Is filter coffee the same as instant coffee?


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I bought a coffee maker that brews using "filter coffee".

 

There is no "filter coffee" section on the Sainsbury's supermarket website!

 

Is it the same as instant coffee?

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No, you'll just want ground coffee, or buy coffee beans and ground them yourself.

Which coffee machine is it? An espresso machine, drip machine? If it's a drip machine, you *may* need paper filters - not all drip machines have washable filters.

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As Brian hinted at, tell us the machine and I'm sure we can answer what kind of coffee you should be looking for. :)

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No, you'll just want ground coffee, or buy coffee beans and ground them yourself.

Which coffee machine is it? An espresso machine, drip machine? If it's a drip machine, you *may* need paper filters - not all drip machines have washable filters.

 

I'm no coffee person myself, but over here hardly anyone uses washable filters, certainly no one that actually likes coffee :)

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I'm no coffee person myself, but over here hardly anyone uses washable filters, certainly no one that actually likes coffee :)

Yep, I wouldn't dream of using one. Some "filter" machines have plastic mesh filters though.

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In places that sell coffee beans there is usually a grind machine standing nearby. You you buy beans and then grind them.

They have settings.. You can choose the one that is correct for your machine.

If you cannot find one.. So do Starbucks.. They will happily grind any of the beans you like for you

Instant coffee does not need a machine.

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I bought a coffee maker that brews using "filter coffee".

 

There is no "filter coffee" section on the Sainsbury's supermarket website!

 

Is it the same as instant coffee?

 

 

Yes and no. They're both coffee but one has been 'used' already.

 

Filter coffee just refers to coffee beans that have already been roasted and ground for you. The resulting grounds are then used to brew your coffee. It's a bit like Tea leaves in a tea bag. They are cut up in little bits from a tea leaf.

 

 

Instant coffee granules are made from brewed coffee. The brewed coffee is super heated and sprayed into a vacuumed chamber. The brewed coffee is collected and clumped together using a caking agent (you might notice this on the top of the coffee if you don't add milk) and then it's blitz to create small crystallised 'granules'.

You're basically re-hydrating someone else's brewed coffee, but it's stable and you don't have to worry about keeping the fresh ground coffee beans cool or using them within a few weeks.

 

tldr; You can buy ground coffee in place of filter coffee. It'll all work the same in retail packaging with machines.

 

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instant coffee doesn't have all the aromatic oils and chemicals that evaporate off the drying coffee.

 

some brands add very finely ground 'real' coffee from beans in order to provide a pseudo-barrista (starbucks,cosata) drink.

 

nothing beats fresh ground coffee.

 

most supermarket bagged & pre-ground coffee will state the grind level. ie. 'for all coffee makers' or 'for filter coffee makers' etc.

 

instant can be kept in the jar unrefrigerated. real ground bean coffee can be frozen, and used as needed. refrigerating it above freezing tends to dry it out tho.

 

best coffee is from buying the beans roasted to your taste and ground yourself (blender works, bit messy tho) to the fineness that works best for you. experiment.

 

my favourite is an italian roast filter grind for my aerobie press coffee maker.

(it uses a paper filter that can be washed and re-used, or changed each use.)

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when i worked overseas in saudi, there was a coffee merchant in al-khobar that had just about any kind of bean, in all kinds of roasts (roasted right there). you could buy the beans in bulk, they'd grind them to your spec for your coffee maker. 'd buy a kilo (2.2lbs) of fresh american/italian arabica bean roast blend every month or so ground for a cafitiere, freeze it and scoop out just enough for the cafitiere as needed. the shop smelled wonderful & the coffee was amazing.

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