9 Instant Coffee Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

Coffee lovers tend to cast instant varieties aside in favor of drip, single cup, or other highly valued brewing methods like pour-over and French press. While it's quick, convenient, and versatile, instant coffee doesn't deliver the same fresh flavor these other methods can, and some feel it features a stale taste, reminiscent of freezer burn. But although it may not be as popular as K-cups or grounds, instant does have its place in the world of coffee. It makes for a handy product to have in the pantry, either as a backup or for adding to recipes.

Instant coffee is made by grinding roasted coffee beans, which are then brewed with water to create a coffee concentrate. The concentrate is either freeze-dried or spray-dried into a powder, the latter of which is a popular method because it's fast and cost-effective. However, the drying process can sometimes result in clumps, which is why instant coffee ranges in texture from fine powder to large granules.

To help you choose the best instant coffee to have in your kitchen, I tested more than a half dozen brands and ranked them from worst to best. Smell, texture, ease of dissolving, and ultimately taste determined placement on this list.

As soon as I opened the jar of Maxwell House, the first sniff made me wrinkle my nose. Not a good start. It smelled off, somewhat like chemicals. The texture of the grounds was typical of instant coffee — a mix of fine to medium granules, which dissolve fairly easily without much stirring. But even after stirring, there was still some "coffee sludge" at the bottom of the mug. That's never pleasant to drink. This instant coffee could be used for blended drinks, but I probably wouldn't even do that as there are plenty of better brands to choose.

That original sniff of the grounds should have tipped me off that I wouldn't like the taste of this instant coffee either. It's a medium to dark roast but tasted burnt even with the addition of cream. On top of that, it had an unpleasant stale aftertaste that made me feel as though this coffee might have been packaged and stored for a really long time before I purchased it. Sorry, Maxwell House, I didn't think it was "good to the last drop," so this instant coffee lands last on the list.

Folgers is practically a household name for coffee and one of the better grocery store brands to drink black when brewed fresh. So how did its instant variety fare? It was not as good as it could be, in my opinion. I enjoy Folgers brewed via drip but was not impressed with the instant coffee. It's a medium-bodied coffee that smells and tastes a bit burnt, which caused it to rank a bit lower on this list. Though it's more like fresh brewed and less like instant, it just doesn't taste good enough to warrant a higher ranking.

The texture is an average instant granule, ranging slightly from fine- to medium-sized. It dissolved pretty well without much stirring, but even after a good stir, there was still a little sludge on the bottom of the mug — though not as much as Maxwell House. I think this instant coffee tasted better with cream because it took away the burnt flavor, but only slightly. This is a good contender for adding to recipes or mixed coffee drinks where the other ingredients can hide that bitter taste.

Juan Valdez is one of the few instant coffee brands on our list that is freeze-dried. It also features the largest coffee granules and the lightest color among the brands in this testing. I had high hopes upon opening the jar since it smelled like a good, light coffee. It dissolved easily without stirring (but I stirred it anyway) and didn't leave any residual undissolved coffee sludge on the bottom of the mug. I was left somewhat disappointed, though. When I tasted the coffee, it was just okay, so it doesn't rank very high.

Juan Valdez instant coffee is medium- to dark-bodied but comes off slightly harsh in taste, almost dirty. It's much better with cream, though it has an old or stale coffee aftertaste. It would be a decent choice for use in recipes or when making coffee drinks with other ingredients.

In the world of instant coffee, Starbucks is relatively new to the game, but it does pretty well, landing midway on our list. I used to take the Via packets camping and recall enjoying them. For this test, though, I chose the tin canister, which is outfitted with a pop-top aluminum seal. The initial smell is a little weird, and honestly, I can't put my finger on what it was exactly. It may not have been the coffee giving off an odd odor, though, it could have been the seal method.

The grounds are super fine like a powder, but ironically, needed a bit of help to dissolve completely in hot water. Starbucks claims its instant coffee should dissolve in cold water for an iced coffee (and it would seem so with such fine grounds) but I didn't have luck getting all of the grounds to blend. Even after a lot of stirring, little clumps were left behind. Perhaps a whisk or blender would have worked better. 

I chose the dark roast, but I think it tasted like a medium roast. It's a little bitter but surprisingly smooth. The overall flavor and experience drinking it is decent but this is not a brand I would reach for again for my instant coffee. However, I could see using it for blended drinks where more mixing occurs and other ingredients are added.

Created by Nescafé in the 1930s, Taster's Choice was the first freeze-dried instant coffee to hit the shelves. The instant process involves flash-freezing coffee concentrate in sub-zero temperatures. The result goes through a vacuum chamber to remove moisture, which ends up as coffee granules. Taster's Choice isn't the only Nescafé instant coffee on the shelf but for the sake of this ranking, I chose it because it's a long-standing instant option. I've had Taster's Choice many times in the past and the brand remains consistent, giving it a solid middle spot on our list.

Taster's Choice is a light to medium roast and has a very light coffee smell. One whiff and you know it's instant coffee — perhaps because Taster's Choice set a standard so long ago. To me, it also has that classic instant coffee taste, which I think is partly due to the freeze-drying process. It tastes as though it's somewhat stale and has been sitting for a while. Adding cream took away that distinct flavor, but I think it still ended up tasting a little burnt. The granules range from fine to medium, but the mix has less powder than some of the other brands. Oddly, there were undissolved grounds in the mug, even after stirring.

Marketed as an instant espresso, Café Bustelo is a medium- to dark-bodied coffee that's deep like an espresso roast. I was pleasantly surprised to find the company is incredibly consistent with its coffee across various brewing methods. If you've ever tasted Café Bustelo in any fashion, you'll know what this instant variety tastes like.

This instant coffee resembled coarse ground coffee used for brewing, with very little powder or tiny pieces, and dissolved easily with little stirring. It's one of the deepest instant coffees on our list but is still fairly smooth. It had that signature dark espresso bite and might be too harsh for coffee drinkers who enjoy something lighter. 

With its full, rich flavor, Café Bustelo instant coffee retained its bold and deep notes, even when cream was added. It would make a great base for lattes or flavored coffee drinks. Given the heft of this instant espresso, it's also a coffee that would pair well with a chocolate dessert.

Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) is the only instant coffee brand on our list that I tested using single packets; a jarred option wasn't available. This instant coffee had a medium body and tasted like instant coffee, reminding me of Taster's Choice. It gets a higher ranking, however, because the coffee had less of an instant taste, making it more enjoyable. It went down fairly smoothly but still had a little punch to it. I think it's better with cream, so it makes a good option for flavoring with other ingredients.

The grind is super fine and I had no problem dissolving it in hot water; it required very little stirring. BRCC instant coffee is also meant for cold drinks and I tested that, too. It dissolved well in cold water but needed lots of stirring. It holds its coffee taste pretty well when cold. In fact, I enjoyed this option so much for making iced coffee that I made a second one. The second time, I used a fork to whisk the coffee into the cream, which worked much better than a spoon.

Mount Hagen already sticks out from the pack with its fairtrade and organic certifications. And while this doesn't automatically translate to a quality product, I couldn't help but hope it did. And in this case, it did. This was another freeze-dried instant coffee, with granules that were medium in size with no powder or inconsistency in the mix. Though, it did smell a little off. The medium to dark roast dissolved easily in hot water. The main factor bumping this brand's offering a notch higher than BRCC is that it tasted more like fresh brewed rather than instant. It was bold, smooth, and paired well with cream, too.

Mount Hagen can be used for cold coffee drinks as well, but it did not dissolve easily in cold cream or milk. No matter how much I stirred, there were clumps. This can probably be resolved by using a fork to whisk it into the liquid. The reason it ranks a little higher is that it's very tasty and worth the extra effort to help dissolve the granules for iced coffee.

Redeeming itself from not being one of the best store-bought espresso brands, Pilon makes an excellent instant coffee. Admittedly, because of past experience drinking this brand, it was not the one I thought would rank first. Once opened, it has a nice, light smell of fresh coffee. Its texture looks more like coarse ground coffee made for brewing rather than granules, which is typical of instant. But this coffee, in fact, did dissolve in an instant — no pun intended. It's the fastest dissolving coffee on our list with no leftovers at the bottom of the mug. It barely needed stirring.

Pilon is a light to medium roast and the flavor was closer to fresh brewed than instant. It's rich, but not heavy, and went down smoothly. In fact, it had just the right level of acidity so that it was easy to drink half of the cup before I realized I drank half of the cup. Then, I ended up drinking two — it's just good coffee.

There's a wide range of instant coffee on the market. For the purpose of this ranking, I chose some of the more popular brands, grabbing jars when available, which was seven of the nine brands.

I'm no stranger to instant coffee. It's great for traveling, camping, or as an addition to recipes like chili, beef stew, or chocolate desserts. I used the recommended serving size and sampled the brands black and with cream. A few brands claimed their instant coffee can be made cold as well, so I made both hot and cold coffee for those brands. As always, I brewed coffee with spring water.

I paid close attention to which brands dissolved the best with the least amount of stirring. And though drinking coffee is an all-sensory experience, the taste was the deciding factor over the drink's look or smell. I prefer a hearty, full-bodied cup of joe that's light on the acidity but still has a bit of punch. I like coffee to be smooth, with a hint of sweetness that lingers with no aftertaste. I chose the winning coffee based on the one that dissolved the best, tasted the freshest, and maybe even made me forget I was drinking instant.