Instant coffee, also called soluble coffee, coffee crystals and coffee powder, is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans that enables people to quickly prepare hot coffee by adding hot water to the powder or crystals and stirring. Instant coffee is commercially prepared by either freeze-drying or spray drying, after which it can be rehydrated. Instant coffee in a concentrated liquid form is also manufactured.
Advantages of instant coffee include speed of preparation (instant coffee dissolves instantly in hot water), lower shipping weight and volume than beans or ground coffee (to prepare the same amount of beverage), and long shelf life—though instant coffee can spoil if not kept dry. Instant coffee also reduces cleanup since there are no coffee grounds.
Instant or soluble coffee was invented and patented in 1881, by Alphonse Allais, France, under patent number 141520. In 1890, David Strang of Invercargill, New Zealand, under patent number 3518 sold under the trading name Strang's Coffee citing the patented "Dry Hot-Air" process. The invention was previously attributed to Satori Kato, a Japanese scientist working in Chicago in 1901. Kato introduced the powdered substance in Buffalo, New York, at the Pan-American Exposition.George Constant Louis Washington developed his own instant coffee process shortly thereafter, and first marketed it commercially (1910). The Nescafé brand, which introduced a more advanced coffee refining process, was launched in 1938.
High-vacuum freeze-dried coffee was developed shortly after World War II, as an indirect result of wartime research into other areas. The National Research Corporation (NRC) was formed in Massachusetts as a process-development company employing high-vacuum technology. It developed high-vacuum processes to produce penicillin, blood plasma, and streptomycin for US military use. As the war ended, NRC looked to adapt its processes for peacetime uses. It formed Florida Foods Corporation to produce concentrated orange juice powder, and originally sold its product to the United States Army. That company later changed its name to Minute Maid.
- Completed in 5–30 seconds (dependent on factors such as heat, size of particle, and diameter of chamber).
- Moisture content change: IN = 75-85% OUT = 3-3.5%
- Air temperature: IN = 270 °C (518 °F) OUT = 110 °C (230 °F)
- Species of coffee bean
- Geographical origin
- Processing detail
- Year of crop
- Solvents used in decaffeination
- Caffeine level
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