Instant Coffee

Also soluble coffee, Nescafé-style

Dried coffee extract dissolved in hot water. Weaker in caffeine per cup than brewed coffee by USDA figures, and the base of the frappé and dalgona.

FilterServed hot

Volume
240ml8.1 US fl oz
Espresso
0shots
Caffeine
62mgderived, USDA FDC
Glass
Mug300 ml

The build

Watch it made, step by step
Mug, 300 ml. Layers in pouring order from the bottom, drawn by volume.
  1. instant coffee powder…240 ml100%
Volume
240ml
Caffeine
62mg
Espresso
0shots

Scales every component together, so the ratio holds; caffeine scales with the coffee.

One to two teaspoons of powder per cup; USDA lists prepared instant coffee at 26 mg caffeine per 100 g, below brewed coffee.

Caffeine

Derived
62mg

in a 240 ml instant coffee

USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee volume in components, assuming 1 g per ml. FDC 174130 (Beverages, coffee, instant, regular, prepared with water) 26.0 mg/100 g x 240 ml.

USDA FoodData Central record 174130 · read 2026-10-26

A derived figure: the reference food's caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee in this build. Real cups vary with the coffee, the dose and the shot.

Variants by country

2
NameCountryHow it differs
instant coffee mixSouth Korea3-in-1 sticks of coffee, sugar and creamer; Wikidata records the mix.
frappéGreeceShaken instant coffee over ice.

History

Popular account

Wikidata classes instant coffee as coffee, food preserve and instant beverage. Mass production followed Nestlé's 1938 launch and wartime military rations (popular account).

Spray- or freeze-dried coffee extract reconstituted with hot water.

Popular account

Parts of this story are repeated widely but were not confirmed against a source this atlas accepts. They are kept as the story people tell, not as fact.

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