Instant Coffee Vs Ground Coffee: Is There A Difference?

INSTANT COFFEE VS GROUND COFFEE: WHICH ONE SHOULD YOU BUY?

If you don’t own a coffee grinder, you’ll need to decide between instant vs ground coffee. Let me help!

Coffee enthusiasts like me always tell you to buy whole coffee beans to grind fresh at home, but I know that’s not always practical. Burr grinders are loud and expensive.

That leaves you with the options of ground coffee and instant coffee. Is one better than the other?

In this article, I’ll outline the differences between instant and ground coffee to help you decide which is the right addition to your kitchen pantry.

What Is Ground Coffee?

Regular ground coffee is prepared by roasting green coffee beans until they turn brown and grinding them in a coffee grinder.

The grounds are then steeped in water to extract the coffee flavor compounds before being strained out. It’s the traditional way of making fresh coffee that’s been used for centuries.

What Is Instant Coffee?

Instant coffee is a more modern invention. It’s a soluble form of pre-brewed coffee that was invented to provide an “instant” alternative to the coffee brewing process.

As with ground coffee, instant coffee is made with roasted coffee beans. The beans are ground and steeped in giant vats, and the brewed coffee is reduced to form a thick coffee concentrate.

The final drying process to create soluble coffee granules is done by spray-drying or freeze-drying. Freeze-drying is done without heat, so it retains more of the coffee’s natural taste and aroma, but it’s also more expensive and time-consuming.

Ground Coffee Vs Instant Coffee: How Do They Compare?

Now that you know what distinguishes ground coffee from instant coffee, let’s talk about how those differences show up when you’re buying, brewing, and drinking your coffee. I’m going to directly compare ground and instant coffee in five key categories.

Flavor And Quality

You might disagree, but I think this is the most important category. Which one tastes better?

In recent years, there has been a move towards improving the taste and quality of instant coffee. There are now gourmet, organic, and fairtrade options made from 100% Arabica beans and using the freeze-drying process.

That said, even the best instant coffee brands can’t match the flavor of ground coffee. The extra processing steps necessarily result in the loss of certain flavor compounds, not to mention you miss out on the aromatic experience of brewing real coffee.

The most common form of instant coffee worldwide is still the old-school spray-dried instant, and it absolutely cannot compete in this category. Its flavor tends to be weak, one-note, and very bitter. This is partly due to the processing and partly because manufacturers will add low-end Robusta beans to boost the caffeine content.

Winner: Instant coffee is getting better, but ground coffee will forever take the victory here.

Brewing Methods And Convenience

Brewing ground coffee can be done by a variety of methods, but they all come down to two stages. The first is immersing the ground coffee in hot or cold water to extract its flavor compounds – either by an infusion method like filter coffee or an immersion method like French press. The second is straining and discarding the used grounds.

The extraction time varies depending on the water temperature and pressure, from 25 seconds for espresso to 24 hours for cold brew. But there is always a bit of a wait and a mess of grounds to clean up after.

In contrast, instant coffee is, well, instant. Just add hot water. Because the coffee has already been brewed, it dissolves completely. There is nothing to clean up.

Instant coffee is also useful for cooking and baking, adding flavor or a caffeine boost to smoothies, cakes, or marinades without the extra liquid of adding brewed coffee.

Winner: A clear win for instant coffee when it comes to convenience. It’s especially great for camping or travel when bringing a whole brewing set-up is impractical.

Shelf Life And Storage

Coffee begins to go stale as soon as it is ground, particularly if it’s exposed to light, heat, moisture, or oxygen. In general, I recommend using freshly ground coffee within a week or two for the best flavor.

Instant coffee is much more shelf-stable. It can last up to 20 years, even after opening, but any exposure to moisture might change the texture or even allow mold to grow (1).

However, there is a caveat. Ground coffee goes stale, but it doesn’t go bad. It just loses its complexity of flavor. In short, it starts to taste more like instant coffee.

Winner: This one is kind of a wash. If you plan to brew your coffee within a year or two, both are roughly equal. If you want a coffee you can save for decades, instant is the way to go.

Amount Of Caffeine

Regular brewed coffee has a higher caffeine content compared to instant coffee, assuming both are made with the same Arabica coffee beans.

The process required to make instant coffee crystals necessarily removes some of the caffeine. Some brands boost caffeine back to average levels by using Robusta beans, which naturally have about double the caffeine of Arabica, but this is to the detriment of the flavor.

An 8-ounce serving of brewed coffee usually has between 80 and 120 mg of caffeine, while a cup of instant coffee has more like 60 to 90 mg. Of course, those numbers vary depending on the recipe and type of coffee. You can always brew stronger coffee to get more caffeine, but that can easily lead to an overly bitter taste.

Winner: If you’re looking for a better energy boost, choose freshly brewed coffee over instant.

Price

Instant coffee is often lauded as being a cheaper alternative, but in my experience, you get what you pay for in both cases.

The lowest-quality instant coffee is definitely cheaper than a good cup of coffee brewed from fresh grounds. But at the same time, the cheapest ground coffee will cost you less per cup than the high-end instant speciality coffee brands.

Winner: Perhaps unexpectedly, I think ground coffee is the winner here, as it consistently offers more flavor per dollar than instant.

Final Thoughts

What’s the difference between instant coffee and ground coffee? As it turns out, almost everything! So it’s easy to decide which one to buy – or whether you need to keep some of each on hand.

FAQS

How much instant coffee equals ground coffee?

How much instant coffee to substitute for ground coffee depends somewhat on your taste. A good rule of thumb is to replace 1 tablespoon of ground coffee with 1 tsp of instant coffee (for brewing, not baking). For example, making an 8-ounce cup of coffee requires 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee or 1-2 tablespoons of coffee grounds.

Which coffee is used to make Dalgona coffee?

No, instant coffee and regular coffee share similar health benefits because both contain caffeine and antioxidants. Moderate consumption of coffee, whether regular or instant, has been linked with the prevention of numerous diseases and a reduced overall risk of mortality (2).

Why do people prefer instant coffee?

Many people prefer the convenience of instant coffee. It requires no coffee maker, no brewing time, and no clean-up. It lasts forever and is great for travel. It’s also useful in many food and drink recipes, like the popular Dalgona coffee (3).

References

1. WokeLark. (2020, November 17). Does instant coffee Expire: Shelf life & Storage Explored. Retrieved from https://wokelark.com/does-instant-coffee-expire-shelf-life/
2. Chen, Y., Zhang, Y., Zhang, M. et al. Consumption of coffee and tea with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a prospective cohort study. BMC Med 20, 449 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-022-02636-2
3. Science Borealis. (2020, November 23). Dalgona coffee explained: The science behind why instant coffee foams. Retrieved from