The Basics of Ground Coffee.
Ground coffee is made by drying coffee seeds (The beans which start out green.), roasted by different degrees for flavor, and then grinding the beans down into ground coffee.
There is no limit to how many different ways you can roast coffee beans, which is why we have so many different flavors of coffee and so many different ways to make flavored coffee beans or flavored ground coffee.
That's not all though. Coffee beans also have to be brewed in near-boiling water after they're roasted in order to make the grind, or before the coffee bean itself can be sold for at-home grinders.
Once you have the ground coffee made you can then process it one last time in order to finally have that sweet, beautiful, aromatic, perfect, and most delicious cup of Friggen Cawfee your heart's been desiring while reading this article.
The final process will involve either steeping, percolation, or by adding pressure. Most often steeping coffee is made in the same way you would make tea at home on your stove, while percolating is what we see in almost every coffee maker.
Finally adding pressure is commonly seen in more exotic coffee making products such as a French press or cold brew system. From personal experience the speed at which you can make your cup of coffee rated fasted to slowest is as follows:
1. Percolation
2. Steeping
3. Pressure
While I rarely have ever enjoyed coffee through a steeping process (I most commonly use percolation.) I have also found that pressure cold brewed coffee tends to be quite strong and energy empowering for myself.
I also find it much easier to make larger batches of cold brew pressure coffee than percolation or steeping, as the pressure system often comes with a built in pitcher to keep the coffee in and brewing.
The Basics of Instant Coffee.
Instant coffee is only slightly different than ground coffee, but at the same time they are very different due to what you need to make the end product as the consumer. Firstly, the process to make instant coffee, flavored instant coffee, or sweetened instant coffee starts out the same way as ground coffee.
The big difference between the two is that the manufacturer goes another step and brews the coffee before hand and then extracts and preserves the brewed coffee for packaging. Instant coffee also has almost the same flavor regardless of whether it is a light, medium or dark roast, and is often more bitter than ground coffee.
Now we can't completely disregard the roast level, as there are differences, but they are minimal and primarily reflect how it was brewed and how strong its flavor is.
Lastly the most notable difference between ground coffee and instant coffee is the way it is put into your cup. While we've already discussed how we can steep, percolate, or pressure brew ground coffee, ALL you need to make instant coffee is a consumable liquid such as milk, or water.
Especially when the liquid added is hot, instant coffee will DISOLVE very quickly in your cup, making it the fastest way to make yourself a cup of coffee.
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The Primary Differences of Ground Coffee.
If you're just looking for a quick take on the differences I've made a list here on the biggest aspects of ground and instant coffee that are different.
1. Flavor: Ground Coffee is highly flavorful and is rich, bold, and acidic. Instant Coffee stays around the same flavor regardless of what you get.
2. Brewing: Ground Coffee has to be steeped, percolated, or pressure brewed. Instant Coffee just needs liquid and stirring.
3. Products Needed: Ground Coffee requires different products for its brewing methods which include the brewing device and coffee filters at a minimum. All that Instant Coffee requires is a cup and something to stir it with.
4. Speed: Ground Coffee will take a few to several minutes to make, while Instant Coffee only takes seconds.
5. Popularity by Location: I'm throwing this one in for a fun fact. Ground Coffee is what consumers purchase in 90% of homes in the U.S., but in the UK 75% of consumers buy Instant Coffee.
6. Cost: Due to what you need to make Ground Coffee the cost is higher than the cost of Instant Coffee.
Concluding the Coffee.
So in a beanshell you will find flavorful, rich and a wide variety of flavors in ground coffee at the expensive of your wallet, whereas you can access a rapidly ready beverage with instant coffee at the expensive of your taste buds.
As always it is up to you to decide which coffee works the best for you and your lifestyle. There is no best way to have your coffee, because as I like to say; Coffee is just as unique and beautiful as each of us.
Thanks for stopping by Friggen Cawfee and reading this article! As always I'm more than glad to help answer your questions and provide input for all your coffee questions.
You can email me at friggencawfee@gmail.com
- Mark, Friggen Cawfee Connoisseur