Supermarket Instant Coffee - Which One Tastes Best?

Wearing a white shirt while slurping coffee out of a spoon nearly 70 times is honestly a very impressive flex.

In Sweden, we don't call it coffee. If a dinner guest asks for coffee and you only have instant, you say, - I'm sorry we don't have coffee, only instant.

I’m impressed at how many different ways he manages to diplomatically avoid using the word ‘disgusting’

James constantly proves how much of a coffee genius he is, but calling out the Ethiopian out of a potential 38 is pretty crazy

James has some seriously impressive taste buds for coffee. Imagine being able to tell that an instant coffee comes from ethiopia from a list of 32 coffees.

Growing up in Afghanistan, we could only find the nescafe brand. Growing up I would only drink coffee during school exams time as coffee would help stay up late for studying. Always thought that the instant coffee was the coffee. I never liked the taste, but I had to take. After the 2001 when the American came to Afghanistan, I started working for an American company. I remember my boss, who was an American, had set up a little table for brewing espresso for himself in his office. There were no fresh beans in Kabul, he had a big can of the typical superstore pre ground coffee. One day he offered me a cup, for the first time I enjoyed coffee. Now when I taste freshly roasted beans that are freshly ground, I can’t belief the difference. I haven’t had instant coffee for the last 17 years.

The fact that he said that the two Colombian coffees were similar in profile, noticed that the Illy coffees were chocolatey, and pinpointed the Ethiopian coffee exactly is just insane to me.

Worth mentioning, instant coffee can be a great cooking/baking ingredient in situations where you want the flavor without additional water. I use a ton of instant coffee and espresso powder, but never just as a drink.

In the current absence of professional sport, this will absolutely suffice.

What I learned: James likes Colombian coffee, Illy has chocolaty coffee, every nescafe regardless of price is trash.

I don't think many people are drinking instant over bean coffee for the flavour. It's the convenience and speed. Boil a kettle, teaspoon of granules, dash of milk (maybe sugar) glug down half the cup and out the door.

You have to do Part 2: Freeze drying your own perfectly brewed coffee to see if it could ever be good

James choosing dating partners: "Well this one is harsh and bitter. But this one is weird and interesting. Clear winner."

James, my Mother is physically disabled due to years of Rheumatoid Arthritis. The other day she asked me what coffee options there were for people with a handicap and I honestly couldn’t make a good suggestion. This video is very welcomed to just make the best of the situation. Thank you!

I oftentimes find myself coming back to this video for one distinct moment, and that's at 8:10 - when he manages to guess correctly that the coffee is Ethiopian. The cafe that I work at was the first specialty coffee shop I had ever been to, and we specialize in Ethiopian coffee. As a result, I have a pretty deep respect and love for the coffees which come out of the country, particularly how wonderfully complex and interesting they are (so very floral). The fact that James is able to guess - out of all the coffees he is tasting (with very similar taste profiles) - the exact country of origin of this one coffee speaks volumes to me about the amount of knowledge he has on the subject. I also think that it speaks volumes about the coffee coming out of Ethiopia, which I happen to think is some of the best in the world. Something about that moment just resonates with me in a deep way. Thank you James for what you've done for the coffee industry and for sharing your expansive knowledge with us.

I love how he described one coffee as "lawful neutral" which leads me to wonder, could James taste a coffee and make a dnd character out of how it makes him feel

I took my elderly father somewhere and on the way back, we stopped for a snack at one of the chains. I got us two lattes, both a fairly unremarkable medium roast Columbian bean. He took one sip and said that it didn't taste anything like coffee and asked for a cup of tea instead. It turned out that he had been drinking Nescafe for 45 years and had no idea what actual coffee tasted like.

“Weird coffee person” I’m so happy that he is wearing a disclaimer.

When I was in Japan I was impressed by the quality of some of the instant coffees there. There was a brand called Maxim, which I remember my grandmother loving, and I really got into because I had a tiny apartment and no coffee brewing setup, and I would enjoy a cup with my friend every day and it was delightful 😊 ~Trav

Best instant I've had (both decaf and regular) was Mount Hagen Fairtrade. Hard to find a decent decaf coffee at all here, so I was really happy when I found that one, since I couldn't drink regular coffee with the medication I was on back then.