A brief history of instant coffee

(worksinprogress.co)

23 points by admp1 day ago

2 comments

MikeTheGreat1 hour ago
Thanks for posting this!I started using instant coffee in hot chocolate as a quick DIY mocha, mainly because the cost-caffeine ratio was sooooo much better than beans (ground or whole) and the mix of ingredients that doesn't trigger any reflux (unlike the 400 mg / serving powdered energy drink I had been guzzling).Which is to say - this is a fun and interesting article about something I had just been taking for granted. It's really neat to learn about the trials and tribulations that folks went through to figure it out.Thanks for posting it! :)
- TacticalCoder42 minutes ago
 > ... and the mix of ingredients that doesn't trigger any refluxAh reflux! I drink way too much coffee since forever and recently asked my doc about it: he told me that if I had no reflux, then I simply shouldn't worry about it. Some people have reflux with coffee, others don't. I drink more coffee than 99% of the population and I get zero reflux. Since decades.It's a cool article but in a way many coffee became instant coffee: as my coffee machine is often already warm (wife btw she's also a heavy coffee drinker), it's actually more instant to have my full auto coffee machine ground the beans and make a coffee than it'd take to boil water for an instant coffee. Same for the people doing the (very costly compared to beans) capsule coffee thing: it's ultra quick (and one of the reason capsule coffee like Nespresso conquered so many).P.S: I'll try your mocha trick!
firefax1 hour ago
it's never instant because boiling water takes sooooo longgggg. apparently uk teakettles are faster due to voltage differences? i want to look for a usb-c solution sometime
- maxbond57 minutes ago
 The good news is that boiling water is not functionally necessary since the extraction was done up front. I drink it cold or with warm water. Boiling is hotter than I want to drink anyway.If there's significant scale at the bottom it's possible it's making your kettle materially less efficient. If you put in like a cup of vinegar and a cup of water (you could probably dilute it more than that), heat it up and swish it around (it doesn't need to be boiling), it should all come off.
- hysan46 minutes ago
 Does it? It only takes like 2 min for my electric kettle to boil. If I was a more avid coffee/tea drinker, I’d get one of the always heated hot water dispensers that are common in Japanese households (def one of the appliances I miss since moving back to the US). Then you never have to wait.
- mikestew1 hour ago
 U. K. 240v vs. 120v in the U. S., twice the voltage == twice the amperage == half the time to boiling. I will note that doubling the voltage will still not make it "instant". For that I think you need liquid oxygen[0].[0] <a href="https://improbable.com/2018/10/26/a-look-back-at-george-gobles-prize-winning-barbecue-quick-ignition-triumph/" rel="nofollow">https://improbable.com/2018/10/26/a-look-back-at-george-gobl...</a>
 - throwaway2744824 minutes ago
 You can also simply keep water near boiling.
 - softbuilder59 minutes ago
 Twice the voltage == half the amperage for the same wattage. Are UK kettles higher wattage?
 - bombcar0 minutes ago
 US circuits are about 15 amps; UK ones similar - but twice the volts.So a US kettle is about 1500 watts, a UK one 3000.You can get commercial water boilers in the US if you need.
 - mrwh25 minutes ago
 Actually yes, around double the wattage. It's one of the things English people notice when they move to the US (true!).
 - gib4444 minutes ago
 3000 glorious watts
- AlBugdy1 hour ago
 In electric kettles or a microwave or even in a moka pot or another small container on a decent induction stove it's just 2-3 minutes. There was a video I can't find where they increased the voltage or something for a kettle and at one point it boiled the water in like 10-15 seconds.
 - nosrepa1 hour ago
 Technology Connections?<a href="https://youtu.be/INZybkX8tLI" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/INZybkX8tLI</a>
 - AlBugdy56 minutes ago
 It was another, shorter video, not by TC. Just different voltages (or maybe there were other variables) one after the other until the water boiled really quickly and afterwards the kettle blew a fuse or broke (can't remember).I guess many people have tried doing something like this. But I'll watch TC's video, too - he hasn't disappointed me so far.Edit: Watched it. Not the same video, but this one had a lot more info and troubleshooting than what the one I had in mind.
- jemmyw52 minutes ago
 For real instant: install a hot water tap. It has a small boiler under the sink that keeps the water at near boiling. I've got one and it's great - instant tea any time.
 - bigfatkitten43 minutes ago
 I considered this when I rebuilt my kitchen last year but the price was obscene - starting at $1600 AUD installed.I bought one of these for $79 instead and I’ve been perfectly happy with it.<a href="https://www.kmart.com.au/product/digital-hot-water-dispenser-black-43462551/" rel="nofollow">https://www.kmart.com.au/product/digital-hot-water-dispenser...</a>
- mathgeek1 hour ago
 Of all the things I have cooked on my induction cooktops over the years, boiling water fast is what I miss when I travel and have to use electric coils.
- TRiG_Ireland1 hour ago
 The UK is not an outlier here. Much of the world has the same voltage.