Since the beginning of the 20th century, caffeine lovers have been tinkering and tasting in the pursuit of making coffee completely soluble, delicious, and convenient. In other words, “instant.” Let’s admit it, the results have never really lived up to the real thing. At least, until now…
Ladies and gentlemen, this month at Fellow, we’re excited to share with you the crème de la crème of the latest and tastiest developments in the instant coffee game! For January, we’re offering coffee from some of our finest domestic roasteries, who not only bring us delicious beans but have also teamed up with the most innovative minds out there who have taken instant coffee to the next level.
Stop in and see how far instant coffee has come (or just grab your usually delicious bag of beans)!
CAT & CLOUD + STEEPED COFFEE
Whole Bean Coffee
Who: Cat & Cloud in Santa Cruz, CA
Coffee/Origin: El Salvador San Nicholas
Variety: Pacamara
Process: Honey
Notes: Orange Juice, Pineapple, Almond Biscotti
“We love buying coffee at auctions – they’re fun, the producers get a great price, and we bring home delicious coffee for our customers. For example, we bought this coffee for about 500% over FairTrade prices, and for us it’s worth it (don’t worry, we won’t mark it up that high for you). This coffee was purchased from the El Salvador Chalate Best Cup Auction. Scoring in the Top 10, this coffee is a honey-processed Pacamara from Finca San Nicholas that is citrusy, sweet, and all around delicious. It has a little bit of complexity while being a coffee that we’d love to drink every morning.”
Instant Coffee Pairing
Partner: Steeped Coffee in Santa Cruz, CA
What: Freshly ground and nitro-seeled inside of compostable packaging
How: Steeps like a tea bag in 8 oz of hot water for ~5 minutes
Coffee/Origin: Colombia, Brazil, Ethiopia
Variety: Caturra, Yellow Bourbon, Heirloom
Process: Natural, Washed
Notes: Caramel, Berries, Chocolate
CANYON COFFEE + SWIFT CUP COFFEE
Whole Bean Coffee
Who: Canyon Coffee in Los Angeles, CA
Coffee/Origin: Ethiopia Limu Kosa
Variety: Heirloom
Process: Washed
Notes: Jasmine, Peaches, Molasses
“We’re big fans of bringing out the chocolate and caramel in the coffees we source. And Limu Kosa is no different. In the specialty coffee world, Ethiopian beans are commonly roasted lightly and are known for and revered for the resulting bright acidity, strong floral and fruit notes and near tea-like consistency cups. We think these kinds of coffees and roasts are amazing—but it’s not the style of coffee we really love drinking every morning, black.
For that reason, we let Limu Kosa cook a little longer in the roaster, allowing its natural sugars to develop and caramelize. The result is a bean that carries that smooth chocolatey body we love about coffee, with super tasty expressive notes on top. As your cup of Limu cools, notice how the flavors develop over 20 minutes! We’ve tasted it evolve from caramel to peach to jasmine flower to honey. It’s really a beautiful coffee!”
Instant Coffee Pairing
Partner: Swift Cup Coffee in Lancaster, PA
What: Using a proprietary process, Swift Cup Coffee carefully brews the coffee to a very flavorful concentrate before slowly dehydrating the coffee through freeze drying
How: Mix with 8-10 oz of filtered water
Coffee/Origin: Celinga Village, Bangua District, Ethiopia
Elevation: 1780-1860 Meters
Process: Washed
Tasting Notes: Cacao Nib and Peach
CIRQUE + VOILÁ
Whole Bean Coffee
Who: Cirque Coffee Roasters in Tulsa, OK
Coffee/Origin: Brazil Benedito
Variety: Yellow Bourbon
Process: Natural
Notes: Strawberry, Rhubarb, Glazed Puff Pastry
“Rancho Sao Benedito is located in the rolling mountains of South Minas just outside the small rural town of Carmo de Minas. The region has quite recently become renowned for its award-winning quality, producing some of the finest lots Brazil has to offer. The farm as an average elevation of 1200 masl. The estate was found in 1954 and is now run by Marcio Heleo de Carcalho Junqueira, his three siblings and a team of 20 staff. Benedito has long been recognized for impeccable quality and has placed as a finalist in the Brazilian Cup of Excellence 7 times since 2002!”
Instant Coffee Pairing
Partner: Voilá in Bend, OR
What: The best specialty coffees around the world in pre-extracted soluble form
How: Add coffee to an empty cup, add 8-10 oz of water at preferred drinking temperature, stir & voilá
Coffee/Origin: Colombia Las Araucarias
Notes: Black Currant, Cacao, Allspice
INTELLIGENTSIA + SUDDEN COFFEE
Whole Bean Coffee
Who: Intelligentsia in Chicago, IL
Coffee/Origin: Kenya Kunga Maitu Estate
Variety: SL28, SL34
Process: Washed
Notes: Lemon, Nectarine, Watermelon
“This year we have introduced the Kungu Maitu Estate line of coffees from single farms on which growers process their own coffee and control every variable that affects quality. The second farm in this year’s Kungu Maitu Estate lineup is the Wangera farm of Njeri Kagio. Njeri is 79 years old. She owns a car, but prefers to walking five kilometers to and from her farm each and every day. There, she roves up and down the steep hillsides pruning trees, spreading manure, applying nutrients, and picking and sorting coffee cherries. The trees, some of which Njeri planted more 50 years ago, are aligned in perfectly manicured rows. Their full, healthy boughs stand in such stark contrast to the neighboring farms that even a first-time visitor can immediately tell which trees belong to the Wangera farm. Her eighth of 10 children, Stephen Kagio, returned to the farm a few years ago to help his maitu introduce a few technological improvements and other small adjustments to produce truly spectacular coffee. We had the great good fortune to meet Stephen and Njeri last year, and are thrilled to introduce their coffee to our lineup. Her resilience and youthful spirit and his fine-tuning are both reflected inWangera’s coffee, which was good enough to earn the best newcomer award for the farm at our second annual Extraordinary Coffee Workshop in 2018. We have no reason to doubt that our new 79-year-old partner, her son, and their Wangera farm will continue to bring beautiful things into the world for years to come.”
Instant Coffee Pairing
Partner: Sudden Coffee in San Francisco, CA
What: Single-origin beans brewed with a revolutionary secret method and then freeze-dried in small batches
How: Add to 8 oz of hot or cold water and stir
Coffee/Origin: Flecha Roja, Costa Rica
Process: Washed
Notes: Citrus, Stone Fruit, and Molasses
REANIMATOR + SWIFT CUP COFFEE
Whole Bean Coffee
Who: ReAnimator Coffee Roasters in Philadelphia, PA
Coffee/Origin: Peru Satipo
Variety: Caturra, Bourbon
Process: Washed
Notes: Marzipan, white grape, and rose
“This is our second year purchasing and roasting coffees from the Pangoa Cooperative in the Junin region of Peru, which we visited for the first time last year with Aleco Chigounis of Red Fox Coffee Merchants. Aleco and his team have been doing more work in Peru than any other coffee importers, and investing in regions and producers that had been previously unknown in the specialty world. While the coop once had nearly 1,700 members, warfare in the 1980s and 1990s reduced that number drastically. It has now stabilized around 680-700 members, who are all producing some of the best coffee in the country. We appreciate the coffees coming from Pangoa for their clarity and unique sweetness. They tend to be more refreshing and light on their feet than coffees from other growing regions in Peru, and that holds true with this lot. We’re tasting refreshing white grape, with a marzipan sweetness, and floral rose character. It’s a really special, fresh, and delicious coffee.”
Instant Coffee Pairing
Partner: Swift Cup Coffee in Lancaster, PA
What: Using a proprietary process, Swift Cup Coffee carefully brews the coffee to a very flavorful concentrate before slowly dehydrating the coffee through freeze drying
How: Mix with 8-10 oz of filtered water
Coffee/Origin: Ethiopia Duromina
Process: Washed
Tasting Notes: Lemon, Cocoa, and Sandalwood
Come on and in and try them this INSTANT!