In Defense of Instant Coffee

In Defense of Instant Coffee

Today is National Coffee Day, and while the classic black coffee and seasonally trendy pumpkin-spiced lattes are getting the accolades, I think I'd take the time to honor the easy and unassuming instant coffee.

I used to be a coffee snob. I only drank dark roast black, silently judging those who put cream and sugar on their mild or (worse!) light roast coffee. I never understood why people would dilute their palates, robbing themselves of coffee's full-bodied taste. However, over time, I've found plain dark roast to be one-note, lacking layers of taste. Thus, for the most part, I've moved onto drinking black tea with cream and honey. Sure, every now and then I'd crave black coffee, and when I do, I reach for instant coffee.

I can think of several pros and cons for instant coffee. It's cheap, convenient and fast - hence the name. It's bitter, which is a good thing because I like my coffee bitter, strong tasting, to wake me up. That makes up for the fact that instant coffee has less caffeine than ground coffee. Also, like most "instant" things such as microwave, it's supposed to have toxic compounds that cause cancer, among many other things. However, I think if I don't drink it in vats - aka I don't drink more than 2 cups a day - I'm about as safe from diseases as someone who drinks 4 cups of coffee a day. With everything else, moderation is my saving grace.

I'm neither championing fully switching to instant coffee or - gasp! - out of drinking coffee altogether. Coffee is so ubiquitous in society that I don't think that's even possible. All I'm saying is don't forget about instant coffee; give it a cup of chance, or at least a sip.