To narrow our list of brands to test, we included instant coffee sold only two ways: bulk in jars and single-serving packets with at least six or more packets per box. We thought that getting fewer than six packets wasn’t very practical for most people, especially if you drink at least two cups per sitting.

We also didn’t include single-serving sachets or disposable pour-over options that brew in a more traditional way by steeping pre-ground coffee. We thought it would be an unfair comparison to truly instant coffee, which is made from spray- or freeze-dried coffee concentrate. It’s also more complicated to try to make a pour-over than to simply make instant coffee in water, especially when you’re on the go.

We avoided decaffeinated instant coffee, and options that had added sugar, creamer, and other flavorings. And we stuck to medium roasts, because we learned in our previous tests that dark and light roasts tend to be too polarizing. We were also limited by what was available at the time of our testing, since some brands, like Sudden Coffee, have stopped production due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Other brands were completely sold out, so we couldn’t test them.

After researching over 50 types of instant coffee, I settled on 10 to test. I was joined by two editors from the Wirecutter kitchen team, Marguerite Preston and Marilyn Ong. Since we’re currently working from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we tasted the coffees separately and discussed the results over Zoom. We also invited any family members we were quarantined with to join us in our taste test and share their thoughts.

We brewed all of the instant coffees according to the package instructions and tasted them black, evaluating their aroma, flavor, balance, and body. We took note of any undissolved granules, and how easy the packages or containers were to open, which is particularly important for outdoor excursions. After eliminating the worst offenders, we tasted our favorites a second time the following day with a fresh palate, this time black and with milk added. Though there were a couple of polarizing brands, we were in complete agreement on our favorites and least favorites.

Since stock may be low right now, we have other tasting notes on coffee we’ve tested in the past that may interest you. In 2019, we tasted four new instant coffees from various specialty roasters and also filmed another tasting video in real time. For our original guide to instant coffee, in 2017, Wirecutter staff members in Los Angeles and New York City tested several brands. For that roundup, we tested three types of coffee: single-serving packets of instant coffee, pre-ground coffee in sachets, and pre-ground coffee with disposable pour-over contraptions. Here’s what we tasted in our original roundup, listed from best to worst in each category:

Other instant coffees:

The Café Bustelo Espresso Instant Coffee was weak and watery. Though no one thought this coffee was outstanding, since it’s so inexpensive, we think it’s a serviceable option if our picks aren’t available.

Alpine Start Instant Coffee was incredibly polarizing in our tests, so we had to dismiss it.

Nescafé Taster’s Choice 100% Colombian was another divisive coffee, with one of our testers calling it “sour, acrid, and gross.”

Jiva Black Coffee Cubes dissolve in hot water. We liked this coffee’s low-waste packaging, but since the cubes are held together with sugar, the resulting coffee was too sweet.

The Nescafé Clásico tasted of chlorine and metal. It was also too watery, with low acidity.

The Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee Mix did very well in our tests, but since it’s not entirely instant coffee (it’s half instant coffee, half mushroom powder) and had a number of suspect reviews and questionable health claims, we couldn’t recommend it in good faith.

Not-quite-instant coffee: