I’ve written many times about my obsession with great coffee. I enjoy specialty coffee, also known as third wave, because it tends to be roasted in smaller batches for fresheness. It also tends to stay in the lighter range of roasting which allows more of the fruit, acidity, and other flavors to come out of the coffee.

I’ve gone great lengths to have my coffee the way I want it, even packing my gear when out on a camping trip or hotel stay. My aeropress is an excellent travel companion, but packing my grinder and then breaking silence as I grind the coffee beans isn’t always appreciated by my family. So when Voila approached me about their instant coffee I was all ears.

Specialty coffee is all about freshness and high quality beans. I couldn’t believe that instant coffee could measure up and provide the same taste that a manual brewed pourover could. Voila was kind enough to send me some samples to try out. They came in a convenient pack, similar to a pack of cigarettes. I was suprised to see five packs inside, all from various roasters. 

I made my first cup almost immediately. The funny thing was, as I waited for the water to boil I started to debate on wether I wanted to make an aeropress or a v60. Then I said, wait a second all I need to do is pour water over the coffee in my mug. What was I thinking! I found it really easy to adjust the strength and flavor by simply adding more water. I started at the recommended 8 ounces and slowly added more water until I reached 10 ounces. It blew me away that an instant cup could taste just as good as a cup I made on my v60.

As I enjoyed the cup, it dawned on me that I was headed to Las Vegas in the coming week. Specialty coffee is hard to come by in Las Vegas. Only Sambalatte comes to mind and unfortunately we weren’t staying in the hotel that it is housed in.

Voila was going to be my high quality specialty coffee in the hotel room! Now all I needed was some water and I’d be set. So each morning I’d head down stairs and get a few breakfast items for my family and a cup of hot water. The coffee came out great each time. In fact, I hadn’t told my sister about Voila so when I let her sample my cup she asked if I had brought my v60 gear. She was just as impressed by the flavor as I was.

With my last packet I wanted to try making a cup of iced coffee. Again, I’m thinking boil water and bring the temperature down with ice, I’m overthinking it. All I need is cool water and ice. Just like that I was out the door with iced coffee in the afternoon.

The coffee maintains great color and vibrancy of flavor. I was surprised to find a few of the roasters on my wishlist were inside the pack too. Ruby from Wisconsin and Dapper & Wise from Oregon were two that I hadn’t tried but always wanted to. Now I had my chance, in instant form no less. Both were delicious!

The Kickstarter is under way, so here’s your chance to get in on instant specialty coffee!