Instant coffee is a popular choice for convenience and flavor, and its production involves a fascinating industrial process that transforms raw coffee beans into the familiar powder or crystals ...

Folgers? An 8-ounce jar of Folgers Classic Roast Instant Coffee Crystals ($6.48 at Sam’s Club) makes up to 120 cups. Upstart co-manufacturers such as Swift Coffee in Pennsylvania, San Francisco ...

The folks at Blue Bottle claim that its instant espresso is particularly flavorful in iced lattes, too. Just add about a tablespoon of coffee crystals to an ounce of hot water, stir, and then toss ...

and the coffee crystals will dissolve into it, instantly. It’s not the process, it’s the coffee So why are some instant coffees so crappy? When I asked why the instants from grocery aisle ...

The next morning, up again with the kids, I spooned a heaping tablespoon of instant-coffee crystals into a mug, poured in the hot water and … that was it. Process done. The coffee was fine.

Photographs by Elizabeth Coetzee/WSJ; Prop Styling by Amanda Lauro If you’re of a certain age, you probably remember the Folgers coffee commercials where instant crystals secretly replaced ...

Our top picks include ones from Intelligentsia, Ruby Coffee Roasters, and Verve Coffee Roasters. Serious Eats / Jesse Raub Straight to the Point Our favorite overall instant coffee is the ...

While instant coffee had a bad rap ... The brew is concentrated and dried into coffee crystals through freeze-drying or spray-drying. Powdered brown flakes might seem unappealing or uncommon ...