Concentrates work best for those who want a strong cup. Each style has its strengths. Single-serve bags work best for those who seek precise brew strength because you can control how long they steep for. That’s not to say there aren’t good powdered instant coffees - there are - but my favorites also come as single-serve bags, concentrates, and even latte mixes (none of which made me react like Ross and Chandler when they tried instant lattes on Friends). For those who haven’t had it in awhile - or ever - instant coffee now comes in lots more forms than the chalky powder you might think of. After spending more than a year trying more than two dozen kinds of instant coffee, I now consider myself a bit of a connoisseur. But my love for Jot - which my coffee-snob boyfriend also approved of - got me wondering if there were other instant varieties that are just as good. Even non–coffee snobs like me know that instant coffee has always had a reputation as sort of the Franzia of the coffee world: a cheap (and cheap-tasting) imitation of the real thing. Not willing to give up my routine or caffeine, I took a chance on Jot, an instant coffee that, to my surprise (and delight), tasted comparable to what I was used to from my coffee shop. Last year when everything closed down, I was forced to quit my habit of picking up a latte at the café down the street.
But when I drink it, I only drink one cup, which has never seemed enough to make investing in even a cheap coffee-maker worthwhile. It’s not that I don’t like coffee - I very much enjoy it. I don’t own a coffee machine and I have no interest in getting one.