Instant Coffee?

[Charlie B53]

Does anyone use instant coffee?  What is a good brand/flavor?

I usually buy Folgers ground coffee and make only my one large cup every morning.  Before Dialysis I would make one 12 cup pot and drink that whole thing.  No more, only that one large cup.

I kick it up a couple of notches, adding a heaping teaspoon of Mocha Expresso mix, a couple of spoons of protein powder which acts a lot like a big dose of creamer, than I add a heaping spoon of instant coffee.

Since I am such a cheap SOB my last jar of instant I made the mistake of grabbing the cheapest one on the shelf.  YUCK!  Added to all the rest it really wasn't that bad, but......  I tried a couple of spoons to a cup of hot water......NEVER again!  It's terrible!   You can be sure I won't buy that kind again.

I finally emptied that jar, took me almost 6 months but it's gone.  Now I need to figure out which brand tastes a lot better.  Too bad the stores won't let me open every one to smell and taste, make a better decision.

[kristina]

Hello Charlie,
We never use any instant coffee because we were told that too many other "things" are being put into "it" to make up for "the bulk" and all that might have a bad effect on my already fragile health. As a result we have bought for ages only coffee-beans which we grind at home. At least there we know for sure what we are getting, whereas with instant coffee etc. there is no chance to really know which other "bits and pieces" are being put in. That's just my 
Good luck and best wishes from Kristina.

[iolaire]

We find single serve packs of Nescafé in hotel/guest houses around the world and I enjoy it. 

I've actually been thinking about moving to instant coffee as my stomach will only handle about one cup of coffee per day and my wife enjoys weak flavored coffee like pumpkin or gingerbread.  I'd prefer a stronger cup of coffee but don't drink enough to compete for the coffee pot.

Also I'm looking for a source of affordable small cup size UHT shelf stable milk like you find out of the US.  I enjoy milk as well but only need about a cup per weekend.  In the US I only see high priced single serve organic UHT milk in the stores.

[Paul]

You may want to switch from instant to ground coffee:

Potassium in 100 g of ground coffee - 49 mg
Potassium in 100 g of instant coffee - 3535 mg

Of course you use more ground coffee per cup than instant coffee, so that is not an exact match, but you can see the point.

[iolaire]

I usually buy Folgers ground coffee and make only my one large cup every morning.  Before Dialysis I would make one 12 cup pot and drink that whole thing.  No more, only that one large cup.

Another suggestion just move to an expresso maker, we bought an older version of this at a garage sale for $5, new its $25:
https://www.target.com/p/imusa-4-cup-espresso-cappuccino-maker/-/A-52285065

I was using it after my transplant and was happy with it, but again I don't feel like my stomach is up for it at home now.

[Paul]

OOOKay... After my last post I suddenly thought "I'm assuming those figures are for dried coffee, but perhaps they are for a cup of coffee." So I started Googling.

A cup (NB cup, not mug) of coffee made with ground coffee is listed as 116 mg. A cup of instant coffee is listed as 1700 mg. As the recommended daily limit of potassium for those of us on HD is 2000 mg, I'm guessing that a large mug of instant will use up your entire day's allowance, and probably go over.

[Paul]

PS I should point out that coffee was the second hardest thing for me to give up (after peanut products). I still have the occasional cup of ground coffee. And very occasionally I'll have a cup of instant coffee, but this is always just before going to dialysis, on the theory that as the potassium is entering my blood stream the machine will be sucking it out.

[cassandra]

Instant coffee really is that high in K+ and I don't understand why anyone who has to watch their K+ Intake would consider drinking it. Coffee in a cup has a lot less K+ than a beaker of milk.

[Paul]

Coffee in a cup has a lot less K+ than a beaker of milk.

My local cafe does a "Milky coffee". That is an instant coffee, but made with milk, no water. I dread to think how much potassium is in that!

[Charlie B53]

I have TWO bean grinders and sometimes do buy whole beans.  They are GREAT!!!!!

I only use one spoon of instant to kick up my big cup made with grounds.  I never looked at the label, if it is that high in K.   I will quit that.  But I will keep adding that heaping spoon of the espresso mix which I believe is more like instant with a flavored creamer.  Directions for that stuff is something like two TABLESPOONS to one cup hot water.  I am only using one teaspoon to two cups of drip coffee only about 1/4 of a regular serving.

Sadly we had to retire our espresso maker when the coffee maker side started on fire.  I LOVED that thing and used it often.  Many days I would make, and drink TWO QUADS and make a third for the drive to work.  Many many days the next thing I knew was it was 3 o'clock and almost time to go home!

Very sadly, I had to give up caffeine as very much of it makes my heart start skipping beats.  Like about dropping every third beat.  NOT a good feeling!

[Cupcake]

Lucky me I have normal potassium and sometimes when I want to kick my Keurig up to high octane I add a teaspoon of espresso powder  which is sold in cooking stores. It's just dehydrated coffee and so good. I think it's used in baking to make mocha ganache or mousse.

[kickingandscreaming]

Potassium isn't the issue with "milky coffee."  It's phosphorus from all the milk,

[PrimeTimer]

We hate instant coffee but what they've done to regular coffee makes it just as bad. I keep buying different brands and they're all the same -tastes like twigs. May as well walk outside and grab me a handful and put them in a grinder and add to a pot of water. Just sayin'. And I don't know why but I didn't have coffee yesterday and woke up this morning with a hellova headache. I suppose it was caused by caffeine withdrawal. For one day.

Anyone ever drop some vanilla extract into a pot of coffee? Does that help any? Maybe ought to skip coffee and drink the "breakfast of champions"  Could get away with that in our younger years. Had a friend who use to pour beer on his cornflakes if he was out of milk. I never got that desperate but did use water. Beer sounds better. Only you can't drive if you do that. Oh heck! Everybody ought to just stay home for a day, have a beer for breakfast and to heck with everything else!  Personally, I'd love to have a Sam Adams. Or a double shot of good whiskey. Haven't done that in yeeers! Darn it, why did they have to go and mess with our coffee...

[kristina]

Anyone ever drop some vanilla extract into a pot of coffee? Does that help any?

Hello PrimeTimer,
I you look up how people enjoy their coffee in Vienna, Austria, you'll find that in Viennese public coffee-houses there is often a touch of Vanilla put into your coffee and they also recommend for you to drink a glass of water with your cup of coffee in order to "ease-up" the effect of the coffee on your stomach. When you visit one of the coffee-house in Vienna, you'll automatically be served a glass of water together with your cup of coffee.
If you look out for Continental-Italian-coffee-beans, you'll find them very mild, whereas dark Arabian coffee-beans are much stronger and not so kind on your stomach.
I always look out for fresh Continental-Italian-coffee-beans and have had no complaints.
Best wishes and good luck from Kristina.

[Charlie B53]

I haven't tried beer on my ceereal but as a kid and not finding any milk one morning, cousin and I already had Corn Flakes in our bowls and orange juice was the only liquid in the refrigerator.  Sooooooooooooooooooooo...............

It wasn't bad.  Could have been a whole lot worse.

Instead of Creamer I use Vanilla Protein Powder, thinking that little bit of protein daily could make a slight improvement in my diet.  I checked the ingredients and the nutrition labels carefully and found many of the other flavorings to contain eithr phosphorus or potassium.  The particular brand I use is lowest in both.  Not all brands list K and Phos so I won't even consider purchasing those.

Native Americans used to make a type of coffe using dried chickory.  I grows wild all along the roadway fronting our 3 acres and I've often thought about going out, cutting a bunch of it.  Drying, smashing or grinding it and figuring out how to brew a pot to taste it.  Who knows?  It might be good and since it's FREE, and I am a cheap SOB, that might make it even a better choice!

[PrimeTimer]

kristina: Thank you for the tips! I checked online and our grocery store carries a brand of Italian roasted ground coffee. They also carry a sort of "instant" powdered coffee made by Maxwell House called Maxwell House International Cafe Vienna. And while I'm at it, I am going to try a drop of vanilla extract in a pot so as the brewed coffee drips down to the pot it will absorb the vanilla flavor. I hope. I like strong coffee but not so strong that it tastes like burnt twigs.

Charlie B53: Good luck with the chickory but that doesn't sound good to me. I like to have more than 1 cup so need something that isn't quite as powerful. I suppose for those that must limit their fluid intake, the stronger a coffee the better so that just a small amount can give you that boost we all need in the morning. Expresso is good for that. I don't think the coffee police will knock on your door. 

[lulu836]

Charlie B53: Good luck with the chickory but that doesn't sound good to me. I like to have more than 1 cup so need something that isn't quite as powerful. I suppose for those that must limit their fluid intake, the stronger a coffee the better so that just a small amount can give you that boost we all need in the morning. Expresso is good for that. I don't think the coffee police will knock on your door. 

We use chicory a lot in Louisiana especially South Louisiana.