But because the process is cheaper than freeze-drying, some manufacturers stick to the former method and use additional chemicals to mask the results, which means there's often more than just dehydrated java lurking in instant coffee powder. The heat from spray drying these beans also results in a loss of flavor and aroma. While robusta beans have more caffeine, they have less fat and sugar than arabica beans (the status quo for ground coffee), which gives them a more bitter and earthy flavor. Instant coffee is almost always made from more affordable robusta beans. For one, the dehydration process strips much of the caffeine from instant coffee: Where one cup of joe made from a teaspoon of instant coffee powder will contain 30-90 mg of caffeine, the same cup brewed from ground coffee will have 70-140 mg.ĭespite its affordability, quick convenience, and long shelf-life, instant coffee is often considered inferior in flavor as well. There are, however, more nuanced differences between the two. For the latter, a concentration of brewed coffee is frozen into ice, broken into small fragments, and vacuum-dried until the ice evaporates, leaving a fine powder of instant coffee in its wake. Brewed coffee can either be spray-dried (where a liquid is sprayed into air so hot that it dries the droplets into dehydrated granules in a flash), or it can be freeze-dried, which is a slightly longer process. While it's standardly made by dehydrating brewed coffee into a powder, there are other ways to go about it. Modern methods of creating instant coffee look a little different. But it wasn't until 1889 that a commercial version resembling the instant coffee that we know today was born - New Zealander David Strang used a patented device that made instant coffee by blowing hot air over the brewed java until it dehydrated into a powder. We had a favorite, but our determination is that any of these product.This coffee paste then turned into a powder sometime around 1861 when coffee, sugar, and evaporated milk were dehydrated into a convenient one-and-all drink for the American military. We still liked its flavor enough to recommend it. One espresso powder produced a buttercream with a slightly “smoky” and “bitter” aftertaste, which was most likely due to slight differences in how the beans used to make this powder were processed and roasted. When describing our favorite buttercream, tasters compared it to “a fantastic cup of coffee” with “strong espresso flavor.” While tasters preferred the assertive coffee buttercreams, the milder buttercreams were still delicious. The buttercream that rated the highest was made with the same product that we used to make our winning brownie. All the buttercreams were acceptable, but some tasted more strongly of coffee than others. Because we standardized all the other variables, we know that these subtle differences were due to the espresso powders.ĭifferences between the products became more pronounced when tasters sampled them in coffee buttercream-a recipe that relies on espresso powder for the bulk of its flavor. While most tasters didn’t detect any noticeable coffee flavor in any of the brownies, they described them all as being “rich and flavorful” with “pronounced chocolate flavor.” Tasters also noticed some subtle flavor differences: One sample was noted for having “a little raisiny sweetness,” while another had an underlying caramel flavor. For Chocolate Desserts, We Found That Any Product Will DoĪlthough our tasters loved every one of the six brownies they tasted, they especially loved one and liked another one a bit less than the others. We’ll refer to them all as espresso powder for simplicity. But as far as we're concerned, they're the same thing. Some are called "espresso powder" while others are labeled "instant espresso coffee," and they can be marketed for baking, for drinking, or for both uses. The dried crystals look similar to ground espresso beans, but they’re water-soluble, which means that they dissolve fully when mixed with liquid. How It’s Made and Coffee TerminologyĮspresso powder is made by spray-drying or freeze-drying brewed espresso. The two have similarities in make and give you a water-soluble coffee powder in the end. You can get a flavor from it that’s a lot like espresso powder. Our first go-to for espresso powder substitutes are always instant coffee. We rounded up six products and sampled them in Chewy Brownies and Easy Coffee Buttercream before mixing them with hot water and sipping them as espresso drinks. Instant Coffee Image Credit: Elesban Landero Berriozbal, Unsplash. Given that there are many ways to use espresso powder as a kitchen ingredient, we wanted to know which product is best. Plus, it adds depth and richness to rubs, barbecue sauces, and other savory foods. We also use it when we want desserts to taste like coffee. Just a dash of espresso powder enhances the rich dark-chocolate notes in our favorite brownies, cookies, and cakes.
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