Instant Coffee vs Regular Coffee – Which is better?

Coffee comes in many flavors, variants, and types. While coffee used to be enjoyed only through the long process of ripening, grinding and brewing, people now can enjoy coffee in its instant form or in a regular form. Depending on your preference, you can enjoy the cup of coffee that best suits you.

The most basic difference between these two can be seen in three major aspects – the preparation method, the taste, and the price. While there are other aspects such as aroma and caffeine content where they also differ, these three are the primary indicators of the difference between instant coffee and regular coffee.

From the name itself, instant coffee is far easier to prepare. The one and only step is that you have to add hot water, and instantly you get to enjoy a cup of coffee. Regular coffee takes the same preparation as you would for gourmet or premium coffee except that the coffee beans have been ground already, so you can skip the grinding part of the process. Regular coffee is also available in grocery stores. If it is the convenience that you’re after, instant coffee would be your best choice.

For more the taste, regular coffee is prepared through a coffee maker. The beans have to be grounded so that the coffee retains its strong and full-bodied flavor. With instant coffee, the beans have been processed so that it will just need hot water to be prepared. Thus, the coffee beans have lost their flavor. Also, the beans used in instant coffee are blends of beans. Due to mixing with lower quality coffee beans, the premium taste of Arabica coffee beans are diminished.

As with any other beverage, the better it tastes, the higher the price. Instant coffee is inexpensive and regular coffees are pricier. Add to that the cost of coffee filters, time for preparation and the life of your coffee maker as well. For instant coffee, you simply need a cup, cutting down the price to more than half because of the ease in preparation.

As gifts, while regular coffee and coffee may be preferred as it has more taste, you can also give small packets of instant coffee. Whether as a birthday gift, as birthday favors or coffee wedding favors, the receiver will definitely appreciate receiving them. You can also give coffee-related gifts or favors such as mugs, coasters or paper filters.