All coffee enthusiasts have been there: You are on a plane, in a hotel room, in the wilderness, or at a relative’s house with no access to top-flight specialty coffee. You find yourself considering drastic measures like driving silly distances to satisfy the mounting desire for a proper cup of coffee. You may have even succumbed to the strong coffee urge by drinking a cup of stale “pod” coffee of dreadful quality.
Maybe you have gone so far when traveling as to bring your “portable” coffee kit consisting of a compact grinder and AeroPress, or something similar. We’ve gone that route, too, and it’s really a whole lot less convenient than we may like to pretend.
We’re pleased to present the solution to all our traveling and convenience-necessary coffee needs: Specialty instant coffee.
“What?! Instant coffee?! That stuff is awful — worse than the little coffee pods!”
Hear us out, coffee geeks. We’re still all about the “No Fimble-Famble.” Yes, the old-school instant coffees are abysmal — but, that’s primarily due to the poor quality coffee used to make the stuff. There’s nothing inherent in the freeze-drying process that makes instant coffee undrinkable.
Knowing this, we set out to produce our very own line of instant coffees using the very same specialty grade coffees used by top cafes and rated highly by national coffee rating services. We manage the process all the way from green coffee sourcing, roasting, brewing, and freeze drying. It’s all done in-house. To our knowledge, we’re one of only two specialty roasting companies in the world freeze drying coffee in-house at the time of this writing (please inform us know if you know of any others).
Our research and development stretched out over the course of nearly a year — and what an enlightening process it was. What we have, now, are beautiful instant coffees that retain character and quality. All one needs to do is add a bit of water (hot or cold) to the freeze-dried coffee powder to instantly enjoy a “third-wave” coffee experience that brings both richness and complexity to the cup.
Is this a product designed for every day use? No, it is not — but you certainly could if you were so inclined. Creating specialty grade instant coffee is a costly and labor-intensive process, so it does amount to a more expensive cup of coffee than brewing the coffee yourself. But, this is ultimately about convenience and making exceptional coffee available in places and at times you may have never thought possible. Most of us have become accustomed to paying a bit more for things that provide a significant level of convenience, and this is no different. We’ll be retailing a box of five specialty instant coffee packets (which amounts to five cups of coffee) for $13.99.
Our first two Instant Ironclad offerings are available for pre-order here.
Over the next several months, we will be giving you several opportunities to taste our specialty instant coffees for yourself. This is all about maintaining quality even when you need extreme convenience; why not have it both ways?
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