Indocafe Review
I Tested Indocafe Instant Coffee: My Review, Photos
by Nigel Ong
Indonesia is known to be producing some of the world’s best coffee. Sumatran coffee is known for its herbal flavor, while coffee from Java and Sulawesi (Celebes) is well sought after.
However, despite having so much beautiful coffee, Indonesians still love instant coffee. Their choice? Indocafe. This has been the Indonesian staple for years and is probably the best selling instant coffee in the country.
In this post, I’ll pick up a pack of Indocafe instant coffee and review its taste. Aside from trying it with several flavorings, I will also compare it with other instant coffee in my stash.
About Indocafe Instant Coffee
Indocafe is a brand of instant coffee made by Incofood. The Indocafe original blend uses Mandheling coffee, a type of single-origin coffee originating from the highlands of northern Sumatra.
Indocafe then picks up Arabica and Robusta beans from the region before roasting, brewing, freezing, and drying the coffee to make instant coffee. It remains one of the best-selling instant coffee in Indonesia and is also sold worldwide.
Aside from its original instant coffee blend, you can also purchase Indocafe in many variations. There are the 3-in-1 instant mixes, where the instant coffee is pre-mixed with sugar and creamer.
There are also RTD (Ready To Drink) bottles you can pick up on chilled shelves. If you are into creamers, there are also Indocafe coffee creamers, specifically blended to work well with Indocafe.
In my hand, today is a small pack of Indocafe original blend. This differs from the Indocafe Fine Blend, a more refined blend of the original Indocafe recipe.
The packaging I have in my hand is a refill pack, which is not the actual packaging. The actual packaging is in a glass bottle.
How Does Indocafe Instant Coffee Taste?
First Impression
When I opened the packaging, I was not greeted with much aroma. Like many other instant coffees I have reviewed, I have to bring my nose close to the coffee granules to smell something.
One good thing is that the granules do smell quite good. I get none of that annoying dried seafood smell from some instant coffees, such as Lavazza Prontissimo Intenso or Folgers Instant Roast Instant Coffee.
Instead, my nose picked up a malty, sweet, and slightly savory smell that reminds me of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG.) There is also a deep, toasty smell, which tells me that this is coffee.The granules themselves are rather uneven and coarse. They look similar to the granules in Nescafe Classic, with many powdery, broken granules too. Indocafe instant coffee may look closer to regular rather than premium instant coffee.
In the picture here, I place the granules of Indocafe in the plate (12 o’clock), together with the granules from Nescafe Classic (3 o’clock), Nescafe Gold (6 o’clock), and Folgers Classic Roast (9 o’clock) for comparison.Black
The packaging asks that I mix about 2 g of coffee granules (about one teaspoon) with 150ml (about 5 oz) of hot water. I kept the water temperature around 185°F (85°C.)
What I got was a half-brown, half-see-through cup of coffee. The taste? Watery at best. There’s not enough punch here, not to my palate. I decided to add another teaspoon to the cup, and the coffee tasted much better.
From this point onwards, all my Indocafe cups will be made with two teaspoons of instant coffee instead. The coffee smells earthy and deep, which may point to it being a dark roast. I also notice a bit of herbal undertone to the aroma, which may point to its origin as Mandheling coffee.
Taste-wise, I am first hit by intense, roasty bitterness, which disappears. The bitterness is not deep and may taste too earthy to be appreciated by some coffee drinkers. There is a little bit of bittersweetness at the finish, but not very prominent.
As I sipped, I disliked the intense, roasty bitterness more and more. The very long, bitter finish eventually builds up in my palate as I sip, turning a little unbearable. I found myself having to drink water after several sips to reset my palate. I’m afraid I have to say the coffee smells much better than how it tasted. To make Indocafe drinkable, I must look for flavorings to help cut away this roast bitterness.
With Sugar
I’m interested in exploring whether sugar would help improve how the Indocafe instant coffee tastes. I reached out to the most common one out there, granulated sugar.
I emptied a stick of brown sugar into my cup of 150ml coffee with two teaspoons of Indocafe granules. I stirred the sugar in and then took a deep sip. I like how the sugar helps to take away the bitterness. It helps make the coffee easier to sip and gives the coffee a bit of sheen and silkiness. However, the very long bitter finish remains, and sugar seems unable to handle it.
To me, sugar improved the taste of the coffee, but not to the point I would still enjoy Indocafe.
With Sweetener
Next, I made a fresh cup of Indocafe and added a drop of Equal sweetener (Aspartame) to my coffee. I stirred them in and took sips.
I noticed that the sweetener helps remove some of the earthy bitterness in the coffee, making it less ‘dirt-like’ to the palate. However, I do not think artificial sweeteners work as well as sugar with the Indocafe.
The sweetness does not seem right and comes a little later after your tongue has been smashed flat with the earthy bitterness. I would like the sweetness to combine with the bitterness to help balance the flavor.
However, I do know that this is likely not the coffee’s fault. It is probably how Aspartame, the sweetener in Equal, works.
With Milk
It’s time to bring in some fat and creaminess to the Indocafe. Enter fresh milk. Will milk help to take out that overly bitter edge?
As usual, I brewed a fresh cup of Indocafe. Then, I poured a single shot (about 30ml, or 1 oz) of whole, fresh, UHT cow’s milk into the coffee.
The milk actually made my cup of Indocafe taste creamier and mellow. It also helps to give some texture to the coffee, making it more smooth and silky in the mouth.
The milk’s lactose also helps sweeten the coffee slightly and reduces the bitterness and some of the overly earthy notes. This is a pretty good cup of instant coffee, really.
With Creamer
Not everyone likes milk with their coffee, and lactose intolerance is on the rise worldwide, too. As a result, non-dairy creamers are becoming more popular. Keeping this in mind, I tasted Indocafe with creamers too.
I made another fresh cup of Indocafe and then poured in a stick of Coffee Mate creamer.
Creamer usually adds more cream to the coffee than milk, which is quite evident here. However, I think it lacks the natural sweetness that milk has, which means it also does not deal with the earthy bitterness.
The whole coffee also tastes not as natural as with milk. However, I still think that creamer is the second best way to enjoy coffee, behind using fresh milk.
With Ice
Finally, iced coffee is popular these days, so I thought I’d try it with Indocafe. I brewed about 90ml of hot coffee and slowly poured it into a glass filled to the brim with ice.
The coffee seems to become lighter in taste when I add in the ice. Instead of the earthy bitterness, I get a bit of watery, acidic taste with the coffee. Perhaps the coffee melted too much ice.
I decided to use 90 ml of water, but I added three teaspoons of Indocafe this time. The more concentrated coffee should handle melted ice better, I suppose.
This time, the iced coffee tasted better. I tasted bitterness, earthiness, and a bit of watery acidity. However, It is not satisfying enough for me. The bitterness lacks depth and character.
This is not comparable to the deep, dark, satisfying bitterness from a glass of iced Americano from your barista.
Indocafe Instant Coffee vs. Regular Instant Coffee
I consider Indocafe a regular instant coffee because of its appearance, taste, and pricing. It would be a great idea to compare it against other regular instant coffee in my collection.
I decided to pull out four other regular instant coffee, make black coffee out of them, and sip them side by side with my Indocafe. These instant coffees include:
- Nescafe Classic
- Cafe Bustelo Instant Coffee
- Folgers Classic Roast
- Amazon’s Happy Belly Instant Roast
After the sipping, I think Indocafe is within the regular instant coffee range. It has a similar taste profile and carries that earthy bitterness common in instant coffee.
In flavor, I would rank Indocafe as quite competitive. It tastes better than Amazon’s Happy Belly and the Folgers. It may not have enough flavor profile to compete against Cafe Bustelo. It is certainly not as good as Nescafe Classic.
Of these bunch, Nescafe Classic gave me the most satisfying sips. Indocafe leaves my palate with too much bitterness to compete against Nescafe Classic.
Indocafe Instant Coffee vs. Regular Brewed Coffee
Finally, I subject the Indocafe instant coffee to a simple test, comparing it against regular coffee from gas stations and convenience stores.
The idea here is to see if Indocafe is good enough that you would rather make it at home than buy these cheap but (usually) junk cups of coffee.
I went ahead and picked up a cup of 7-Eleven Americano and sipped it side by side with the Indocafe instant coffee.
My verdict? I would prefer the regular brewed coffee. My reason is simple. Brewed coffee is still brewed, which means they are fresh and have more depth and flavor. Even if the brewed coffee is from gas stations or convenience stores, it tastes better than instant coffee.
Indocafe is also not a premium instant coffee and does not have the flavor to compete with them. Suppose you drink Indocafe with premium instant coffee such as Illy Classico or Nescafe Gold. In that case, you will notice the difference in flavor and satisfaction.
If these premium instant coffees cannot challenge regular brewed coffee, what makes you think regular instant coffee, like Indocafe, can?
If you have an extra dollar or two, just pick up your coffee from a nearby gas station, convenience store, or McCafe.
Who Will Enjoy Drinking Indocafe Instant Coffee?
Indocafe may be one of the best-selling instant coffee in the land of great coffee beans, Indonesia. It also uses only Mandheling beans from Northern Sumatra island, giving the instant coffee a tinge of herbal earthiness.
However, it does not mean it is great tasting. To my palate, at least, the earthy bitterness is very strong, and its ultra-long finish means the bitterness stays on your palate and builds up as you sip. This means your coffee becomes more and more bitter as you drink it.
Adding some milk and creamer helps and smoothens Indocafe slightly. However, drinking as much other instant coffee is not as smooth as being pleasurable.
Indocafe is, at best, a temporary substitution for your coffee cravings. If you crave coffee late at night, for example, and can only get Indocafe at your local mart, then it may be a good choice.
Other than that, there are better options. Nescafe Classic, for example, is a lot better in flavor despite also being regular instant coffee.
If you are to try the Indocafe yourself, buy a small pack. I suspect you may not like it. If you do, at least you are not spending a lot to buy it. If you like the coffee, you can buy a larger bag next time.
https://www.clearlycoffee.com/indocafe-instant-coffee-review-photos/
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