I must get my creative juices flowing.
And my juice of choice is, and always will be, Nescafé Blend 43.
I’m here today to defend that choice, and in solidarity, to speak out for all the instant coffee connoisseurs everywhere.
You see, café-coffee people will say we aren’t connoisseurs at all.
They say instant is disgusting.
They say we have poor taste.
And those are just a smattering of the slurs I’ve hear against by beloved blend. I’m sick of it.
Instant coffee is an institution, and I’m here to set the record straight.
First and foremost, there is nothing more speedy than a simple cup of joe straight from the tin.
We have a coffee machine at work — quite a good one, I’m told — but I’m a busy woman.
I’ve got things to do and places to see, and that doesn’t involve staring at a gurgling machine and waiting for the milk to steam.
If you spent three minutes making a ‘proper’ coffee every day of the year, you will have frothed away more than 18 hours over 12 months.
In that time you could drive from Shepparton to Brisbane.
Personally, I’d prefer a trip to the coast rather than a sip of caffeine that tastes a lot like a coffee superiority complex.
On the topic of taste, I really beg you to ask yourself, honestly: is barista coffee really that much better than instant?
I think you’ll find on a sliding scale, the number of bad café coffees you encounter outweighs whatever beef you have with the flavour of the tinned variety.
I assure you I’ve never spat out a cup of 43 because it tastes burnt.
I suspect there are people out there, the silent majority, who are discouraged from instant because of the loud café-coffee culture that was birthed in Melbourne and has been making its way north ever since.
They’re yelling at us about rich, mellow, smooth and powerful tasting notes, and it's time we yelled back.
Say it with me friends: coffee kind of all tastes the same.
I’m Melbourne born and bred, and if this column makes its way back to the big city I'll be met with pitchforks.
That is a price I'm willing to pay to be true to myself.
I, Holly, prefer instant coffee.
And honestly, I think you do too.
12°C