The 8 Best Instant Coffees for Backcountry Adventurers

Published May 12, 2025 10:46AM

Thanks to instant coffee, which has been commercially available since the late 1930s, saving weight in the backcountry and still getting zooted on caffeine is not new. When I started raft guiding a century ago in the late ’90s, we used to mix up heaping spoonfuls of Folgers with General Foods International Coffees Suisse Mocha and Orange Cappuccino powders to get fired up in the morning. We called this our “concoction,” and while it was efficient, it tasted horrible and put every guide who drank it in immediate gastric distress.

So while instant coffee—and its usefulness to weight and time-conscious outdoor enthusiasts—is not new, we are experiencing a relatively new phenomenon of super delicious premium instant coffees. These can please a genuine snob and will not necessarily send you directly to a porta potty or cathole once ingested. We tested 24 different instant coffee varieties to bring you our favorites so you can maximize your enjoyment without having to sacrifice ounces.

Watch: The Instant Coffee Winners

Best Instant Coffee Blends

Generally speaking, blends are more approachable and less bold. If you like to put cream or sweetener in your coffee, I would suggest opting for one of these blends.

Doma Deep Instant Craft Coffee

The first word testers used to describe the flavor profile of this special edition blend from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, was “big.” The boldness of this blend was matched with well rounded sweetness. “It is so caramel-y I almost get butterscotch, and then the finish is like cherry juice,” said Case. “It is more three dimensional than some of the other blends.” The Doma Deep Instant manages to be extremely drinkable while also having, well, depth at the same time. I found it to be a killer start to the earliest mornings thanks to its inviting sweetness.

Swift Coffee Mainstay

Swift has their own instant offerings, but it’s also the instant coffee manufacturer that independent roasters like Doma, Case, and Verve use to make their instant coffees. It is not a surprise that they have so many winners on this list—they have their hands in most of the best instant coffees available to us. Their Mainstay Blend features flavors that were the most pleasantly integrated of the coffees that we tasted. “I like the balance of it,” Case said. “There is no sharp acidity, but it has sweetness and is a little bitter, which is what I want in instant coffee.” Testers noted that what the Mainstay Blend may have lacked in subtle notes, it made up for in a lovely even mouth feel.

Verve Wilder

I was thankful that we performed the cupping blind when testers described this blend as “wild.” The fact that testers used the same adjective the name uses to describe the blend’s fruitiness followed by a little bit of wildflower notes at the end proved that the Santa Cruz roaster absolutely nailed it. “This one’s really juicy,” Case said. I found that juiciness to be delightful and refreshing as an afternoon cup, and, hot or cold, this will be the blend I bring for trips with long days when I need a late pick-me-up.

Case Epiphany

Case made this list even though testers gave it a six because it was my personal favorite and, frankly, I wanted to reward my local coffee shop for being honest enough to give their own blend a number below its competitors. Coffee taste is subjective, and this super-rich and caramel-forward blend is extremely drinkable and reminds me of working from the coffee shop down the street from my house. That nostalgia is what put it on this list for me, personally. When asked about giving his own blend a score of six on a blind test, Case felt great about it. “We aimed to make a chuggable blend, and I do think it absolutely is that,” Case said.

Best Single Origins Instant Coffee

A single-origin coffee comes from one bean that delivers an extremely unique and often bold flavor. With a single-origin coffee, roasters are really married to the taste of an individual bean because they can’t blend it with others.

Swift Burundi Heza

The depth of flavor on this single-origin coffee was off the charts and a clear standout for the connoisseurs. “It has acidity, but is also so savory,” said Case. Testers caught notes of berries on the front with a savory finish that delighted those who enjoy a flavor profile with a lot going on.

Swift Brazil – Cerrado

One taster who traditionally does not like the taste profile of single-origin coffees from Brazil was surprised that this one proved one of his favorites during the blind test. “This is much more fruity than other light coffees here,” said Case. Tasters noted a distinct creaminess in this single origin instant from Swift which was offset by a pleasant sharpness on the front that smoothed out in the end. Swift says it can hold up to cream, but after testing it with oat as well as cow’s milk, I found it to be significantly better on its own.

Canyon Instant Coffee

The acidity in this coffee was lemon or lime like on the front but offered a sweetness that balanced out the intensity. “Definitely fruit forward,” Case said after slurping a spoonful of this Ethiopian. The liveliness of this coffee was really enjoyable as a wake up in the dark hours of the morning and was also a great refresher after lunch. My personal preference was to drink a cup after a big daytime meal to stave off a siesta thanks to its brightness.

Tandem Coffee Roasters Danche

The Danche from this Portland, Maine–based roaster delivered a more acidic taste than the other Ethiopian blends (that dominated this test). While the Danche still offered enough balance between acidity and sweetness to remain enjoyable, the extra kick made it stand out from the other 24 coffees and drink more like a traditionally brewed cup. “I’m tasting lots of acid. It’s really nice to have this contrast in the table for sure. It really tastes less like an instant coffee,” Case said.

The Instant Coffee Test

I started by trying to find the newest offerings of instant coffees from brands that I have tried in the past. While I haven’t ever performed a head-to-head instant coffee evaluation before, I have, by my estimation, tested more than a dozen different instant coffees for one-off review consideration for Outside.

I scoured the internet for best instant coffee reviews and took note of which brands received the highest marks. I reached out to those brands and received hundreds of servings of instant coffees. For ten weeks, I only drank instant coffee when making coffee for myself at home, making notes on the flavor and user experience. (I work from home and drink a minimum of two cups of coffee a day, so I had ample opportunity to get through the lot.) I also weighed a single serving of each of the coffees in their packaging on my kitchen scale to give an accurate idea of how many grams you are adding to your pack per serving.

I then took 24 of the coffees I tested to my satellite office, Case Coffee in Ashland, Oregon. Local award-winning roaster and coffee shop owner Tim Case helped me set up the last part of the test, which was a proper cupping of all 24 of the instant coffees we tested. Case and his team of two seasoned roasters poured eight ounces of water that was right around 170 degrees (as per the brewing instructions of the instant coffees) and stirred them up. We tasted them blind, waiting until the coffees cooled enough that the heat wouldn’t overload our palettes. We gave each one an individual score out of one to ten and took tasting notes. It is worth noting that coffee is pretty subjective, so we did our best to make sure the top picks would make everyone happy.

The instant coffees listed here made our final list because they taste as close to the coffee you can make at home with a pour-over or french press. While they would probably lose in a taste test to a properly brewed version of themselves, any coffee on this list tastes better than a traditionally brewed mainstream coffee like a Folgers.