What are the differences between freshly ground coffee and instant coffee? How can you tell the difference between freeze-dried and fog-dried instant coffee?

Coffee essence is a kind of artificially synthesized essence that has the taste of coffee but has nothing to do with coffee. Freshly ground coffee can be blended as you like. Freshly ground coffee is brewed by yourself, and it is pure coffee with its own coffee aroma and taste, but without sugar and milk. You can add it according to your needs, or drink it directly without adding it. So, what are the differences between freshly ground coffee and instant coffee? How can you distinguish between freeze-dried instant coffee and fog-dried instant coffee? Let's take a look at the introduction of Encyclopedia Knowledge Network!

Contents of this article

1. The difference between freshly ground coffee and instant coffee

2. How to distinguish between freeze-dried and fog-dried instant coffee

3. What is the difference between three-in-one coffee and coffee?

The difference between freshly ground coffee and instant coffee

1. The difference between direct brewing and fresh "cooking"

Most of us first learned about coffee from instant coffee bought from supermarkets. Instant coffee is the kind that will melt when poured with boiling water, without residue, and can be drunk directly. Instant coffee is divided into instant pure (black) coffee and instant three-in-one and instant two-in-one coffee, all of which are prepared in advance by the manufacturer. Freshly ground coffee refers to coffee beans, which need to be ground and extracted with corresponding tools, which is what we call "brewing coffee". There are many tools for brewing coffee, such as coffee machines, hand brewing, French presses, siphon pots, etc. Friends who are interested can read my other articles for introductions. Freshly ground coffee will only be obtained after "brewing", and it has a strong coffee aroma without any additions.

2. Differences in production process and aroma.

Instant coffee loses most of its aroma and taste during the production process. Of course, a lot of nutrients are also lost. The remaining bitter taste is heavier and the fat content is relatively low. This is also the reason why instant coffee has a long shelf life. Brewing is equivalent to secondary extraction. Therefore, don't blame the merchants for the lack of aroma when drinking instant coffee. This is a common problem. It's not that someone's instant coffee is bad, but that everyone's instant coffee is similar. Freshly ground coffee is all coffee beans, which are roasted directly from the roaster, just like the snacks we baked out of the oven. The original aroma is sufficient, the nutrition is well preserved, and the taste is also great! The aroma of coffee beans is locked in the beans before they are ground into powder, and they taste good within 3 months after roasting. The shelf life is much shorter than that of instant coffee. In the previous "coffee carcinogenic storm", I mentioned that the content of "acrylamide", a carcinogenic substance in instant coffee, is more than 100 times that of freshly brewed coffee. Therefore, for health reasons, it is recommended to choose freshly ground coffee.

How to distinguish between freeze-dried and fog-dried instant coffee

(1) Freeze drying

Freeze-dried coffee refers to placing liquid coffee in a freeze dryer at a temperature of dozens of degrees below zero, allowing the water in the coffee liquid to sublime and remove the ice to obtain dry, irregularly shaped, large-particle coffee powder. This low-temperature method can preserve the nutrition and aroma of coffee to the greatest extent.

(2) Spray drying

Spray drying refers to a high-temperature steam extraction method. The coffee liquid is placed in a high-temperature jet, and the water in the coffee evaporates under high temperature, leaving behind small particles of concentrated coffee extract. However, during the entire process, the high temperature will cause some volatile compounds in the coffee to evaporate and lose, especially caffeine and aroma.

What is the difference between 3-in-1 coffee and coffee?

1. The difference between good and bad taste.

If the difference in smell is caused by the production process, then the difference in taste will appear after brewing. For instant coffee, you can try pure instant black coffee. What else can it taste except bitterness? So most people will choose three-in-one coffee. After all, in addition to bitterness, you can also taste sweetness and creamer. But freshly brewed coffee, even if you don't add anything, it has its own coffee aroma, and it tastes like coffee instead of essence!

2. The difference between pre-mixing and on-site mixing.

Instant coffee is prepared in advance, and the materials and quantity are uncontrollable. Instant coffee is a coffee extract obtained by extracting coffee in advance and then air-drying, spraying or freeze-drying. To put it bluntly, instant coffee is a secondary processed product of freshly brewed coffee, and the aroma of coffee is no longer there during the production process. Moreover, most instant coffees are three-in-one, which contain sugar and creamer. They are sweet and even have a milky aroma~~ But what you don’t know is... how much coffee is contained in it? It’s pitifully little! The instant coffee powder content in three-in-one coffee can be considered conscientious merchants if it can reach 15%! This means that if you buy a 15-gram package of instant coffee, the coffee content in it is less than 2 grams. Do you still think it tastes like coffee? If the instant coffee you buy has a strong coffee flavor, be careful that coffee flavor may be added.