Fun with Instant Coffee: Our Favourite Ways to Use Instant Coffee

Hot take: instant coffee is great! That is, when it's made well.

We're pretty darn proud of our instant specialty coffee. We use the same specialty grade beans that we use in all of our whole bean coffee and we roast it with care and intention. Our pals at Hasty Coffee take it from there and use their scientific wizardry to create a delicious cup of coffee that can be brewed almost anywhere.

It's been humbling to receive so much great feedback about it! We've also had a lot of people share their alternative ways of using it, instead of just making coffee. 

It turns out, it's super versatile for more than just brewing a cup of coffee. Because of how it's made it's just freezedried coffee with nothing added to it. It's shelf stable, delicious and it dissolves instantly. This makes it perfect for adding to all kinds of recipes.

This got us to thinking, how else could we use this "magic" coffee powder to amp up some of our favourite things to eat and drink?

Of course, you can add ice to make an iced coffee or use cold water to make a cold brew alternative. It's also really great to add the powder directly to your favourite milk and then steam it together. It's also delicious added to hot cocoa powder for a mocha treat.

But, we wanted to go even further so we tried adding it to some of our favourite recipes.

Behold, our Top Ten Ways to Use Instant Coffee Other Than Brewing It:

1. Add it to your smoothie.

Get an extra jolt of energy on your next work out or excursion by adding some instant coffee powder to your smoothie. It pairs great with any kind of chocolate protein powder or pre-workout mix.

2. Zest up your baked goods.

In some recipes you can add it right to the mix, such as chocolate cake batter. But, you can also add instant coffee powder to your favourite icing recipe to create an off-the-charts delicious espresso icing for all your cakes, cookies and desserts. 

3. Grill like a boss.

Fancy yourself handy with a BBQ? Add some instant coffee powder to your marinades and dry rubs of choice for a secret weapon everyone will love. It has an earthy depth of flavour that'll keep everyone coming back for seconds.

4. Get saucy with it.

Speaking of BBQ, add some instant coffee powder to your BBQ sauce and thank us later. It adds that little somethin' extra that'll set your sauce apart from the rest.

5. Make your own red eye gravy.

We make "red eye sauce" in our Chilliwack cafe. It's a mix of mayo, espresso and hot sauce that is absolutely delicious. We use it on our breakfast sandwhich and people love it. You can make your own! Or, make a traditional red eye gravy by adding instant coffee powder to your pan drippings.

6. Make a mocha shake.

Smoothies are great, but sometimes you want a treat! Add instant coffee powder to some ice cream, milk of choice and some chocolate syrup for a decadent and buzz-worthy mocha shake.

7. Crank your chilli up a notch or two.

Make chilli the real cowpoke way - add some coffee for an extra kick! Instant coffee powder helps you get the full flavour of coffee without diluting your chilli with liquid.

8. Coffee ice cream, hold the ice.

This is for the ambitious home cooks, but if you make ice cream at home (and you should), add instant coffee powder to your flavour base. Since it's a powder, it doesn't add any unnecessary water which can lead to unwanted ice crystals in your ice cream. This hack will keep your ice cream silky smooth while imparting big coffee flavour.

9. Make the trendiest (and most delicious) Dalgona coffee.

Dalgona coffee is hot right now - and for good reason. It's delicious, creamy, and decadent. And, it's made with instant coffee. Don't go through all the trouble of making it just to use grocery store coffee crystals. Specialty grade instant coffee really takes this frothy treat to the next level. Here's our favourite recipe.

10. Craft a cocktail that'll give you a real buzz.

If you're into making cocktails or mocktails at home, add instant coffee powder to your simple syrup for an espresso punch you can add to your favourite drinks. It pairs especially well with whiskey, Bourbon or rum.

Instant Specialty Coffee is exactly that, special - almost magical - when it comes to adding delicious coffee flavour to both sweet and savoury dishes. The best part? It's 100% natural and 1000% delicious.

Have you created any fun dishes with instant coffee? Let us know in the comments!