11 Ways To Make A Cup Of Instant Coffee Actually Drinkable

Who doesn't love a good cup of freshly brewed coffee? Whether you get it at one of the best coffee shops across the U.S. or you make it at home with the coffee-making method of your choice, perfectly brewed coffee is one of life's daily pleasures. But if you can't make it to a coffee shop and you don't happen to have a coffee maker on hand — and you really need to get your caffeine fix — instant coffee may be your only option. Unfortunately, though, instant coffee isn't exactly known for its deliciousness. Many find it bitter and flat-tasting, and drinking a bad cup of instant coffee can be a real bummer when you're used to the freshly brewed stuff.

But even if you're working with one of the absolute worst instant coffee brands, there are steps you can take to make it taste better. From preparation methods to flavorful add-ins, the following are our favorite ways to take a bad cup of instant coffee and make it actually taste drinkable (if not actively enjoyable). Give these tips and tricks a try, and you may find yourself drinking instant coffee on the regular.

Back in the day, if you wanted to make your coffee taste better, you had very few options available to you. You could add in milk or cream and sugar, of course, but those were pretty much your only choices. Today, though, there are countless flavored creamers on the market for you to try. Not only do these products give you that milky, latte-like experience you may be looking for, but they'll also infuse your instant coffee with different flavors, which can help mask the bitterness and unpleasant notes that some instant coffee seems to impart in your cup.

Coffee Mate liquid creamers are available at many major grocery stores and offer a wide variety of flavors to choose from. Don't drink dairy? No problem. There's a good chance you can also find a large selection of oat milk creamer brands, among other dairy-free options, at your local grocery store. If your instant coffee is particularly unappetizing, choose a stronger, more intense flavor (like caramel instead of vanilla, for instance) to cover up as much of those bitter notes as possible. Just be careful not to add too much creamer before tasting your coffee. They're often quite sweet, and they can become cloying if you use too much.

When you go to a coffee shop and order the most elaborate drink on the menu, what does it always come topped with? Of course, it's whipped cream, which you can make multiple ways. You may not think of it as an ingredient you'd want to add to your coffee every single day, but if you're looking for a way to dress up an otherwise unfortunate-tasting cup of instant coffee, it'll almost certainly make an improvement. That's because it imparts creaminess, which adds more body to your coffee and tempers its strong bitter notes, as well as sugar, which is also an important ingredient when it comes to balancing out the bold flavors in instant coffee.

If you ask us, whipped cream belongs in coffee that's already been somewhat doctored up by other ingredients. Consider adding some milk and sugar or a bit of that flavored creamer before adding your whipped cream to the top of the drink. You can either stir it into the coffee or just allow it to sit on top and slowly melt into your cup. Either way, it's almost guaranteed to make your instant coffee-drinking experience more pleasurable.

If you order a Vietnamese coffee at your favorite coffee shop, it's not likely to be made with instant coffee. However, if you don't have access to a coffee maker at home, it's possible to make delicious Vietnamese-style coffee by using instant coffee instead of doing things the standard way. The most important ingredient you'll want to use for this recipe is condensed milk. This thick, creamy, and super sweet liquid is what gives Vietnamese coffee its signature sugary, creamy flavor profile without the use of American-style creamers or plain milk.

First, you'll combine the instant coffee and hot water, ideally frothing the liquid for the best results. Then, you can add the condensed milk, frothing further for the best texture. If you've never worked with condensed milk before, make sure you add it to the drink slowly, tasting as you go. Its flavor can be quite strong and sweet, so you don't want to use too much of it. Then, you can either add ice to your cup if you want iced coffee or simply enjoy it hot as is. Either way, you'll have a cup of coffee that's a huge step up from plain instant coffee.

One of the biggest complaints people have when they drink instant coffee is the fact that it tastes far more bitter than other types of coffee they've had in the past. Some people don't mind this bitterness, of course, but if it's a flavor you're not used to, it can be quite jarring. Adding milk, creamer, and/or sugar can all reduce that bitterness, but what if you're the kind of person who usually enjoys drinking your coffee black? In that case, you may want to turn to salt instead.

Most people don't tend to think of salt as a delicious addition to their cup of coffee, but you may be surprised to learn that it can really effectively tamp down the bitterness in your instant coffee. However, it's really important not to add too much salt to your cup, as more than a small amount could actually exacerbate that bitterness (and could make your coffee just taste salty instead). When in doubt, taste as you go for the best results.

Ever wondered why the coffee you make at home doesn't taste as good as the kind you get from a coffee shop? Well, a lot of that discrepancy has to do with the fact that they're not just pouring milk into your coffee straight out of the bottle. Instead, they're steaming it (and often frothing it) to give it the best possible taste and texture. And if you want to improve the flavor of your instant coffee, you might want to consider doing the same.

To get the same effect with your instant coffee at home, think about microwaving the milk before adding it to your cup of coffee. This will ensure that the refrigerated milk doesn't cool down the coffee too much, which can highlight those less-than-delicious notes in the cup. If you really want to make your instant coffee taste as good as possible, though, consider frothing the milk before you put it in the microwave. It's easy to take this step, even if you don't have a milk frother. All you have to do is place the milk inside a jar, then shake. Once you start doing this to your homemade instant coffee, you'll never go back to milk straight out of the fridge ever again.

Sometimes, when you're making instant coffee right before you have to get out the door, it may make sense to just pour hot water over the coffee, give it a stir, and be on your way. But most of the time, that's not going to result in the most delicious possible cup of instant coffee. Instead, you might want to spend some more time preparing your instant coffee by forming a paste with the coffee itself as well as any other dry ingredients (like powdered milk, sugar, and possibly salt) that you're going to use. Pour just a small amount of water into that dry mixture, and stir until you have a paste. 

Once you take these steps, then you can pour that hot water over the paste mixture and stir to incorporate all the ingredients well. This helps all of those flavors integrate better with one another, which leaves you with a more appealing cup of instant coffee. Sure, it takes a bit of extra time, but we think it's worth it if you end up with a more enjoyable cup of joe in the end.

Back in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dalgona coffee, a drink that hails from South Korea, was all the rage, perhaps because it could be made with only a few ingredients that a lot of people already had at home. Well, we never totally got over the Dalgona coffee craze, and because it actually calls for instant coffee specifically, it may be one of the best ways to improve the flavor of plain instant coffee.

Basically, all you need is instant coffee, granulated sugar, and some boiling water. Combine all those ingredients together in a bowl and whip them until they've reached an airy, foamy consistency. It's best to do this with a mixer, as it's tricky to do it by hand. After whipping, pour that foamy mixture into a cup that contains the milk of your choice, and you may just have the best instant coffee you've ever tasted. It requires a bit more effort than a standard cup of instant coffee, but it pays off when you take that first sip.

If you take a sip of your instant coffee and find that it's deeply unappetizing, it may not be the quality of the actual coffee itself that's the problem. In reality, the issue may be that you're not using the right coffee-to-water ratio. Just think: If you're using too much instant coffee in your cup, it's almost certainly going to taste too strong and bitter. On the other hand, if you're adding in too much water, you're likely going to end up with a cup of weak-tasting liquid that tastes more like bean water than actual coffee.

This is why it's so important to measure both the amount of coffee and the amount of water you're using to make your instant coffee. Generally, you'll want to use around one to two tablespoons of instant coffee for every eight ounces of water you add. However, this is highly dependent on your own personal taste. Experiment with different ratios to see which ones you like best, and you'll soon get a better idea of how to stir up a cup of instant coffee you actually enjoy.

Coffee is mostly just water, so it makes sense that the quality of water you use in your instant coffee would matter a lot. That's why it's important to ensure that you actually enjoy the flavor of the water you're using before you add it to your instant coffee. Take a sip of the tap water you're using. If you don't like the taste, you may want to forgo the tap water completely and seek out filtered water instead.

Filtered water is better in general because it contains fewer toxins than its tap water counterpart. However, it also offers a cleaner, purer taste, which is guaranteed to make your coffee taste better. Find a good filter you can use at home, whether it's one that actually attaches to your faucet or a variety that you simply fill up and place in your fridge. And if you can't actually filter water yourself, you can always use purified bottled water for a tastier instant coffee experience.

If you know anything at all about cooking, then you know that adding more fat to a dish it's basically a surefire way of ensuring that it tastes amazing. So, why would coffee be any different? Fat packs a ton of flavor all on its own, but it can also help to cover up some of those unpleasant flavors you might notice in your plain instant coffee. Using a creamer is a simple way to do this — creamers already contain fat, which is partially why they can make your instant coffee taste so much better.

But if you prefer not to use creamer or just don't have any on hand, you can use other types of fat, like butter or oil. For the best results, though, you'll want to combine those oils with the liquid coffee by using a blender or a frother so the fat doesn't just sit on top of your cup of coffee.

There are times when you just need to add a bit of flavor to your instant coffee. Think about it: All of those seasonal, spiced drinks at your favorite coffee shop taste good for a reason, and that's because they contain flavorful spices that give the coffee a more complex (and often less bitter) flavor. Luckily, it's easy to incorporate some of those same flavors into the instant coffee you make at home. Two of our favorite spices to give instant coffee some oomph are cinnamon and nutmeg. These warm baking spices don't clash with the bitterness of the coffee but instead add a lovely earthiness to your cup. They taste great mixed with plain black coffee, or you can use them in conjunction with other additions, like creamers, milk, sugar, and fat.

It's simple to add these spices to your cup of coffee. Just shake them on top of the finished coffee, then stir them in to ensure that they're totally dissolved with the rest of the liquid. Alternatively, if you're making an instant coffee paste as mentioned above to improve the drink's flavor, you can also incorporate those spices into that paste for a smoother, more well-incorporated flavor.