Instant coffee with creamer and sweeter all in one

[PD230SOI]

we have the 3 in 1s over here, ive been using them for years. Good stuff, but of course you have the little sleeve to carry out with each cup.

I might buy a few brands of instant and try making a blend you like - cheaper, etc.

I do not like the International House stuff -- its just too something.... fake surgery taste.... not sure.

[Maddog]

The new Nescafe 3 in 1 coffee. Awesome!

I'll be trying these on my next hike! Thanks! Maddog

[HangEm High]

I got some small plastic bags at my local drug store. I asked the pharmacist for them. They hold a spoonful of coffee, creamer and will hold sugar also. I don;t use sugar but these small bags work well. I pre mix as many as I think I'll need for a trip. There light and easy to carry. I always find uses for the empty bags too.

[turtle fast]

I know coffee very well from all aspects of the trade from plantation to table...or sitting in a shelter or tent (I had imported the stuff). I hands down like the stuff called Mazel that comes in instant packets like Starbucks via. It comes presugared and with creamer and the taste is great (they use Brazilian beans from hen picked producers) and produced in California. They used to be found in Dollar stores and I did see them online too but it is a good product and not as expensive as Starbucks stuff

[T-Rx]

Nescafé or Tasters Choice individual packets are good IMO. I have tried the Starbucks but prefer the others for taste and price.

[SassyWindsor]

Lately, I've been carrying the smallest French coffee press along with a generous supply of tea leaf and ground coffee. I'm justifying carrying this stuff by using the press container as a food bowl. drinking cup and storage when packed. I'm the last to add junk I can't justify, so far this is working out good. The quality of the brews are outstanding.

[staehpj1]

The concept of Nescafe 3 in 1 sounds OK except that I am not crazy about the Nescafe instant in those sticks and it sounds like 3 in 1 has non dairy creamer which to my taste is usually a very poor substitute for cream.

I have some hope that Nido (powdered whole milk) might be pretty good, I have heard good reports. I can never find it in local stores though. I saw it out West when I was on a bicycle tour, but it came in a size way bigger than I was willing to carry. Using it would mean carrying separate sugar, coffee, and creamer though, unless you made up your own premixed packets.

FWIW, I hate Charbucks for multiple reasons including the fact that they burn the coffee in the roasting process and that they have all kinds of "cool lingo" that they expect you to use. I'd rather avoid places where I can't just ask for a large coffee with cream and sugar without them looking at me like I am from Mars. That said I do like Via and also I strangely find that I like the Starbucks beans OK if I fix them at home.

[G-FOURce]

i use coffee singles (the ones like tea bags). i also pre-mix my sugar and creamer before my trips and keep them double-bagged in freezer ziplocks.

[colorado_rob]

I have some hope that Nido (powdered whole milk) might be pretty good, I have heard good reports. I can never find it in local stores though. I saw it out West when I was on a bicycle tour, but it came in a size way bigger than I was willing to carry. Using it would mean carrying separate sugar, coffee, and creamer though, unless you made up your own premixed packets.

If I used cream and sugar in my coffee (I drink it black), I would simply pre-mix Starbucks Via (or other brand) instant coffee powder with sugar and whole-milk Nido in a zip lock.

My wife swears by Nido (but w/o sugar) in her coffee. Nido is found out here in Colorado in stores with significant Hispanic food sections. We buy ours (big cans of it) at Walmarts here in Denver. We love the stuff, very tasty and calorie dense, perfect backpacking food. We pre-mix our dry breakfast cereals w/ Nido (the whole milk variety), add water for a tasty lightweight and nutritious breakfast. We also add Nido to other foods to add calories and taste (like instant puddings, cocoa, Mac and Cheese mixes, etc).

Also; We also love Starbucks Via's. Costco has these significantly cheaper than other places, something like 70 cents a packet (vs. over a buck elsewhere, I think).

[G-FOURce]

My wife swears by Nido (but w/o sugar) in her coffee. Nido is found out here in Colorado in stores with significant Hispanic food sections. We buy ours (big cans of it) at Walmarts here in Denver. We love the stuff, very tasty and calorie dense, perfect backpacking food. We pre-mix our dry breakfast cereals w/ Nido (the whole milk variety), add water for a tasty lightweight and nutritious breakfast. We also add Nido to other foods to add calories and taste (like instant puddings, cocoa, Mac and Cheese mixes, etc).

i have never heard of Nido until you mentioned it. I Google'd it and I think I will try it. Thanks!

[turtle fast]

A joke in the coffee industry (especially amongst specialty roasters) is that Starbucks buys mediocre beans and burns the beans to mask the flavor. Though I have seen different batches from them for the same product where the flavors vary wildly. Via though tastes better than Nescafe or Folgers if you were not looking for presugared or creamer added stuff. I like drinking fine ground Turkish coffee with cardamom in my pot and traditionally double boiling it while on the trail. It will leave mud on the bottom of your sierra cup but tastes great.

[FarmerChef]

Over roasting is a common method to hide faults with the beans. French roast typically is started with relativly bland cheap beans and over roasted to produce some flavor. Really high quality beans (Kona, Jamaican Blue Mountain, Sumatran, etc) are rarely more than a medium roast. The medium roast leaves the true flavors of the beans. I did notice that everyone on this thread so far that adds sugar and cream enjoys Starbucks, while the black drinkers don't. I drink a lot of coffee and also spend a fair amount of time tasting different coffees at work. There is a huge difference in quality of beans. At home I roast my own coffee which is great unless you run out because the beans need 48 hours to de-gas after roasting.

Right on Rasty! I also home roast and and Rasty's description of the various beans is spot on. Moreso if you stick to certain varietals (coffee from particular farms in particular regions of the world). I tend to roast (or my wife more accurately) to city or city+ roast (medium) just below second crack or just as second crack is starting. There you can taste the complexities of the flavor. As a result, I can't stand Starbucks coffee. I'm not even sure I could call it french roast since it just plain tastes burnt. To each their own, I suppose.

However, back on topic, I say all of that to say that I have yet to find a way of brewing coffee on the trail that is both lightweight and produces a good cup of coffee. Instead, I've just given in to instant coffee and creamer/sugar. My wife and I prefer different amounts so we don't premix. Plus we always bring extra for other hikers and they may want to mix differently as well. That said, if it was just me or my wife and I could agree on flavor, we'd premix and be done with it. Much easier.

[FarmerChef]

i have never heard of Nido until you mentioned it. I Google'd it and I think I will try it. Thanks!

I use Nido for milk in recipes that call for it (gravies, puddings, etc.). Out here (Northern VA) we have enough of a Hispanic population that I can buy very large cans in Wal Mart. Sam's though, does not carry it.

[Odd Man Out]

...they use Brazilian beans from hen picked producers)...

I assume you mean "hen pecked producers" ;-)

[turtle fast]

Odd man out, yep as sleep posting again.
It is good to hear from others that roast beans as well. I drink mine black too normally and it irks me to have that burnt taste, or a moldy taste (i got a batch of Vietnamese beans that was just awful). Apart from the well known coffee producing regions that produce great coffee like Kona, Blue mountain, or Ethiopian Kagumo...many micro producers have increased the quality of their beans...Brazil, El Salvador, and some producers in Indonesia have come to mind. Others have fallen like Haiti, some regions of Kenya, Venezuela and Vietnam just let their quality slip. With world prices falling again and a glut...these folks will be hurting.

[Rasty]

Odd man out, yep as sleep posting again.
It is good to hear from others that roast beans as well. I drink mine black too normally and it irks me to have that burnt taste, or a moldy taste (i got a batch of Vietnamese beans that was just awful). Apart from the well known coffee producing regions that produce great coffee like Kona, Blue mountain, or Ethiopian Kagumo...many micro producers have increased the quality of their beans...Brazil, El Salvador, and some producers in Indonesia have come to mind. Others have fallen like Haiti, some regions of Kenya, Venezuela and Vietnam just let their quality slip. With world prices falling again and a glut...these folks will be hurting.

I just got some Papua New Guinea beans that I need to roast! Should be good.

[turtle fast]

Its the volcanic soils and altitude that help develop superior beans. I have been waiting to try some beans from Yemen where I hear the coffee is divine. Problem is that with strife there right now and a lot of land production is turned into the production of the mildly narcotic Quat...it may never happen. I do know that Ethiopia has been trying to get a resurgence on quality of beans after many fields were neglected due to poor prices. I had some hard to get Eithiopian Kagumo microlot stuff that was probably the best I ever had.

[CenAZwalker]

+1 for the Trader Joes instant with cream and sugar. I've tried many, many different types/ways to make coffee on the trail and am quite content with this all in one product.

If you have a Trader Joes near you they make a great instant coffee w/sweetner,cream. Its cheap too.

[Blue Mountain Edward]

Am going to the dollar store for instant coffee tomorrow. It is way lighter than regular coffee.

[Northern Lights]

I found a three in one tea as well, I like to have tea as well as coffee. The tea isn't as good but it's tea.