Good news: Starbucks Via is no longer the pinnacle of the instant coffee market. Coffee’s third-wave innovators (think hipster baristas who hand-brew single-origin selections into mason jars) have breathed new life into the category, creating portable packs that deliver on convenience without sacrificing taste. If you’re hooked on the convenience of Via but want to move past the big brand to the world of independent tastes, the time couldn’t be better.
Instant coffees come in three main varieties: soluble crystals (i.e. traditional instant), single-use pour-overs, and steep-able sachets. Some are pricey, some fall short on flavor complexity; but the plethora of options nearly guarantees a variation to satisfy every palate and budget.
Coffee Sachets
These tea-inspired coffee sachets brew in a cup of hot water. However, like tea sachets, you’re still left with a dripping bag of coffee grounds to dispose of or stow. Having to pack out the wet grounds isn’t ideal for adventures when pack weight matters, but the bag format gives the user the flexibility to choose their preferred brew strength.
Bean Bags
Produced in the United Kingdom, Bean Bags come in a Colombia-Guatemala blend, single-origin decaf, and single-origin El Salvador. The Colombia-Guatemala blend drinks clean, with mild notes of chocolate and caramel, but is relatively simple in flavor. At £4.50 to £5 for a box of 10 sachets, the price per cup is less than what you’d pay at a coffee shop.
Steeped
Developed by Santa Cruz Coffee Company, these sachets are compostable and come in roast levels ranging from light to extra dark. The aroma is remarkably consistent with freshly ground coffee; the cup is clean and bright, marked by mild citrus and rich chocolate flavors in the brewed coffee. At $14 for a box of 10, the price per cup is on the low end of coffee shop prices.
Single-Use Pour-Over
Most single-use pour-over filters contain traditionally roasted coffee but offer convenience and portability similar to many instant varieties. The brewing experience recreates a pour-over made at home; however, you’re left with a filter full of spent grounds that must be disposed of somehow. Tip: use a vessel that’s tall and narrow to keep the filter steady and prevent it from falling into the brewed coffee below.
One by Intent Roasting
Portland, Oregon-based Intent Coffee Roasting developed a single-use pour-over packet using their own roasted coffee. The narrow filter takes some patience, as it can hold only about an ounce of water at a time, but the resulting brew has a delightful aroma and smooth, chocolaty flavor. Priced at $20 for a pack of 12, or $2 for a single pack.
Pourtables by Libra Coffee
These portable packets contain organic coffee from Tolima, Colombia and Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. Libra delivers delicate flavors consistent with traditionally brewed coffee, and origin-specific tasting notes are present in each of the different blends offered (nuts and chocolate for the Colombian, black tea and stonefruit for Ethiopian). $20 gets you 10 packets.
Soluble Crystals
Soluble crystals are instant coffee in its truest form—just add hot water and you’re done. With minimal footprint and waste, packets are an ideal option for outdoor adventuring.
Alpine Start
Alpine Start was co-founded by professional climber Matt Segal, who was inspired to develop a better portable coffee solution after drinking one too many crappy packets of instant while hanging from rock faces. The Colombian coffee is rich in notes of nuts and chocolate, with hints of caramel; it drinks easy and smooth. At $9 for a box of eight packets, it’s one of the better price points offered in premium instant products.
Voîla
Voîla founder Kent Sheridan had visions of introducing customers to specialty coffee without the need for fancy grinders and brewing equipment. At $20 for a pack of five, Voîla definitely has a craft-quality price tag, but the coffee is nuanced and complex, just as you would expect from a cup brewed by any of the specialty roasters Voîla has on its roster (Coava, Ruby, and Huckleberry, to name three).
Stoked Stix
Stoked Roasters branched out to offer organic packets of soluble coffee, “for adventurous souls on the go.” The Hood River, Oregon-based roaster offers both a medium- and dark-roasted version of Stix. At $9 for a box of eight packets, the price is competitive, but flavors are simple. For those that trend toward more traditionally dark-roasted coffees, this is for you.
Sudden
Co-founded by Finnish barista champion Kalle Freese, Sudden was designed to bring convenience to the specialty coffee experience. The company introduces new variations each quarter, hitting on different origins and flavor notes. Each tube brews clean and complex, making it easy to forget you’re drinking instant coffee—a desirable result for an eight-pack priced at $19.
Swift Cup
Swift Cup offers an instant version of coffees roasted by a host of craft roasters from around the country. The integrity of origin flavors maintained through their proprietary process is noteworthy: The Burundi was delicate and tea-like, with flavors of stonefruit and peach and a bright acidity. Swift Cup retails at a range of $16 to $19 for six packets, ranking it among the more costly of instant products.
First Ascent
Roasted, processed, and packaged in Crested Butte, Colorado, First Ascent’s line of instant packets includes an everyday blend and single-origins from Ethiopia and Honduras. The Ethiopia packs impressive complexity and acidity, while the other offerings are milder in flavor and body. At $19 for an eight-pack, First Ascent comes with a price and flavor associated with craft quality.
Parlor Coffee: Instant
The New York roaster offers two variations of its classy jar-o-instant. Prospect is a Colombia-Ethiopia blend and Wallabout is a Colombia-Peru blend. Prospect leans fruitier, while Wallabout comes through with classic South American flavors of toffee, caramel, and bittersweet chocolate. Each jar sells for $15 and contains six one-cup servings.
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Don’t forget Jiva Cubes (http://www.jivacubes.com/)!
I was wondering. If they’d make the list. I ordered some and gave them a try. Not bad!
Trader Joe’s has a 10 pack of instant that’s not too bad and priced affordably at 4$….y’know…for the dirt bags out there!
Help me understand the issue with burying a sachet (or spent) coffee grounds? Both are very easily biodegradable, and are most likely less onerous to the soil than human waste buried in a similar hole…
It’s very minimal. I’ve generally used sachet coffee when camping (my comment below details options), and always found it highly efficient. There is obviously the purist attitude, which I respect, of leaving ZERO trace, even of biodegradable items, but I’ve always fallen just shy of that. My only hesitation when using them on the trail has been more the secondary impact on wildlife – specifically, leaving aromatic food items like spent coffee grounds in a little sachet in the woods with the potential to attract bears, etc. If you bury them more than a few inches down, I doubt it would be too much of an issue. And I still prefer that over keeping up with tiny plastic wrappers from instant coffee pouches, as those do demand being packed out.
Am I the only one who rips the top off the Via packet, then puts it in the empty pouch so as not to lose in camp?
I’m sure most do. It still requires keeping up with the pouch. Again, a very minimal inconvenience, as you point out. I just try to bring a little loose plastic into the wilderness as possible over all, but that may be a personal idiosyncrasy.
Ran into this group at Overland Expo West. Really nice guy that makes some pretty good coffee and definitely worth the try:
https://overlandcoffeecompany.com/
But how do these compare with Via as to taste? At under a dollar per pack Via tastes pretty darned good in the backcountry – and we drink craft roasted coffee from our Jura Capresso superautomatic at home. Many of the ones listed are $2-$4 per serving.
“At £4.50 to £5 for a box of 10 sachets, the price per cup is less than what you’d pay at a coffee shop.”
Add £10.99 shipping to the US though. Sill cheaper than a lot of coffee shops but not exactly cheap comparted to the rest of the competition here.
Tasters Choice French Roast instant. 105 servings for $8.00 or about $0.08 per serving. Dump some in a ziplock and you are good to go. Is it as good as “craft” coffee? No. Does it keep you from getting a caffeine withdrawal headache? Yes. Hopefully the setting you are in makes the coffee moment, not the type of coffee.
SSorry…I use the VIa a lot for short hikes or while fly fishing with a heat tab and Sierra cup. But anything overnight I want my Mini Bialetti and some espresso grounds. It only weighs 11 Oz. with a load of grounds in it. I like the ritual in the AM and an Espresso and piece of lemon peel in the AM is heaven.
Back in my day (I’m only 37, it ain’t that far back), before the little Via style instant coffee packets were available, I just took regular coffee grounds and tied them up in small paper coffee filters as a make-shift sachet, and it worked great. Then I realized you could buy empty tea filter bags in bulk for next to nothing, and pre-load a bunch ahead of time (or fill one as needed on the trail each morning) and use whatever coffee you want, all at a savings by having purchased your favorite coffee by the bag. Does it take an extra few seconds? Sure. But worth it on many levels.
Just bought a simple, plastic pour-over device. It weighs about an ounce, and cost $1. Bring whatever ground coffee I like. Much better than any other solution I have tried over the years.
Medaglia D’Oro; instant espresso at $4 for 16 satisfyingly rich earthy cups. Quality, sold everywhere. Enough said. Is this seriously “adventure journalism”?
Folgers has had a sachet/teabag thing for years. If I recall correctly, it’s both ground and instant coffee in there. Gives quick results from the instant, but you can also steep for a while to get stronger flavor.
I’m drinking a Starbucks Via right now, I came to see if anyone else found it to be bitter.. I prefer the trader Joe’s instant crystals packets; they’re pretty mellow, and even come with the creamer and sweetener inside the tube.
Recently tried the Steeped Coffee mentioned above (in single serve coffee bags), and I was blown away. It took my until my second cup where I realized I actually had to follow the directions (pour water over the bag, dip and dunk for 15 seconds, and steeped for 5+ minutes—not even needing to take the bag out to taste the coffee notes develop). I’m hooked. At home I weight my coffee, grind it, do a french press or pour over, and the then have to clean it all up. When I’m camping I kind of switch it up but never anything great. Now at home I’m totally lazy but still have specialty coffee, and while I’m traveling is the most popular thing I bring with me. I checked out Steeped and they are a B-Corp, use compostable and renewable materials, ethically source specialty coffee, nitro seal each pack for freshness, and seem like they care. I want to see more single origin coffee, but I think they are making packs for other roasters now so I’m hoping to explore more there. Definitely my new favorite brewing method!