It finally got to starbucks up here. Wow.. sure don't taste like instant. I think my ziploc baggie of taster's choice just got permanently retired.

I just tried the new Starbucks instant this morning. I like it then again I like Starbucks coffee. I got the $1.00 off coupon so it will go towards a 12pk of the Italian Roast coffee

Starbucks might be decent instant but I will never know I do not
buy coffee bar foo-foo coffee.
IMO the best instant I have ever had by far is NesCafe in the round fat jar, ie made in Mexico. The Mexican style is different
from normal NesCafe it is darker/richer in color and taste.
Funny thing it is also less expensive than regular US style Nescafe.

I agree completely. I bought a 12 pack (had to order it from the web) in August - it is the best instant coffee I've found, you'd be hard press to tell it from a fresh cup of their coffee.
Nice to see I can now get it easily.

I had this liquid coffee once (once), I think it was called java juice or something. Tasted like boiled acorns.

What does the per-serving price work out to be? I heard it was a dollar a cup which raised my eyebrows and lowered my interest.

FB

$10 - 12 servings.

so, yeah, I might spend about $30/yr on camping coffee.

That's a point. I might be willing to spend money for something 'special' on the trail but not at home. A couple bucks added to a camp trip would be OK but I don't forsee myself doing 85¢ coffees at home...not at four-plus cups per day.

FB

It's $12 CDN for 12 servings, so for me it's a buck a cup.

And yes, that's outrageous.. rapacious green aproned crack dealers...

so no, I won't pay it at home, when I can make real coffee for a lot less cash. On the trail I will pay it. at least until someone makes something as good for less cash.

Starting with the presumption that coffee on the trail is not optional and given that I've hauled every conceivable form of coffee and coffee device (okay, except the handpresso), Via is the current best-of-show.

Competetion being what it is, now that S-bux has taken it national others will follow with drinkable instants. I'll go out on this here skinny limb and predict that by next hiking season we'll have at least one more drinkable option. The remaining question is whether S-bux will see fit to expand Via's "flavor" selection or packaging alternatives. I'd of course like a larger, dosing container but don't know whether it can be kept fresh that way.

Cheers,

I finally tried the Via, and it's not bad. It's certainly far better than the usual US domestic instants (Folgers, etc.). However, I still prefer the Mt. Hagen Organic instant (a German brand found in high-end health food stores such as Whole Paycheck) as it's less bitter.

I generally eat a cold breakfast without hot beverage. If the mornings are really cold (as on my trip earlier this week), a cup of hot tea hits the spot.

I saw it at my local Costco yesterday, $0.66 per serving IIRC. An Aemricano at S-bux (which would probably be the equivalent of this product) is what, $1.50 to $2.00, so in comparison this is much cheaper. On the other hand, I can buy my favorite locally roasted coffee for $10/lb and each cup I brew in my french press costs me $0.22. So, economical if you don't home-brew your coffee, expensive if you do. Seems like a good thing to travel/hike with, not so economical for those of us who prefer not to drop $5/day for "gourmet" coffee.

MNS

Yeah but one package makes one cup - i.e. 250ml.

You can't buy a 250ml coffee at the green apron brigade without trying very hard, and often they won't understand - it's called a short in Starbuckese...

A Grande is something like about 2 or 2.5 cups worth of coffee- so it would take 2 or 3 VIA's to be the equivalent. Methinks it costs about the same as getting a coffee at the green apron shop.

Or at least put it this way - in the hot hex this weekend there was a big ol' pot of water on the Svea on some pretty chilly mornings. After a boil, Two via's went into my insulated mug with 500ml of water, another via went into my little 1 cup cup with 250ml of water, and then a cup and a half of water went into my breakfast. Shut down the stove, and then I'd drink the uninsulated single while my breakfast was cozying, then eat breakfast and then tie into the insulated mug's worth.. Gosh, October and I'm in full on winter mode

So I was sucking back 3 vias (3 bucks canadian worth) of coffee a morning - more or less to drink my "normal" amount of coffee.

And notice me whining about the cost of my habit, but happily digging out more cash to hand to the green aproned crack dealer to feed that monkey on my back.. mmmm.. nice monkey.. starbucks is evil.... nice monkey...

Once you admit that you're a hypocritical addict, it's much easier to accept..

Pretty soon everybody on this thread will have to call ourselves "Bill".

I can't talk; I'm a coffee snob who can't start his citified day without two double espressos from our Italian machine. We get our beans from a fire-roaster in Reno. Where I once shot...oops, wrong song.

So this topic will be one of endless fascination, as new coffee products come and old coffee products go. I noticed Via in the REI impulse purchase display by checkout last weekend. Who will rise up to compete?

Cheers,

Bill

For home Use I agree that real coffee is the way to go. VIA is the defacto standard now for trail coffee though.

There was some strange imported instant expresso I once used that was pretty good, but it came in jar. The VIA packets are easy to carry. The Italian roast is what I drink at home and now I have it in an instant form for the trail as well.

Lets hope that someone get some competition out soon.

TV

I love canadian humor. I miss it.

Early, before businesses opened up for the day, I would sit with the business owners in an unnamed small border town. I would drink tea. They would drink coffee... and make great outrageous remarks about just about everything.


I'm not nearly so creative as a canadian.

...

REI had a Cup-pour-ri, that looks it would be used for loose tea and stir in a cup of hot water.

I decided to try it.

I used Peet's Arabica Java Mocha coffee. Great coffee.

The only way I can figure to have fresh ground coffee at the trailhead is either to have a small amount ground (aka Peet's) and use a small manual Pump-n-Seal vacuum pump at the trailhead to keep the air from deteriorating the coffee.

The other thing I might try is making small vacuum-pak packets at home of fresh ground coffee. I keep my coffee "makin's" in an Aloksak to avoid food odors in the pack anyway.

If this seems excessive effort, I have actually purchased the GSI coffee grinder and coffee press to prepare the coffee at the trailhead. I'm not doing that anymore. It just seems so, not "nature".

I think chocolate covered coffee beans may be a UL-ultralight backpacker's answer. I do love to "smell the coffee" however.

As mentioned earlier, I prefer the taste of Mt. Hagen organic freeze-dried coffee to Via. It's also a lot less expensive--the same price as the package of 12 Via servings (1.4 oz.) gives you 3.5 oz. of Mt. Hagen in a jar. The thing that makes Via so expensive is those individually packaged servings!

I've found Mt. Hagen coffee at Whole Foods and at a Portland-area chain, New Seasons. I haven't checked PCC or Central Market in Seattle, and I don't know about nation-wide chains other than Whole Paycheck (er, Foods). Fred Meyer used to carry it in their organic section, but stopped doing so about six months ago. Evidently I was one of the few who bought it. The threat of doing all my shopping at New Seasons (which did lead them to carry packages of a half-dozen eggs) didn't work for the coffee!

I found Mt. Hagen organic freeze-dried coffee 3.5 oz at www.organicdirect.com with free shipping for $7.59. Other websites charge more including shipping and handling fees.

Evidently, it is claimed that you get 60 wonderful generous sized cups out of this jar. Some other instant coffees claim that you get "up to" 105 cups (6 oz per cup) out of 7 ounces of instant coffee.

I'm going to order some, probably in both decaff and regular.

Thanks for the suggestion of this coffee.

If it isn't good, keep your eye out for a deflated self inflating mattress some night. :-)

I don't have a self-inflating mattress, sorry.

Thanks for the source; I'm sure it will be helpful to those not having access to a market that carries it. I generally drive down to the closest New Seasons Market once a month anyway for things that just aren't available around (like organic meats) here since "Whole Paycheck" bought out Wild Oats and closed nearly all the Wild Oats stores. The cost of driving there is therefore "sunk cost," unlike the shipping cost for ordering online. NS also gives me a 10% senior discount for shopping on Wednesdays, which pretty much pays for the gas.

ok, so it's decided that Via is good for backpacking.. For us less manly men, how do you carry sugar around for flavoring your Via properly? I keep trying to man up and drink it black but just can't get the hang of that. I've got a great little canister for car camping but not sure I want to haul it around backpacking.

thoughts? I'll try them out this weekend!

john

I just bring the indiviual packs of sugar, raw sugar, honey, splenda, sweet n low, etc with me. You can pick them up at Starbucks also

Starbucks was outlawed in my town, but they exploited a loophole and managed to set up a 12' square store inside the existing Safeway.

I went in today (for the first time) to check out this Via stuff, and was accosted by not one but two eager Starbucks staff, whose sole responsibility, it seemed, was to stand around this cubicle and chat about Via.

They asked me where I'd heard of it, and were visibly and (apparently) genuinely delighted to hear my tale of "backpacking" and "the Internet".

Most interestingly, one of the eager helpers assured me that this wonderous stuff would dissolve in any liquid whatsoever, hot or cold, which I thought a possibly useful property.

Coffee flavored Heet, anyone?

Disturbing.. While I like the product I'm not sure I like the marketing...

cofee

Checked Organic Direct, but they don't list any Mt. Hagen coffee. There is another brand of Organic, freeze dried coffee for $3-4 for 3.5 ozs., but they seem to have discontinued the Mt. Hagen or at least be totally out of it.

By the way, I checked with my local Starbucks, and the Via is supposed to come out with a decaf version in November sometime. As others have noted, VIA is a step above other instants that I've tried, but like all of the Starbucks coffee, if I drink the caffinated version after dinner, I won't sleep for days.
On a related note, can someone help me out with their solution for milk or cream for coffee on multi day trips. I've recently used the small containers from Burger King, and they seem to have lasted more than one day, but I'm never sure what can be used over several days without spoiling and what can't.
Thanks,
Gerry

Land o' lakes Mini Moos - shelf life is listed as 2 months unrefrigerated.

I've used some over 4 months old before I read the expiration date, I think I'm

I will have to visit our Safeway or Giant SB stands to say if they have it and give it a go.

Furlough

I used this a couple of weeks ago and it is a great substitute for my regular coffee. The nice thing is that I can leave the mini french press at home.

Just found Mt Hagen on Amazon ....I bought some of the Via because I thought it was pretty good, but is spendy, so if this is a good alternative thanks for the recommendation.

Wow - just realized this is my first post! What a noob...

Has anyone else tried both the Trader Joe's instant coffee and Via? I've only had the former, not the latter. IMO TJ's coffee is pretty good for instant. Not as good as what comes out of the espresso machine, but entirely passable as brewed coffee. 3.5 oz for $3 is a lot cheaper than Via.

Does anybody else think that maybe coffee is Toxic? I mean, wouldn't it kill you if you had it for breakfast with a handful of MSG coated peanuts?(that's for you Rooketman)

I heard about the decaf Via, too, but I haven't seen it yet. My experience with Starbucks decaf is that it appears to have about as much caffeine as normal caffeinated coffee from other vendors. Starbucks caffeinated (including Via) has me climbing the walls! If regular coffee at night keeps you awake, I wouldn't use the decaf Via at night.

I'm a cafe au lait/latte drinker at home, but I have not found a dried milk that doesn't taste weird when heated, no matter how strong the coffee. There's also the problem of avoiding lumps. I won't use non-dairy creamer (too much of a purist, I guess). That's why I drink tea when I backpack. Cleanup is much simpler with tea, too--no milk residue! I especially like herbal tea after dinner. Coffee and regular tea both tend to act as diuretics, and I already have to get up enough times during the night without adding them to my evening diet.

Gerry, I suggest you try a bunch of different kinds of non-dairy creamer and dried milk (buy the smallest packages you can find) at home and see what works best for you. I would think that for a 2-3 day trip the Burger King or similar stuff would keep, unless it's really hot weather. You could keep them wrapped in something in the middle of your pack during the day to help keep them cool.

Just found the decaf Via in the St.Arbuck's at the neighborhood Safeway. Knowing how much caffeine is in their decaff espresso, I won't try it until tomorrow morning. They had only the Italian roast, not the Columbian, in decaf.

EDIT--next day: I tried it for breakfast. The taste of the decaf seems no different from the caffeinated version. It's far superior to most decaf instant. I don't think it's completely decaffeinated, though--neither is the decaf that St.Arbuck's serves in their stores. I didn't get as much of a buzz as when drinking the regular, but there definitely was a buzz that I don't get with other brands of decaf. I wouldn't want to drink it at bedtime. If you have blood pressure problems, you probably want to avoid Starbucks altogether!

Starbucks may be poison !!! America runs on Dunkin

I just picked up a pack of this today and just wanted to point out that it is not the "instant" flavor crystal stuff most people have come to hate. This is actually just starbucks beans microground to a fine powder, which makes it regular coffee "via" a different transport method in my opinion... I would bet that if you let a cup sit for a day or two some of the powder would settle back to the bottom. This happens to the powder that makes it through my drip makers filter at home when I grind the coffee really fine.

Also, this is my first post so in an attempt to get my two cents worth I'll also mention that this beats the hell out of my old method of grinding my own coffee at home and vacuum sealing it for pack trips. Well worth the buck for convenience. By the way, I hate that stuff made with flavor crystals...doesn't taste at all like coffee to me.

I steal little packets of splenda from the local Valero station. They have it there for coffee.
Very light.
Two or so do for a cup of coffee

TV

I used to carry instant but ever since 'Bucks opened a store on the summit of Mt. Whitney I can get fresh brew directly from the source.

TR I think we oughta strap on our guns and climb up there right now.

Well, how 'bout the convergence?

Via&Backpackermag&Seattle Times

Cheers,

Boiling and stirring too much work?

Well Sparky, there's an alternative:

Inhale your joe?

For what its worth, Bigfoot gave me a packet of via and I had fine grounds in the bottom of the cup. So is this a suspension or a solution? I don't think such a small amount of ground coffee could be so strong. perhaps it is an "augmented" ground coffee...

I just carry original coffee mate non-dairy creamer because I'm lactose intolerant. I also use it on my instant oatmeal.
Jim

The pack says it's instant and "microground" coffee - so I'd say yeah - there's real ground coffee in there too.. I notice the bit of very fine ground in the bottom too.

Hmm, I'd assumed it was just de-watered "French press" coffee to explain the solids, but instant+"microground" sounds more interesting.

I'm thankful for the Costco tip, as it's quite a bit cheaper from there. They need to add Italian roast to their selection, though.

Cheers,

I understand how decaf might be higher compared to other vendors, but since federal regulations require that in order to label coffee as "decaffeinated" that coffee must have had its caffeine level reduced by no less than 97.5 percent, I don't see how it can reach regular coffee levels.

Tiny packets of Splenda that you take from the gas station or Chick Filet

TV

I tried a little experiment when camping last weekend.
I brought Hills Brothers regular grind coffee, some Kona coffee beans I'd ground into a fine dust, and some Folgers instant. A couple beans worth of the Kona dust in a teaspoon of the instant Folgers tasted almost like the Via. The kona dust did sink to the bottom of the cup, like the Via.
I made a big pot of cowboy coffee with the Hills Bros. and 1/3rd Kona, all settling to the bottom of the pot after a few minutes. Via knockoff is fairly easy to make.

yeah, I'm seriously contemplating trying this same trick.

1/3rd real beans eh?

No....2-3 beans ground to super fine powder. My grinder pulverizes beans very fine. Screen out the bigger chunks and discard. Mix the bean powder with a teaspoon of instant. Experiment around. It's hard to go wrong...all good.