Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I’ve been looking for a good “instant” coffee for camping and hiking. My main requirements were that it had to be in very light weight single serve waterproof packets and, of course, taste good. Pretty much all instant coffees can be found in single serve waterproof packets; however, the second part is questionable, especially compared to a good fresh grind pour over. But, when on the trail, I still need a good cup of joe, even if it’s cold instant. So, I read a heap of reviews, and picked out some of the highest rated (Starbucks VIA Instant Pikes Place Medium Roast, and Mount Hagen Fairtrade Organic Instant, 25 packets for $9.95 -about 40 cents a packet), and threw in some Café Bustelo Espresso Instant Coffee someone had picked up at the local supermarket for comparison. Also bought some Starbucks VIA Instant Caffe Latte just for funzies. - Starbucks VIA Instant Pikes Place Medium Roast, 8 packets for $5.98 or about $1.23 a packet (though you can get larger 50 count packs to get the cost down to around 80 cents a packet) - Starbucks VIA Instant Caffe Latte, 5 packets for $5.08 - $1.02 a packet - Mount Hagen Fairtrade Organic Instant, 25 packets for $9.95 -40 cents a packet Over several days, my daughter and I tried the various coffees black, with half-and-half, with half-and-half and sugar, and with some Coffee Mate liquid creamer. We also compared this to some of our ground coffee. Each time, we used one packet for one cup of water. Final verdict pretty much reflected the online reviews I had read. The Starbuck’s was the best and as good or better than a store-bought ground coffee, but still not as good as fresh ground. It was surprisingly tasty with a rich roasted slightly nutty flavor. The Mount Hagen was a close second, but had a slightly tart aftertaste like some Ethiopian Kochere coffees I’ve had -good if you like that kind of thing. We thought the Mount Hagen was just slightly weak as well, but we are partial to bolder darker roast coffees. The Mount Hagen also seemed sensitive to getting the water too hot and developing a slightly burnt taste. That’s important to me, as you can’t control the water temp too well on the trail. The Café Bustelo espresso was a weak third to the Starbucks and Mount Hagen. I know a lot of people like it, but Café Bustelo, IMHO, is somewhat of an acquired taste. If you’re cost conscious and just want a “decent” cup of coffee, I’d say go for the Mount Hagen as it’s less than half the cost of the Starbucks or Café Bustelo. If you want an instant that’s closer to a good ground drip coffee, then spend a little more and get the Starbucks. The Starbucks Caffe Latte was not up to our expectations as far as a latte goes. It was more like a thick hot chocolate with just a hint of coffee taste. The single packets were just too much for one cup of water as it’s just too thick and almost chalky like that. I would not recommend, if you’re looking for a Caffe Latte with a good milk and coffee flavor. But mixing it with one and a half cups of water made a decent hot chocolate.