I haven’t bought instant coffee in years, but a friend gave me a can of Elite Brand Coffee, and it looks very different from how I remember instant coffee. Maybe I am thinking of specifically freeze-dried coffee, but rather than granules, Elite is a fine powder. I’ve tried googling to no avail: can someone explain whether this is specific to Elite or what?
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I use Medaglia d’ Oro instant espresso, it’s pretty fine.
(Granulated sugar fine, not powdered sugar fine.)
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The Starbucks instants are a powder also.
I’ve never tried Elite. It is Israeli which is interesting.
Elite is powdered sugar fine.
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I keep the Starbucks sachets on hand. They are very useful. A couple of weeks ago I got a wee can of Illy instant to try. Looks totally different - like freeze dried. And in a little can, not individual packets like the Starbucks
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A lot of specialty coffee roasters are offering instant coffees that are way better than Nescafe et al.
Greek Nescafé, available at Greek import stores, is a freeze dried instant that is much better than American or Canadian Nescafé. It costs twice as much as Canadian Nescafé.
I also like Tchibo instant and Davidoff instant, which can be found at stores with German imports.
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I’ve encountered instant coffee as a fine powder, a slightly less fine powder, and freeze-dried granules, depending on the brand.
Doesn’t seem to make a difference in my experience (ie any of those can be good or bad).
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This is true.
All instant coffees contain amylum, which is a carbohydrate (or starch) that’s used to create the powdery texture of instant coffee, acting essentially as a sort of binder. The amylum can make instant coffee taste either too bitter, or chalky, or (gasp!) both.
The best way to “improve” the taste of instant coffee (regardless of brand or types of granules) is to dissolve the grounds first in some cold water, which will help soften and dissolve the amylum.
Then stir until the mixture is dissolve and a bit pasty. Then add the rest of the hot water, and stir to combine.
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I think you assume all instant coffee needs to be improved in flavor, which is not what I think 
(In fact, plenty of brewed coffee is worse and lacking in consistency of what’s bad about it, but that’s a different discussion.)
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No, I actually don’t.
But even when something is good, there is always room for improvement.
I don’t think there’s any room for amylum.
Maybe the absence of amylum is what makes Greek and other Euro instant froth better for Greek style Frappes (frothy iced coffee made with instant).
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I believe amylum is not listed as a separate ingredient (could be wrong tho)
As amylum is a naturally occurring starch found in certain edible organic matter, including processed food items like instant coffee.
For example, if one buys 100% Orange Juice, the label will just say “orange juice” and not “water” even though the juice will contain water.
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For a while, I kept Greek Nescafé in the house so that I could make frappés. But fancy instant it ain’t.
In my books, it is fancy relative to Canadian Nescafé. The Greek Nescafé costs me $15 Cdn ($11.25 USD) a can, when Cdn Nescafé runs $7 Cdn ($5.25 USD). It’s only found at one shop in London, ON (pop 483,000), otherwise I have to I buy it in Toronto’s Greektown, 120 miles away.
YMMV, of course.
Which brands do you consider fancy?
From the looks of that Nescafé instant coffee (primarily be of the color of the cup), it seems to be what they label as “Red Cup” here in Thailand. Disappointingly, here in Thailand (at least in Bangkok and the suburbs), people don’t seem to brew coffee at home which I found evident because finding whole beans or grounds at supermarkets was nearly impossible.
So I’ve been drinking the nearly ubiquitous Nescafé Red Cup. In Japan and the US I hardly ever drank instant (if I wanted a 2nd cup of coffee in Japan, I usually drank a powdery instant coffee from Egypt, though).
Totally surprising to find out that said Nescafé Red Cup is actually pretty good! I’m returning to Japan in a week and TBH, I’ll miss Nescafé Red Cup! I honestly never expected to find such a drinkable instant coffee! The powdery Egyptian instant coffee I drank in Japan was barely acceptable and I only bought it because it cost only USD $0.75 for a 50 gram bottle and dissolved quite easily!
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I brought home an instant coffee from Japan that was in some of the hotel rooms where I stayed. I liked it, which was not Nescafé. I can’t remember the name. It frothed well, like Greek Nescafé.
Hawaiian instant coffee is good, too.
I’ll have to check some Japanese stores in Toronto to see if they sell any Japanese instant.
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Any of the specialty coffee roasters, like Blue Bottle, Equator, and Verve here in the Bay Area (to name 3 that offer fancy instants).
Craft Instant Coffee | Blue Bottle Coffee
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We don’t have any of these brands in Canada.
I visited Blue Bottle under Rockefeller Center 3 or 4 times in my previous life. I had a Verve coffee (cappuccino, not instant) , in Shinjuku if I remember correctly, in Jan 2020.
