Waka Coffee: Bringing Instant Back

You may remember when I wrote an article a while back about the roots of a specialty instant coffee movement happening among coffee drinkers. What has once been deemed a major “no-no” among coffee connoisseurs is now something that is actually being added back into the coffee drinkers’ arsenal of brown-liquid creating weapons. As I’ve started experimenting with specialty instant coffee myself, I am going to tell you a little bit about a new company on the scene: Waka coffee.

With new technology in instant coffee production, Waka coffee has jumped into the trend and produces what I would consider a major step up from the instant coffee of previous generations.

The problem with instant coffee is that it often does a terrible job of preserving the character of the green coffee and instead it takes on the form of whatever packaging or air it was stuck in after produced. The distinction with Waka coffee is that it aims to preserve as much of that original character as possible.

I brewed some of their coffee myself and found it to be quite pleasant. Notes of dark caramel and rich chocolate seemed to pull through. There were also sips that I found a few tropical fruit notes coming through. This was altogether shocking as I have had many instances with instant coffee that have produced no identifiable flavor whatsoever. What I believe accounts for the stark contrast in terms of taste, is that Waka coffee uses 100% Arabica (read why that’s important here) Columbian coffee.

Another exciting thing about Waka coffee is that they donate 4% of their profits from each sale to support clean water projects. Right now they are working on bringing clean water to people through projects in 26 countries around the world.

Here is where I become a blunt as possible: I am not typically drawn to instant coffee. I have never been, and probably still won’t use it as my method of choice. I personally enjoy the process of brewing coffee via manual methods in my daily ritual. What I can confidently say, however, is that I can certainly find instances when I would be drawn to what Waka coffee has been able to achieve.

Whether you are backpacking and need a reliable coffee source, running late to work but still need a fix, or wherever else you may find yourself in the throws of coffee withdrawal symptoms: Waka coffee is a great option to have on hand.

I personally have one in my wallet right now for whenever the time comes…but that’s just me 🙂

Cheers!