The Absolute Worst Instant Coffee Brand You'll Find In The Grocery Aisle

Instant coffee is one of those products that can be hit or miss, since it's convenient and easy to use while still offering that freshly brewed flavor. But only some brands have been able to accurately capture the essence of a proper cup of joe, with others missing the mark on, well, just about everything. We taste-tested 14 different instant coffee brands to see which had the robust flavor we wanted, but one failed us in every aspect — Stop & Shop's house brand of instant coffee.

Our taste tester wrote that the grocery store-branded brew "is flat-out aggressive, with none of the subtle roastiness or chocolatey, fruity undertones. The mouthfeel is weirdly thick, almost sludgy, like it's trying to trick you into thinking it's full-bodied, when in reality it's just poorly dissolved. It left a ring of gritty residue at the bottom of my cup, which made the last few sips feel like punishment."

The only upside we could find is that it's affordable, which is certainly a draw if you're on a budget. Plus, sometimes, what we really want in a cup of instant coffee is just the caffeine, which the Stop & Shop brand coffee does deliver. Otherwise, this one's a pass, so skip it if you have the means.

What to do with subpar instant coffee

If your instant coffee choice turns out to be a dud, that doesn't mean you have to let it gather dust in the back of your pantry. You can thankfully still use instant coffee when baking and cooking. Try using it as a flavoring agent for coffee ice cream, or put it in chocolate cake to create a much more complex flavor profile. You can also gussy it up so much that you won't be able to recognize it by turning it into the popular dalgona coffee treat at home.

The good news is, instant coffee has come an extraordinarily long way. It used to be just a freeze-dried convenience drink but now, it's fancier than it's ever been, tastes much closer to the real thing, and is affordable no matter what your budget is. We managed to find budget instant coffee brands that were less than $1 per cup. So if there are other options on the shelf beside Stop & Shop, avoid the punishment and try a different brand in the same price category. 

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