Which Instant Coffee?

nhn asks: "Being a caffeine-addict, I feel quite miserable not having my favourite coffee, every morning. I can't walk to Starbucks/Gloria Jeans, while I'm at work, since there is an instant coffee machine available (and I dislike filtered coffee). For the record: I hate Nescafe, it simply sucks." What must you drink, after your dreams have evaporated into the waking world? What types of coffee would you recommend to a seasoned coffee afficionado...or even your garden variety caffeine addict?

"Given:

• I'm a fulltime developer.
• I like very strong coffee, my usual cup is espresso machiato.
• My coffee-style: French, or Italian as a second choice.
• I need coffee to keep myself awake for at least 8 hours (you know how it feels like when you have to debug thousand lines of code, don't you?)
• I drink coffee first for the taste, then the caffein, not the other way around."

Comments

Re:Priorities...

[The Fun Guy]

I'll second the comment about caffeine and sleep. During a peiod of serious caffeine over-use (first year of grad school), I found that I just could hardly keep my eyes open in the afternoons. "How could this be?", I thought, "It's only 2:00, and I've had 14 cups of coffee today!" I was exhausted by the end of every day.

What kills you with heavy caffeine use is the fact that all of the residual caffeine in your body makes it almost impossible to get good, restful sleep. You wake up drag-assing, and the first four or five cups of joe only serve to get you functional, not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the way they should. Taking in more caffeine makes the problem worse in the long run. I'd advise cutting back, and really limiting caffeine in the afternoons, to the point of "no caffeine after lunch". You'll sleep better, function better in the afternoons, and those morning coffees will be much more stimulating.

As far as taste, I'd skip instant coffee. I won't go so far as to say that they all taste like shit, but for a quick cup of good java, get a french press. You can steep some grounds in scalding hot water for a couple of minutes, then press out a cup of actual coffee that will taste better than almost any instant coffee, in almost the same amount of preparation time. Brew with whatever roast/grind/blend/flavor coffee you like, for a better selection than instants. Also, it's portable, so you're not tied to an outlet as with a percolater/drip/espresso machine.

Here's a tip, though... if you want stronger coffee, use more grounds with the same steeping time, rather than a fixed amount that you let steep longer. More flavor, less bitterness.