Best overall
Swift Coffee
Mainstay Blend Instant Coffee
8.2Great
Specialty-grade instant from the company that makes many roasters' instants: sweet, balanced and pricey at about $2 a cup.
4$1.99 / cup
Best value
Waka Coffee & Tea
Medium Roast Premium Instant Coffee (Colombian, 3.5 oz pouch)
Freeze-dried single-origin Colombian instant at about 43¢ a cup: clean and balanced, a big step up from supermarket jars.
8.0
Great
Coffee Reviews score
See the breakdown →
Community
—/10
- Roast
- Medium
- Origin
- 🇨🇴 Colombia
- Caffeine
- Regular
- Price per serving
- $0.43 / cup
- Caramel
- Dark Chocolate
- Apricot
- Cedar
Kosher
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Last reviewed October 17, 2026 by the Coffee Reviews editors · How we score
Freeze-dried single-origin Colombian instant at about 43¢ a cup: clean and balanced, a big step up from supermarket jars.
A resealable 3.5 oz pouch of freeze-dried, single-origin Colombian Arabica that makes about 35 cups. Waka describes it as well-balanced and smooth-bodied with citrus notes, and says the coffee scored 88 points in a Coffee Review blind tasting. It is a favorite of backpackers and office drinkers who want better-than-supermarket instant without specialty prices.
Best for
- Backpacking and travel
- Office or dorm coffee on a budget
- Readers upgrading from supermarket instant
What we like
- Freeze-dried, single-origin Colombian Arabica with nothing added
- About 43¢ a cup from the 3.5 oz pouch
- Dissolves cleanly hot or cold for iced coffee
- Light, resealable pouch for travel and backpacking
Watch-outs
- Only about 55 mg caffeine per 2 tsp, lighter than a brewed cup
- Still tastes like instant next to fresh-brewed specialty coffee
- No farm-level sourcing or certifications
Flavor profile
What it tastes like.
In the roaster’s words
“Well-balanced and smooth-bodied, with notes of citrus. (Waka cites Coffee Review noting dark caramel, cedar, baker's chocolate and apricot.)”
- Caramel
- Dark Chocolate
- Apricot
- Cedar
- acidity
- body
- sweetness
- bitterness
LightMediumDark
How it scored
The breakdown.
8.0Great
Cup score out of 10, weighted across five factors.
- Flavor & cup quality30%7.9
Clean, balanced medium roast that reviewers and backpackers rate well above supermarket instant, while admitting it still tastes like instant.
- Quality & freshness20%8.1
Freeze-dried single-origin Arabica with no fillers; resealable pouch with a printed best-by date.
- Value20%8.7
About $0.43 a cup at list price, far cheaper than specialty instants for a similar step up in taste.
- Sourcing & transparency15%6.9
Country of origin (Colombia) is disclosed, but no farm, cooperative or third-party certification beyond OU kosher.
- Community love15%7.9
Recommended unprompted in recent camping threads and on Hacker News as the instant that changed people's minds.
Creator video reviews
Watch it in action.
1 positive
Independent creators, verified with YouTube and TikTok. We don’t pay for reviews and creators don’t pay us.
What people are saying
From the forums.
Verbatim from Reddit, forums and long-term owner write-ups — linked so you can read the full thread.
“Waka instant is my go to for backpacking. It’s still instant but so much better than anything else I’ve tried.”
“I find Waka instant coffee to be great… it's the first brand that convinced me that instant coffee could be good.”
Details
The particulars.
- Origin
- 🇨🇴 Colombia
- Species
- Arabica
- Format
- Instant
- Caffeine
- Regular · ~55 mg per serving
- Ingredients
- 100% coffee
- Best brewed as
- Just add water, Iced / over ice
- Certifications
- Kosher
- Typical price
- $14.99 for 3.5 oz (99 g) pouch (checked October 2026)
- Servings
- ≈ 35 cups at 1.5–2 tsp (about 2.5 g) per 8–10 fl oz of water
Community
Member tasting notes & discussion.
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0 member ratings
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Discussion
No discussions yet.
Own Waka Coffee & Tea Medium Roast Premium Instant Coffee (Colombian, 3.5 oz pouch)? Ask a question or share your recipe — you’ll be the first.
FAQ
Good questions.
How much caffeine is in Waka Medium Roast?
Waka lists about 55 mg per 2-teaspoon serving from the pouch and about 60 mg per single-serve packet. A standard 8 fl oz cup of drip coffee is roughly 95 mg.
Is Waka freeze-dried or spray-dried?
Freeze-dried. Waka says freeze-drying at low temperature preserves more aromatics than spray-drying.
Can you make iced coffee with it?
Yes. Waka recommends dissolving the powder in a little hot water first, then topping with cold water, milk or ice; a handheld frother also mixes it straight into cold liquid.
Sources (7)
- wakacoffee.com/products/waka-coffee-best-instant-coffee-bag
- wakacoffee.com/products/colombian-best-instant-coffee
- wakacoffee.com/pages/how-we-came-up-with-instant-coffee
- dailycoffeenews.com/2022/03/01/waka-coffee-tea-raises-725k-seeks-instant-success/
- amazon.com/dp/B07N16TLQ5
- reddit.com/r/CampingandHiking/comments/1qt9tc1/favorite_instant_coffee/o31bi7y/
- news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32133901
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