Quick answer: No, you shouldn’t put instant coffee in a coffee maker. Instant coffee is already-brewed coffee that has been dried, so it simply dissolves in hot water. Running it through a drip machine, French press or Keurig won’t improve the taste, can leave undissolved clumps in the filter and makes a mess. Just stir it into hot water.
Instant coffee is the no-frills way to get your fix, but it isn’t the most gourmet choice.
You may think it is a good idea to put instant coffee in your coffee maker to improve the flavor a bit but you should definitely not do that.
Instant coffee and ground coffee are completely different and you should not add instant coffee to your coffee maker. Putting instant coffee in your coffee machine can leave clumps and sticky residue in the filter basket without making the coffee taste any better.
In this guide 4 sections
Why shouldn’t you put instant coffee in a coffee maker?
Instant coffee is usually already brewed and all you have to do is add water. Instant coffee is just dried coffee and by adding hot water you should have a perfectly good cup of joe.
Quality-wise, freshly brewed coffee is better, but instant coffee is much more convenient.
Because instant coffee is just dried coffee it will completely dissolve when hot water is added. Coffee makers are designed to brew ground coffee so by slowly dripping the hot water through the instant coffee it won’t mix with all the instant coffee grains and may leave some in your mesh or paper filter. The instant coffee in the middle dissolves and lets the rest of the water run through your filter without “brewing”.
- Instant coffee is made with either freeze drying or spray drying
- Spray-dried instant coffee is made by spraying concentrated coffee into hot air, which dries it almost instantly into a powder.
- Freeze-dried instant coffee is brewed into a concentrated extract, frozen, then dried in a vacuum into granules.
Sometimes when brewing instant coffee you will need to stir it around and you cannot do this in a coffee brewer.
When using a coffee maker it is always best to use freshly ground coffee beans. By using a coffee machine to brew your instant coffee you will not get any better tasting coffee and it may in fact actually taste worse.
How to make instant coffee the right way
First, heat a kettle of fresh water.
Next, portion out the water and coffee ratio that you want to use. If you have a larger cup you can change this ratio based on what makes sense for you. I like using 2g which equates to roughly one heaping teaspoon for every 200 ml of water, see the image below for a 200ml water glass.
Then, pour the water onto your instant coffee. One thing to note is you don’t want to use water that is at a rolling boil. Many people find slightly-off-the-boil water gives a less harsh cup, so let the kettle sit for a moment after it boils.
Lastly, mix the water and the instant coffee. Add any milk, sugar, whipped cream, or any toppings you want. Want a better jar to start with? See our picks for the best instant coffee.
Can you put instant coffee in a French press?
You could technically put instant coffee in a french press, but it wouldn’t make any sense. French presses are made for ground coffee. When using the french press with instant coffee, the powder would dissolve making the mesh filter useless.
If you are planning on making multiple cups of instant coffee it would just be easier to use a coffee pot and using the measurements above to make a larger pot of coffee. You can even leave it on your coffee machine’s heating element, shhhh, nobody has to know! This is the only time you should “make” instant coffee with a coffee machine.
However, if you have some ground coffee at home, check out our guide to making French press coffee. No coffee maker at all? Here are other ways to brew coffee without a coffee maker.
Can you use instant coffee in a Keurig?
So because Keurig coffee makers brew coffee so quickly and on-demand, people think that the K-cups are made of instant coffee. This is actually not the case.
Inside a K-cup is actually ground coffee which is sealed within the container. So if you have a reusable K-cup pod and are wondering if its okay to put in instant coffee, it is not. It would not be able to dissolve the instant coffee inside the reusable K-cup pod and you would be left with a watery mess.
If you are looking for great K-cup flavors, see our guide to the best-tasting K-Cup flavors.
Frequently asked questions
Will instant coffee damage a coffee maker?
It is unlikely to break it, but undissolved granules can clump in the filter and leave sticky residue, and the coffee won’t taste any better. Rinse the basket and carafe if you have tried it.
Can you make a pot of instant coffee?
Yes. Dissolve the instant coffee in hot water in a pot or carafe using the same ratio you use for a cup, and stir. You don’t need to run it through the machine.
Is there instant coffee in K-Cups?
No. Standard K-Cups contain ground coffee sealed in the pod, not instant coffee, so don’t fill a reusable pod with instant granules.