If you saw how much coffee I drink in a day, you’d probably have to call me an addict. But being an addict doesn’t mean that I’ll drink just any coffee, and since I drink my coffee without sugar or milk, I want a coffee that tastes as good as it can. When it comes to instant coffee, I prefer Taster’s Choice (which is also known in Europe as Nescafé’s Gold Blend).
This particular brand is a freeze-dried instant coffee, which means that the product is made from brewed coffee that has been quickly frozen and then had the water pressed out, so that you’re left with large granules which dissolve in hot water easily to make your coffee. This also means that when you make this coffee, you won’t have grit at the bottom of your cup from the ground beans, since the only thing they freeze-dry is the liquid itself. On the other hand, this process also makes the granules look lighter in color than regular drying processes, but that doesn’t mean that you lose anything in the way of aroma or flavor. To the contrary, freeze-drying – while being a more expensive process than regular drying – actually preserves the coffee better.
When you first open a jar of this coffee, if you take a sniff of it, you’ll find that the scent of the coffee has a slightly woody tone to it. While this might not sound wonderful, to me a rich smell, which is almost outdoorsy in that it reminds me of a walk in a forest in the autumn. I prefer this to the original Taster’s Choice which has a more fruity scent that seems somehow fake and almost perfumed to me.
You can make this as strong or weak as you like, but I like to use one heaping teaspoon per mug of coffee. This gives me the exact amount of flavor that I enjoy most, without being bitter or tasting too watery. Of course, the predominant flavor here is of the coffee itself, but if you taste it carefully, you’ll find that it also has a bit of a dark chocolate undertone to it at the front of your mouth. As it goes down, you might notice that at the back of your tongue you taste that wood flavor come through again, that has a slightly acidic tinge to it. This isn’t unpleasant for me, but I can see where some people might not care that much for it, and therefore add a bit of sweetening to combat that. The aftertaste here goes back to that hint of chocolate, but in addition has an additional sweetness to it that reminds me a bit of applesauce (yes, really, of all things) that’s been made from tart apples like Granny Smith.
I find this total drinking experience to be most satisfying when the coffee is hot. However, if you let Taster’s Choice get a tiny bit cooler in your cup, you might find that the acidic tinge I spoke about is a bit less noticeable and the chocolate flavor more prevalent, and that is one of the reasons why I actually prefer drinking this when it is no longer completely steamy. I believe that this is due to a combination of at least two types of coffee bean – probably a respective three or two to one mixture of Colombian and Brazilian beans, since it is more smooth than sharp and Colombian beans have a creamier taste to them, while Brazilian beans are more acidic in flavor. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to discover exactly what blend Nescafé uses for Taster’s Choice, so I can’t be sure of this.
I should say that it is always best to make this with freshly boiled water, since water that has cooled down a bit might not melt all of the granules completely or quickly, and there’s nothing worse than muck at the bottom of your cup. This is true of all instant coffees, and so I can’t fault this product as being worse than others in this respect are.
In sum, I’d have to say that Taster’s Choice is the perfect instant coffee for me. It dissolves well in hot water, has a lovely scent to it, and a rich, full-bodied flavor, even without sugar and/or milk. Despite the fact that it is more expensive than some brands, I have yet to find an instant coffee – freeze-dried or other processed – that equals its taste and aroma, and am willing to spend the extra pence to feed my addiction. A full five stars and highly recommended (despite the expense).
