It's UK coffee week, but despite years of cafe proliferation, instant coffee still dominates at home. Why do the British drink so much more instant than anyone else, asks Denise Winterman."It's like orange squash and orange juice, they're both called orange but that's pretty much where the similarities end," says Paul Meikle-Janney, managing director of coffee consultancy, Coffee Community. "Instant coffee and fresh coffee are different products. Each has its own place in the market but that place is narrowing when it comes to instant and that is as it should be." But instant still accounts for 77% of the coffee Brits buy to drink at home, according to market research specialists Mintel. In Italy it accounts for just 1%, in France 4% and 7% in the US. The UK market for coffee at home is growing and is now worth in excess of £1bn annually. Instant has lost market share recently but still dominates over the likes of ground coffee and beans. It's the Americans who are largely credited with giving the UK the stuff. It came over in the ration packs of US troops during World War Two. For a nation of coffee drinkers it was a temporary solution to not having a freshly brewed "cup of Joe". For a nation of tea drinkers it was something new and exciting and caught on. It's shunned in cafe culture. "It's simply not acceptable in any commercial or catering environment," says Meikle-Janney. But, as figures show, things are different in many British homes. Author Philip Hensher is a fan, calling it a "little piece of everyday private magic". "Private" being the operative word for those who hide their jar at the back of the kitchen cupboard. So what's the appeal? Simple - it's quick and easy, says Meikle-Janney. Granules, hot water, a dash of milk if that's how you take it, job done. "Convenience is the product's main strength but that won't last as freshly-brewed coffee is now much quicker and easier to make at home." A: Because they are lazy and have no taste. Instant coffee is an abomination, strictly for lazy ****s and *****s
Lavazza, my favourite. Real men drink tea and real coffee whereas Marxist Communists only drink Herbal tea... because Property Is Theft.
Nescafe Alta Rica - two heaped spoonfuls in near boiled water = damn fine instant coffee. Only ****s and/or *****s would add sugar or milk.
First you become addicted to Latte's from Cafe Nero, and actually start preferring them to a proper mug of rosy from the greasy spoon round the corner. Then you grow a beard and stop wearing socks. This is the road to irredeemable ****erdom, turn away while you still can.
Nothing worse than coffee snobs. It's just ****ing beans turned into a beverage for giving you a wee jump start in the morning or keeping you awake during boring meetings in the afternoon. Decent ground coffee is fine. Just avoid anything made by Nescafe.
I have drunk coffee which was eaten then shat out by a little Indonesian mammal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_Luwak Except Nespresso, which is awesome.
Instant coffee is honking. How anyone can drink it is beyond me. I get the convenience argument, but there are plenty of pod machines about these days that deliver a decent coffee with no more hassle than making instant.
Carte Noire is a very good instant coffee, but it costs about 4 quid a jar - it's fighting with proper coffee at that price.
You can buy decent coffee for £2 and a cafetiere can be picked up for less than a fiver, it can be ready to drink in about 2 minutes so I don't understand why anyone would drink instant when it tastes hee haw like Coffee is supposed to.
