Home Drunk Instant Coffee: Best? How2Make? Price? Thai.VS.Imported? Is.Ground.Really.Better?

[BaronOfThunder]

Back in the year 2009, Some ThaiVisa Poster Said this: The German made Nescafe Gold coffee is quite good but the local version is tasteless (as in dishwater). Tchibo Gold (also from Germany) is also good. But at four times the price of Moccona Select have returned to what I have been drinking here for the last 40 years. Moccona Select is good (enough); at a very good price. The Dutch did something right when they made this blend (hot coffee and and touch of hot coco together?).

1. Last week, I just tried something called Nescafe Red Cup 100%. It was not expensive, and available at 7-11, and also at the local MomPop Grocery store. I am not a coffee expert, however I think I can notice the difference between good coffee and normal coffee.

2. I am wondering what other's who have more experience in selecting coffee might think about which coffee is the best for either a budget drinker or a slightly higher than budget coffee drinker.

3. If one has a glass jar with a filter and plunger affair, then is it really worth it to use this method rather than just cut open a foil packet, stir the crystals into some cold water, then add ice and more water? I never drink hot coffee in Thailand, or anywhere. If it is so cold out that I need to drink something hot, I always opt for chicken soup, or chicken broth, and never hot coffee. Hot tea is also an option which is far better than hot coffee when it is snowing.

4. HOW Should we MAKE this ice coffee using instant?

Do we add the crystals to cool water, just a small amount of water, and then stir into a paste, then add cold water and ice cubes? Because this is what I see some coffee shops doing.

What about adding milk, especially if you have none? I mean, would it be good to have powdered milk? Or, what about evaporated milk, or some sort of thimble size vacuum sealed real milk packaging, and where would you find it?

5. I am wondering, even, about using a straw, or not using a straw, to attain the best flavor. Some coffee shops always give you a straw. And I am wondering if this is just to protect their glasses so that you do not leave lip marks, which causes them to need to really wash their glassware, instead of just rinsing it before the next customer.

6. I know that there are best practices for making a glass of ice coffee that really tastes good, and I also think that using an instant coffee can provide a drink which is nearly as good as using ground coffee that you buy at some place like TOPS, for example.

Maybe I should just stick with what I am buying now. I buy the Nescafe for about 30Baht for 45 grams in a foil packet. I cut off the top. I then add a heaping teaspoon to a tiny amount of water in a tall glass and mix with a spoon, before adding cool water directly from the tap, and then ice from one of the street vendors outside. I still have not found any tiny thimble sized milk packets, and so I am drinking it without adding anything, and of course no sugar, which I hate.

[BaronOfThunder]

Actually, I did just drink 3 teaspoon fulls of Nescafe in a very large glass with ice and cold water. It was OK, but I think it was missing the essential oils.

However, if you go to one of the local coffee shops, I sometimes feel gypped because they charge 60 Baht for one class of ice coffee, and not Latte, and I think that they add only instant, although I cannnot prove it.

So, I am thinking that I can make coffee for about 10 times less if I just buy the coffee crystals myself.

Hence, my question: IF I am willing to do this, then how can I arrive at the best cup for my money?

I am located in the Mountain Area of Chiang Mai. And there are not that many really high end shoppes here, I mean coffee shops. I think these places mostly cater to local uni students who have very little money, and probably do not know too much about coffee drinking, anyway.

[Langsuan Man]

Your in the center of the coffee growing area of Thailand and you are even considering Nescafe instant coffee

[BaronOfThunder]

Your in the center of the coffee growing area of Thailand and you are even considering Nescafe instant coffee

EXACTLY !

I agree, I am CRAZY, so I am asking for help. I am headed to Robinson's at the Airport, now, so if you have any ideas what I should buy, INSTANT, please post a comment before I again waste my Baht on substandard coffee.

I am no expert, as I have stated, and I have no idea what instant to buy.

OR, if I can use grounds without too much hassle, then I would.

But I want to stay on a budget, without sacrificing too much flavor.

And I do NOT want to drink dishwater, as mentioned in the above post.

[TheAppletons]

Your in the center of the coffee growing area of Thailand and you are even considering Nescafe instant coffee

EXACTLY !

I agree, I am CRAZY, so I am asking for help. I am headed to Robinson's at the Airport, now, so if you have any ideas what I should buy, INSTANT, please post a comment before I again waste my Baht on substandard coffee.

I am no expert, as I have stated, and I have no idea what instant to buy.

OR, if I can use grounds without too much hassle, then I would.

But I want to stay on a budget, without sacrificing too much flavor.

And I do NOT want to drink dishwater, as mentioned in the above post.

What he's saying - and he's right - is that all instant coffee sucks.

[BaronOfThunder]

Your in the center of the coffee growing area of Thailand and you are even considering Nescafe instant coffee

EXACTLY !

I agree, I am CRAZY, so I am asking for help. I am headed to Robinson's at the Airport, now, so if you have any ideas what I should buy, INSTANT, please post a comment before I again waste my Baht on substandard coffee.

I am no expert, as I have stated, and I have no idea what instant to buy.

OR, if I can use grounds without too much hassle, then I would.

But I want to stay on a budget, without sacrificing too much flavor.

And I do NOT want to drink dishwater, as mentioned in the above post.

What he's saying - and he's right - is that all instant coffee sucks.

OK. I can change. Trust me.

So, I am still going to TOPS in about 30 minutes.....and who knows what I should buy.

As I recall there are a few bags of grounds there.

Still, I will need some sort of instant, since I do not have the time to make brewed coffee every time I want coffee.

Also, I DO see the local coffee shops making what appears to be coffee with some powder.

So then

1. Best instant

2. Best ground coffee at TOPS which can be purchased in medium size bags.

Any help appreciated, of course, since I will be there in about 90 minutes, depending on the Rod Deng.

[BaronOfThunder]

If I were making this for guests, then i would provide the best coffee.

However, I am only making this for myself, and I am basically a very lazy person, at times.

[BaronOfThunder]

Plus...What about milk, or a milk substitute.

You would not believe this, but I yesterday bought some type of Nestles Carnation powdered milk, in a packet for 5 Baht.

But when I got home and opened it, I think it was some type of breakfast cereal for 5 Baht! Maybe Oatmeal, but not really oatmeal, and sugar with milkpowder mixed in.

Appears really disgusting, and I would not add it to the instant coffee.

I am used to seeing those thimble packages with the peel back lids that contain some sort of cream or milk, which you find for free in America.

(The carnation packet has the silhouette of a blue body builder on the front.)

Edited January 5, 2016 by BaronOfThunder

[MrTee]

Never ever drink powdered coffee.

It is vile in all its forms\brands.

[BaronOfThunder]

Baron sometimes i think you should change your name to Troll of Thunder with questions you ask.

Hope not.

I am just curious about all things, and I always have been.

The people who know me have gotten used to it, and it does not bother them. I sort of enjoy being interested in everything, because it has not been so boring as it might have been during these past years if I had been less inquisitive about just about everything. For example, toilets in India, which is a huge issue, or use of used coffee grounds, I suppose these are also very interesting topics for discussion.

However, at the moment I am heading to TOPS to buy coffee, and a white shirt.

By the way: Thank you very much for your explanations, along with those of others, regarding this runway problem we are having. I feel better now knowing a bit more about what to expect in the near future.

I have also taken the advice of others and am planning a move out from under this flight path.

Edited January 5, 2016 by BaronOfThunder

[CNXBKKMAN]

Baron i do enjoy your threads and questions as they can be very entertaining. Hillkoff house of coffee and tea (just give it a google) might be the best place to search out good coffee, coffee machines of every descriptions, grinders, freshly roasted beans.

[CMKiwi]

Apparently the instant coffee at Suan Prung Hospital is quite good, in fact the surroundings may also suit you and as a bonus they arent under the flight path!

But on a more serious note, Im not a coffee snob by a long shot but instant coffee is quite horrible in comparison to just about any recently ground coffee beans. The cheapest way to go is to buy beans and ask a friend whom has a grinder to grind some up for you (They stay fresher in the bean format).

Do the plunger method (No need for expensive machine as you want to keep cost down) and just let it cool down as you state you dont drink hot coffee.

[taotoo]

Douwe Egberts Standard 150 baht from Rimping/Makro and a filter machine.

[Langsuan Man]

A cheap charlie coffee thread from a poster staying in Northern Thailand where very good coffee beans are grown and sold for a song!

Coffee crystals??? You MUST be trolling!

Sorry for the double post, just now, but anyway the other point is that often I drink coffee for the caffeine.

I would like it to taste as good as possible, but I really do not always have the time to brew coffee every time I would like some caffeinated drink.

Then go to 7-11 or Family Mart and buy a couple of cans of their refrigerated coffee and just empty it into a cup and put it into the microwave, but then I am sure your electric bill will go up by a quarter of a Baht for the microwave, but at least you will have a decent taste for your caffeine fix and you won't have to worry about the expense of milk or sugar either

[cooked]

A cheap charlie coffee thread from a poster staying in Northern Thailand where very good coffee beans are grown and sold for a song!

Coffee crystals??? You MUST be trolling!

Some of the very worst coffee I have ever tasted also came from the same area.

[BaronOfThunder]

A cheap charlie coffee thread from a poster staying in Northern Thailand where very good coffee beans are grown and sold for a song!

Coffee crystals??? You MUST be trolling!

Some of the very worst coffee I have ever tasted also came from the same area.

THIS is just why I asked this question. I did not look forward to trying many different brands of coffee, just to find one that is the best of the lot, even though it still might not be not as good as what I consider to be perfection.

And, I probably do not even know what is instant coffee in packets, and what is actually chocolate with coffee, with pictures of beans on the packaging.

Last time I bought oatmeal, or something, thinking it was a packet of dired milk powder.

So, sometimes it is necessary to repeat a question that one has not seen discussed before.

Next time I go to the store, I will purchase a small size of the Douwe Egberts Standard.

But that is still not instant.

And I guess I must settle for...that brand that I posted in the beginning recommended by the poster of nine year ago.

[JaseTheBass]

Moccana for us. I prefer it to what the majority of coffee shops serve up around here.

[connda]

I bought a coffee maker at Big C for 300 THB. Never seen one so inexpensive. Works like a champ. I uses Douwe Egberts pre-ground which is a little too finely ground by is OK. Wish I could find a can of Maxwell House or Edwards. I'd be in seventh heaven. I drink Red Cup 3 in 1 when I'm lazy or out of fresh coffee. Sometimes I make my own evaporated milk to put in the fresh coffee. It ain't like home, but it will do. Occasionally I'll grind my own, but I haven't found any coffee beans locally that I'm really fond of, although if anyone has a suggestion, I'd be willing to try something new. Also have a espresso machine, but I like the taste of the coffee using the drip coffee maker better. Sometimes I'll indulge in a fresh ground mocha, but back to the coffee bean issue.

Edited January 6, 2016 by connda

[jonwilly]

I Start my day with 500 mils of Duang Dee done in a French Press.

During day I often have a cup of Nescafe 'Caramel Latte' very nice.

john