Instant coffee is by far the easiest way of brewing coffee each day! You can just pour some hot liquid over instant coffee, and voila! However, should you brew instant coffee with milk or water? Which one yields the best result? Is there even a difference? Let’s find out.

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I typically prepare my Nescafe instant coffee with water. However, some of my colleagues pour hot milk over their instant coffee. Is there a difference? Which one should I use?

Owly Choice reader Robert

Robert discovered that people can brew instant coffee with milk or water. Furthermore, people can also brew instant coffee with a combination of milk and water.

So, as you brew your cup of instant coffee, can you use milk instead of water?

What is the best way to brew instant coffee: with milk, or water? The short answer to these questions would be: yes, instant coffee can be brewed with milk, but the taste of the coffee will be different.

Let’s explore at several factors that will interfere with the brewing process and with the taste of the coffee when we brew instant coffee with water, and then, when we brew instant coffee with milk.

Brewing instant coffee with milk or water?

You can certainly brew instant coffee with milk or water. There will be some small differences in the final outcome. Let’s explore which option YOU should go after.

Instant coffee with water

Water does not contain any solid components, which makes any soluble materials that we mix with water, easier and faster to dissolve. Also, water does not have a taste or a smell of its own, which means that the only taste and smell you will feel in the final brew will be that of the coffee itself. The color of the brew will be the rich brown color of the coffee.

When the proportion of coffee is too high for the water quantity we use, water will not be able to mask in any way the bitterness of the coffee, and the result will be, in most cases, an over-extracted brew. As coffee cools down, it starts to change its taste, becoming more acidic, and the water will not be able to mask that change in taste in any way.

An important factor for choosing water to brew coffee is also the fact that water has no caloric intake, so the only calories your coffee will have, will be the very few calories brought in by the coffee itself.

PROs

  • Instant coffee dissolves quickly and easily
  • Water preserves the flavor, smell and color of coffee
  • Very low caloric intake

CONs

  • Coffee can be bitter when too much instant coffee is added to water
  • Coffee gains an acidic taste as it cools down

Instant coffee with milk

Even if it it is also a liquid, milk works differently from water. Milk contains fat and sugar, which slows down the brewing process considerably. Because of this, it will take instant coffee much longer to dissolve in milk than it takes it to dissolve in water.

Furthermore, milk comes with its natural white color, specific aroma and flavor. All of these aspects will impact the flavor, aroma and color of your coffee.

Therefore, the brewed coffee will have a more diluted coffee taste, and the taste, as well as the color and the smell of the brew will resemble the taste, color and smell of a latte. We recommend adding more instant coffee when brewing with milk than what you would add when brewing with water, in order to give the brew a stronger coffee taste.

Since milk is able to mask the taste of the coffee, it will also be able to mask the acidic taste the coffee gains as it cools down, making it somehow pleasant to drink even when it is not hot anymore. However, you also need to remember that milk can go sour after a while, and drinking milk that has already gone bad can be detrimental to your health.

Something to keep in mind when brewing with milk is the fact that milk contains calories, and while brewing with water adds no calories to the coffee, brewing with milk does, and the fatter the milk is, the higher the caloric intake will be.

PROs

  • Latte-like flavor and aroma
  • Instant coffee should not have bitter flavors
  • Coffee will not gain an acidic taste as it cools down

CONs

  • Flavor of coffee can be weak (if not enough instant coffee)
  • Flavor, color and smell similar to that of milk
  • Coffee will take slightly longer to dissolve in milk
  • Milk brings an extra caloric intake
  • Milk can go sour, so needs to be consumed timely

Owly’s conclusion: should you brew instant coffee with milk or water?

Instant coffee can be brewed using either water or milk. However, please keep in mind that coffee will come out a little bit differently. If using one brewing method yields coffee that is more according to your liking, by all means, choose it.

Another option would also be to dissolve coffee in hot water first, and then to add hot milk to it. This would combine the benefits of brewing with water and milk, and would also reduce the negative effects of using either of the two methods. This is actually the option that I am using when drinking instant coffee. Happy brewing!

What do you think?

Do you brew instant coffee with milk or water? What are the ways that you make your instant coffee just perfect? Do you know the difference between instant, filter and unfiltered coffee?

Let us know in the comments!

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