Welcome to the first edition of the BEAN OF THE MONTH. A quick and easy 2 minute segment where I tell you about a coffee you need to drown your mouth bones in. Got to be quick, got to be fast.
Have a listen and then have a read!
Straight off the bat - thanks to Tom for this amazing segment idea. He gets 50% of all proceeds as royalties! Make it worth his while.
June’s Bean of the month is Firsthand’s Specialty Instant Coffee.
Coming out strong with an instant coffee as the first BEAN OF THE MONTH is bold. There are so many great “specialty” coffees to try, instant might feel like a weird choice. However, this blog is for coffee lovers of all types, and this instant coffee genuinely gets me excited, so lets start here.
So, why choose instant?
Instant coffee has a bad wrap, and in many cases, justifiably so. But it doesn’t have to be bad. Specialty instant coffee is great for people who don’t want to compromise taste, even if time or convenience isn’t on their side.
Firsthand’s specialty instant is an amazing coffee, that is easy to make, can be made anywhere you are, and wont let you down.
It’s not cheap though at $30 a pot. For that you get about 20 serves so around $1.50 a serve.
This does mean it’s more expensive than a supermarket instant, more expensive than a Nespresso pod (but Nespresso is evil), and a lot more expensive than brewing a V60 or swiss gold from beans. BUT the instant nature of it means you don’t need any equipment, just a cup and some water.
Once you take into account taste, convenience and flexibility, it’s actually amazing value.
I reach for the instant on those Sunday mornings when I am just too tired (or when the weather has been so bad my sleepout flooded), or the kids are too noisy, to brew a soft brew.
I also reach for this on holiday – it’s replaced my Aeropress as my go to holiday brew.
Protip - you’re not brewing it!
Protip thanks to the amazing The Drumming Barista: you’re not brewing this, rather you are dissolving it. So don’t use boiling water! Aim for about 80 degrees. If you have a thermometer, great! If not, boil the jug, open the lid and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Have fun with it
Firsthand’s instant is so good, you can really have some fun with it.
The Drumming Barista has a great write up of instant coffees on his blog. During the instant coffee week over on his instagram, he made it hot, cold, and as a flat white!
He even made an espresso martini with it!
And I really enjoyed it as a coffee soda tonic
Where else can I find out about Firsthand’s Instant Coffee?
It’s so good, The Drumming Barista and I talk about it on The Home Barista podcast. Out now on all your favorite podcasting networks.
So there you go
My first Bean of the month is Firsthand’s Specialty Instant.
Let me know what you think about this new format! In true punk styles, I’m doing it DIY and without polish. There’s a million people doing this stuff better than me, but instead of joining them, I’m going to tread my own path.
Until next time.
TMR
If you love what you’re reading, you can support me really easily by sharing this post, or buying me a virtual coffee! It’s easy, legit, and keeps me caffeinated.
Bean of the month #1