessible coffee lover tools will come to the rescue - from the legendary Turk to the familiar French press. And even if you can’t imagine life at home without a cup of morning espresso, there are ways to do this without breaking the bank on expensive equipment. And if you follow a number of basic rules, even a novice coffee lover will be able to prepare a very good cup of coffee.
Despite the availability and ease of preparing instant coffee at home, there is no temptation to write about this topic. Due to my close familiarity with the methods of its production - they are based on recycling the cheapest surplus coffee, I cannot afford to call even the best varieties of this drink “coffee”. I hope boiled and dried coffee dust, obtained from low-grade discarded beans, enriched with flavors and stabilizers, does not become part of your diet. Once you learn how to properly and deliciously prepare natural coffee at home, you will never settle for less.
Perhaps we should start with freshness. Make sure the coffee beans are freshly roasted. Ask Google or your coffee-loving friends where the nearest coffee roaster works. Today, it is quite possible to have your own roasting shop in coffee shops and even supermarkets. Abroad, there is a service for regular delivery of freshly roasted coffee beans to the buyer’s home. I hope this will come to Russia in the near future. Buy grains weekly and store them in a tightly sealed glass container. Roasted coffee beans are like freshly baked bread, tasty and aromatic only for a very short time.
Buy rich-tasting, aromatic Arabica beans. I recommend medium roast beans - they have the most pronounced taste. And don't let flavored coffee tempt you—flavoring usually hides poor quality coffee.
It is necessary to grind coffee immediately before preparation. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of quality coffee grinding. What you drink often depends on how well the coffee is ground - an aromatic strong drink or hot water with a coffee flavor. I do not recommend buying ground coffee - after grinding, the aroma disappears from the coffee very quickly.
The best option is a mechanical or electric coffee grinder with millstones. Such coffee grinders have metal or ceramic discs, between which the grains are ground according to the principle of mill grinding. Burr coffee grinders provide the ability to adjust the degree of grinding of coffee beans. Preparing coffee in a Turk, for example, requires very fine grinding - “to dust”, while a French press requires coarse grinding.
Avoid buying the popular, inexpensive electric rotary blade coffee grinders - they heat up the coffee noticeably while grinding. Oxidation and almost a second roasting occurs, which noticeably worsens the taste of the coffee. Rotary coffee grinders also do not have the ability to select the grind level. The longer the grinding process takes, the smaller particles of coffee beans we will end up with - this leads to overheating of the coffee beans.
True coffee lovers know well that the taste of the finished drink largely depends on the quality of the water. High-quality water is an indispensable condition for making good coffee.
It should be free of foreign odors, and even more so without the odors of cleaning products, bleach, hydrogen sulfide, soap, and so on. Pipe water undergoes a chlorination process and flows for a long time through pipes affected by rust. Such water must be filtered before use.
Bottled drinking water is good for making coffee. Make sure it is not carbonated or mineralized.
Stereotypes about coffee preparation need to be brought to light. Experienced coffee lovers know that coffee is brewed, but never boiled. The temperature of the water when preparing coffee should be slightly below the boiling point - high temperature destroys the delicate essential oils contained in coffee. The optimal temperature is - 93 C - 95 C. At a lower temperature, the coffee turns out to be non-aromatic - not enough flavoring and aromatic substances are extracted. At higher levels, coffee becomes bitter and acidity increases sharply.
Freshness of beans, purity of water, quality of grinding. Very simple rules that underlie good coffee - both at home and in any self-respecting coffee shop.
The arsenal of home coffee equipment is very diverse and more than affordable. From the Turks who came to us from the distant past to geyser coffee makers and new products in the form of manual espresso machines. Making coffee at home is a creative process, which means it is subjective. Everyone has their own favorite tools and recipes. Our tastes are also very individual. At the same time, these simple rules are very objective conditions that contribute to your “creativity” achieving a positive result, regardless of the method you choose.
Vadim Granovsky is the owner of a coffee business on the island of Bali, and a publicist. Grows Arabica coffee in the Kintamani mountains. He develops his own methods of roasting coffee beans, creating the concept of “live” coffee.
