The Best Instant Coffee, Ranked

The Sightglass Instant La Magdalena Tolima didn’t taste like instant coffee; one taster likened it to a “freshly brewed pot.” Dark chocolate is the prominent note we tasted when drinking it black, but the addition of milk brings out a lovely toffee and goat’s milk caramel flavor, with a lingering sweet finish.

With milk, it’s an absolute treat — “moreish,” as another taster said. It’s a bold but pleasant cup that we’d happily sip all day long, or whenever we needed some coziness. We didn’t taste the Sightglass instant coffee cold, as the company only recommends preparing it hot, but it’s so good hot that we didn’t feel we were missing out.

Unfortunately, it’s also on the expensive side if you buy just the individual box, which comes with only six servings (the case of 10 boxes comes out to about $2.65 per serving — but it’s a big financial commitment upfront).

Cost per serving: about $4

The Canyon Instant Coffee tasted the most like freshly brewed coffee, and it was one of the most nuanced cups we drank. One taster noted, “This one tastes surprisingly like decent medium-roast coffee, but sour and a bit papery on the finish.” Another thought the aroma had hints of “chocolate, cherry, and a little bit of brown paper.”

We all found that its sour notes grew more intense as we drank it, but the acidity wasn’t overwhelming. The bottom line: a very drinkable cup. The downside is that, like our pick from Sightglass, it’s quite pricey per serving. And we’ve noticed that it’s often sold out on Canyon’s website. You may be able to find it elsewhere online for a bit more money, but if not, consider one of our other favorites.

Cost per serving: about $3.30

The Verve Instant Coffee had a very mild aroma that was a touch malty and papery, with a pleasant roasted scent. We found it a bit more sour than the Canyon coffee, and we picked up a slight berry or citrus zing. It’s a little bland when brewed with the recommended 10 ounces of water, but more balanced and flavorful if you use just 9 ounces of water. It has some acidity, but its mild flavor isn’t likely to offend anyone.

Cost per serving: about $2.70

The flavor of the Mount Hagen Instant Coffee wasn’t that pronounced, and we found it more watery than the Canyon or Verve coffees. However, it has a decent body that “lingers on the tongue nicely,” as one taster put it.

We all agreed that the flavor came out more as the coffee sat for a minute or two. We think it’s a solid cup of generic coffee, like you’d expect to find at a diner. Mount Hagen also sells this coffee in a larger, 3.53-ounce jar.

Cost per serving: about 36¢ per packet or 28¢ from the jar

The Blue Bottle Craft Instant Espresso has good depth of flavor for an instant coffee, with an appropriate level of bitterness for an imitation espresso. It has a robust, traditional coffee aroma and flavor, with one taster calling it “the coffee-ist.”

Made into an iced latte, it was one of our favorite iced instant coffees, as the bitterness grounds the flavor of the coffee amid the milk, with some nuttiness and depth still coming through. It tasted like a classic iced coffee, with only a faint hint of the metallic scent that we’ve noticed in most iced instant coffee.

Cost per serving: about $2 for the Multiserve jar and about $3 for individual sachets

Although Swift Coffee Mainstay made one of the larger volumes of the instant coffees we tested (10 ounces), it was still a notably strong cup of coffee. Despite its intensity, it’s only faintly bitter, instead leaning into tart berry notes. Our tasters found that it tasted like blackberry jam, and considered it to have an authentic coffee flavor.

It tastes just as good iced, and the addition of milk brings some sweetness to it without overwhelming the roastiness of the coffee. “Instant coffee has come a long way,” quipped one taster.

Cost per serving: about $2 (dependent on purchase size)