To ask why Brits drink instant coffee?

[mediumbrownmug]

I’m an American and am genuinely curious. Every British TV show and article I’ve seen so far seems to imply that instant coffee is far more popular than whole or ground beans. Is it too nosy to ask why?

Convenience. It's much quicker to make.
It's easy to make 1 mugful rather than a pot of coffee.

Convenience, cheaper cost, less washing up.

It is easier, cheaper, and tastes completely different!

I like real coffee, but can't replicate the coffee shop taste at home without significant effort (steaming milk etc), and mess from beans/grounds/coffee machine/cafetière etc. So for me, real coffee is a treat for when I am out and someone else can make the effort!

I like instant coffee. It tastes very very different to real coffee, but I have been drinking it for 30 years and like it. It is quick, clean and cheap - perfect morning drink!

Instant coffee doesn't replace real coffee for me; it is a separate drink that I also like.

I drink instant coffee because its easy and I prefer the taste.

Because I like it

This can’t be a serious question.

Why do some people choose a cheaper alternative? Really?

I am in the US and my DH thinks instant coffee is hilarious. But I can honestly say that good instant coffee is far better than shit filter (which sadly is becoming more and more common.) I am in NY and I am seeing instant becoming quite popular. We also don’t put chicory or other shit in it like the old American instant. But can’t easily get decent versions in the US, yet.

I like both but also view it as a separate drink now that I think about it. I have a cafetiere and espresso machine and milk steamer at home, but also enjoy the cheap, quick, easy cup of instant.

I never drink instant coffee if I can possibly help it! This is definitely not an everyone in the UK thing

Easier, and tastes better than the stuff that sits in a percolator. I don't like the taste.

It's so easy to make decent coffee at home. I have a machine that uses capsules and a milk frother. Instant coffee is really a different hot drink, which I don't like.

@MissTrip82

This can’t be a serious question.

Why do some people choose a cheaper alternative? Really?

I am serious. It just isn’t common here, to the point where even huge offices I’ve worked in had coffee makers with ground beans, etc. Instant coffee where I live is more of a camping thing, so I really had no idea.

Some of us don't, some of us actually like real coffee.

I think partly it is because we are such a tea loving nation, if you are making a round of drinks in an office you are making drinks in mugs whether it is tea, coffee, herbal tea.

Putting a pot of coffee on is different. I have made coffee in offices (I've usually supplied the coffee machine when Argos sold them for £5) and it's more of a 'I've put the coffee on if anyone wants it"

Also offices, until fairly recently did not have a fridge and coffee not kept in the fridge soon looses its taste.

If I started questioning everything American's do differently, we'd be here all day.

I think a lot of us grew up with it. It’s like iced tea in America, a lot of British people think that’s odd. It’s just what you’re used to.

When I have it (I have both fresh and instant at home) , it's about convenience.

My Mother only drinks instant as the taste of 'real' coffee is too strong for her.

People in Britain are used to it.
We generally have smaller kitchens with less room for paraphernalia.
We are used to making tea and instant coffee fits in with that.
We have good instant coffee.
Its cheaper and more consistant.
Freshly made Barista style coffee is lovely but filter coffee kept warm in a jug for ages is horrible.
Real coffee is very popular now, specially with younger people but on TV its easier to show people making instant than faffing about with noisy machines.
I have real coffee if i need the caffeine, but instant if i want a quick decaf.
I think British people have more hot drink breaks in a day than a typical American, less water and soft drinks, if we had real coffee everytime we'd all have too much caffeine.

Instant coffee in the uk is cheap, easy and tastes nice.
I haven't found a pod coffee I like. I'm not a fan of filter coffee alone. I have a caffettiera, I haven't once used it where the coffee has come out drinkable and it's a pain to clean. I cant be bothered with a percolator when my instant is as good.

I prefer the taste of instant. Also no messing around with coffee machines and it isn’t smelly.

Up there with why Americans call English people (and Scottish/Irish/Welsh) people Brits, I guess…..

@Wrotten

If I started questioning everything American's do differently, we'd be here all day.

You mean like all the threads on Mumsnet doing just that?

Really I think it's a lot to do with habit: being used to putting the kettle on for tea, tea having an existing hold on the UK more than coffee.

I don't think it's small kitchens necessarily because instant coffee is frowned on in some European countries also.

I'd be interested to see if there's a generational difference.

Instant coffee is actually very popular worldwide, with the US being the exception.

www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/07/14/almost-half-of-the-world-actually-prefers-instant-coffee/

I’m surprised so many people use instant.

I’m a Brit and I’ve never drunk the stuff. Not a fan of those pod machines either.

We have a bean grinder, percolator, cafetière and an aeropress at home.

Do American really make tea in the microwave? And are kettles not a thing in the U.S. kitchen?

I dont really drink coffee as it doesn't agree with me (Ibs) but I will make an exception for my FILs. He makes proper coffee and it's so nice. Can totally see why most people choose instant though