Did you know that 71% of the UK are still drinking instant coffee?

That’s right, you over there with your mug of Kenco – NO! You’re better than that, we as a country are better than that. Since the explosion of the espresso in the late 70’s and early 80’s we have all had a hankering for some proper coffee but for some reason in the UK we put supermarket coffee in our trollies and then go out for the good stuff.

Coffee is a social thing and I get it but aren’t you tired of being embarrassed explaining “sorry I’ve only got some instant rubbish” when you have family and friends over?

London started the ‘third wave’ coffee scene in the UK many years ago with artisan coffee roasters popping up to compete with the giants of coffee and having some great success. The great thing about artisan coffee is that it is created with passion and love first and making some money second. The complete opposite of the stuff you are sipping on each morning because it’s easy. Did you know that a holding company created in 2014 by Douwe Egberts and American food conglomerate Mondelez International created what is now known as Jacobs Douwe Egberts and they own most of the instant coffee brands you see on the shelves including Douwe Egberts, Grand Mere, Jacobs, Harris, Kenco, Maxwell House and Tassimo

That’s a lot of pennies going into one big old corporate machine back pocket.

Why Pick Artisan Over Instant?

Well there are many reasons why your freshly roasted beans are better than instant aside from the obvious. One of the big differences is that instant coffee is a manufactured process whereas the fresh roasted beans are just that!

Did you know that instant coffee consumption directly affects iron absorption as well. As it turns out, instant coffee taken during or an hour after a meal results in significantly decreased amount of iron absorbed by the intestines. This iron absorption-inhibiting mechanism is even more pronounced when the strength of instant coffee is increased. However, this does not happen when the drink is taken an hour prior to a meal.

The manner by which instant coffee is processed results in the product having acrylamide as well. Acrylamide is a chemical compound used by wastewater treatment facilities as well as papermaking and ore processing industries as a water-soluble thickener. Acrylamide forms in food when the latter is subjected to temperatures higher than 248 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsius) during processing. Occupational exposure is associated with neurotoxicity, while dietary acrylamide has consistently shown to be carcinogenic in animal studies.

Mmmmmmmm yum….

Instant coffee is usually months old and the coffee beans were roasted some time last year, in another country. It’s then compressed, shipped, ground and chemicalled (I know that’s not a word). All before being left on the shelf and then you have to hope the supermarket has it’s stock system up together before maybe getting the coffee 9 months after it was roasted.

Artisan coffee is roasted and sent to you 3-10 after roasting. You can read on the scientific benefit of fresh coffee here as we found a brilliant nutritionist to find out the science behind coffee and just how good it can be for you!

Given the journey instant coffee has to go through how are you supposed to get all of the beautiful aromas that coffee is supposed to have when it’s as stale as a 6 month old piece of bread? Have you tried a fresh coffee? I’m not talking about espresso either, have you ever had a lovely fresh coffee through a simple drip filter machine or something like a chemex?

Artisan coffee has been roasted, ground and brewed all with flavour in mind. Think coffee like you do wine. Each bean has different aromas typical of where and how it is grown. Artisan coffee producers make sure that this bean has all of the flavours it should do giving you an actual experience rather than a half assed caffeine rush before running out the door.

I get it though, when you are running around in the morning it is difficult to see why you might want to spend the extra 3 minutes making a proper cup of coffee but with all that bad stuff going on then it would be definitely worth taking the time. I promise after a few days of drinking good, fresh coffee you won’t remember how difficult it was and you’ll be changing your morning forever.

The artisan coffee world may seem pretentious and all a bit too much but I promise that it’s really not when you’re in it. It’s just full of people really passionate about starting their day off right with some beautiful tasting coffee.

 

As a country we’ve all been through a lot over the last few years with politics and economics providing quite the rollercoaster for us all. We deserve better. Life is too short for a bad cup of coffee.