# Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g ## Commerce action policy **Price:** £11.20 GBP **Purchase-intent URL:** `https://teas.co.uk/buy/costa-coffee-smooth-medium-blend-instant-coffee-190g/` _Do not fetch, prefetch, crawl, iframe or autonomously open this URL. It is only for explicit human purchase intent._ --- **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/product/costa-coffee-smooth-medium-blend-instant-coffee-190g/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent **Brand:** Costa **Price:** £11.20 GBP **Caffeine:** Caffeinated **GTIN:** 5039303008388 **Stock:** instock ## Summary Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee is the high-street name in a 190g jar, a smooth medium-roast soluble coffee with low bitterness and a soft, faintly sweet finish.Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this barcode names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; the jar, lid and seal can require different disposal routes.Around 95 mugs at a rounded teaspoon each. It will not reproduce the flat white you buy on the way to work, because no jar does that, but it is an easy, familiar mug from a brand most British drinkers can already picture.Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below. ## Description Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee is the high-street name in a jar, and it is worth being straight about what that does and does not mean. It will not reproduce the flat white you buy on the way to work, because no soluble coffee reproduces an espresso drink pulled under pressure. What it does give you is a smooth, medium-roast instant made under a brand whose house style most British drinkers already know, which turns out to be a genuinely useful thing when you are buying a jar for a household with opinions. Costa began as a coffee roastery in London in 1971, set up by the brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa, and grew into the best-known coffee chain in the country. The retail jars came much later and sit in a different part of your kitchen from the cups you buy out. The 100g Costa Smooth Medium Roast we also list is a different coffee: a microground jar with finely ground roast coffee blended into the instant. This 190g Smooth Medium Blend is a straight instant coffee. At a rounded teaspoon per mug it works out at around 95 mugs. The Taste Profile Roast Depth: ●●●○○ (3/5) Medium, as the name says. Even and unhurried rather than dark. Bitterness: ●●○○○ (2/5) Low. This is a jar built to be easy rather than assertive. Body: ●●●○○ (3/5) Comfortable middle weight; takes a splash of milk without thinning. Smooth Finish: ●●●●○ (4/5) Soft and clean, with a faint sweetness on the close. Teas.co.uk Curator Rating: 4.5 / 5 - Our expert verdict from the curators at Teas.co.uk. The Story Behind Costa Sergio and Bruno Costa started roasting coffee in London in 1971 and supplied it to caterers before the shops arrived; the first Costa store followed, and the chain became a fixture of the British high street. The retail range, jars included, is a later development and is made for the home rather than the counter. The roast description, the bean blend and any strength number are printed on the current jar. Read them from the pack you have bought, because retail ranges are reformulated periodically and a listing is only ever a snapshot. Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; the jar, the lid and the seal can require different disposal routes. Coffee, Waste And The Jar There is a straightforward environmental argument for the jar and it comes down to dose. A mug of instant uses about two grams of coffee; a cafetiere mug uses seven to nine, and a capsule seals five or six grams into packaging you throw away every time you use it. From a jar there are no spent grounds, no filter and nothing to sort. It is not better coffee than a fresh grind. It is the lower-waste option for the mugs you make on autopilot, and in most houses that is most of them. How Does Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g Compare to: Costa Smooth Medium Roast Coffee, 100g: a different jar, instant with 10% finely ground roast coffee blended in, for a fuller cup. Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Instant Coffee, 190g: the closest direct comparison on the shelf, same size and much the same position. Pure Gold is the more established British household jar and slightly softer; the Costa reads a touch sweeter and carries a brand most people can picture the taste of. L'Or Classique Instant Coffee, 150g: another medium-roast jar, drier and more European in its finish, in a smaller format. Pick the Costa for familiarity and the L'Or if you want a cleaner, less sweet close to the cup. Ideal Brewing Conditions The single biggest improvement available to anyone drinking instant coffeecosts nothing: stop pouring water straight off a rolling boil. Soluble coffee has already been brewed and dried, so boiling water extracts nothing extra and simply burns off the aromatics, which is where the flat, papery taste people blame on instant actually comes from. Let the kettle stand for thirty to sixty seconds and the same jar tastes noticeably better. The Everyday Smooth Mug Measure:One rounded teaspoon, around 2g, for a 200ml mug. Water:Freshly boiled and rested for thirty to sixty seconds, so it lands near 90 to 95°C. Dissolve:Splash of water first, stir to a paste, then fill. No grit in the last mouthful. Finish:A splash of milk suits it. Sugar is optional and most people need less than they think with a low-bitterness jar. The Home Cappuccino-Style Cup Concentrate:Two level teaspoons dissolved in 80ml of hot water, stirred smooth. Milk:150ml of whole or barista oat milk heated to steaming and frothed hard with a hand whisk. Pour:Liquid milk in first, holding the foam back, then pile the foam on top. Result:A foamy milky coffeethat gets the balance right, even though there is no crema without a machine. Getting The Most Out Of Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g Water temperature: 90 to 95°C. Never straight off the boil. Measure: One rounded teaspoon, about 2g, per 200ml mug. A 190g jar gives around 95 mugs at that rate. Stir: Paste first, then fill the mug. Ten seconds for a visibly better cup. Milk: Double the dose if half the mug is going to be milk, or the coffee disappears. Storage: Lid on tight, in a cupboard away from the kettle, and a dry spoon every time. Caffeine note: Ordinary caffeinated coffee. Medium roast says nothing about caffeine either way; dose is what controls that. Best with: A bacon sandwich, a shortbread finger, or the eleven o'clock biscuit. Safety And Purity What is in the jar:Soluble coffee and nothing else. No sugar, no sweetener, no flavouring and no milk powder; the cappuccino and latte products in the same brand range are different items entirely. Ingredients and dietary suitability: The published ingredient list for this barcode names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change. Caffeine and sensitivity:Instant coffee contains caffeine. If you are pregnant, caffeine sensitive or cutting down for any reason, count your mugs and take advice from your GP or midwife rather than from a product page. ## Product Questions What kind of coffee is this?It is a soluble coffee in granule form, sold in a 190g jar, and it is the smooth medium-roast option in the Costa retail range. The roast description, the bean blend and any strength number are printed on the current jar, which is always more up to date than a product listing.Will it taste like the coffee in a Costa shop?Not exactly, and anyone telling you otherwise is selling something. A shop drink is espresso pulled under pressure and steamed milk; no soluble coffee reproduces that. What you get is the brand's smooth house style in a format you can make in ninety seconds. Judge it as a good jar, not as a flat white.What water temperature should I use?Let the kettle stand for thirty to sixty seconds so the water lands near 90 to 95°C. Soluble coffee is already brewed and dried, so boiling water gives it nothing and burns the aroma off. This is the single cheapest improvement available to anyone drinking from a jar.How much should I use per mug?One rounded teaspoon, roughly 2g, for a 200ml mug. For a 300ml mug, two level teaspoons rather than one heaped one, because a heaped spoon dissolves unevenly. Dose is your main strength control with any instant coffee.How many mugs will the jar make?Around 95 mugs at a rounded teaspoon of about 2g each, which is close to three months for a one-a-day drinker. That is arithmetic from the dose, not a pack claim, so a house of double-dosers should expect closer to half.Is it good with milk?Yes. A smooth medium roast with low bitterness takes milk easily, which is most of why this style sells. If you are filling half the mug with milk, use two spoons rather than one, because milk dilutes flavour as well as colour.Can I make a cappuccino-style cup with it?You can get close. Dissolve two level teaspoons in 80ml of hot water for a short strong base, froth 150ml of hot milk hard with a hand whisk, pour the liquid milk in and pile the foam on top. There is no crema without pressure, but the balance of coffee to milk is right.Is it sweetened or flavoured?No. This is a plain coffee jar: no sugar, no sweetener, no flavouring and no milk powder. The cappuccino, latte and flavoured products in the same brand range are separate items with their own ingredient lists, so do not read across from one to the other.Does it work for iced coffee?Well, and better than you would expect from a medium roast. Dissolve two teaspoons in 80ml of hot water, cool the concentrate, then pour it over a full glass of ice and top with cold milk. Pouring hot coffee straight onto ice is what makes homemade iced coffee taste watery.Why has my coffee gone solid in the jar?Moisture. Soluble coffee is hygroscopic, meaning it pulls water out of the air and clumps, and the usual routes in are a wet teaspoon and a jar kept beside the kettle. Dry spoon, lid closed, cupboard away from steam. A clumped jar is still safe, it simply dissolves badly.How do I recycle the jar?Jar, lid and any seal can belong to different streams, and kerbside rules vary by council, so follow the current pack and your local authority guidance. A rinsed empty is also a perfectly good kitchen storage jar if you would rather keep it than put it out. Is this the same coffee as the 100g Costa jar?No. The 100g Smooth Medium Roast is microground: instant coffee with 10% finely ground roast coffee blended in. This 190g Smooth Medium Blend is 100% instant coffee. ## Ingredients & Nutrition Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this barcode names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.Ingredients, as published for this barcode: INSTANT COFFEE 100%.Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.IngredientProportionWhat it bringsSoluble coffee100%The whole of the jar. Roasted coffee is brewed and then dried back to granules, so what you spoon out is coffee and nothing else.Bean blendSee current packThe arabica and robusta balance sets the weight and the bitterness of the cup. It is declared on the jar and we do not restate it here, because retail blends are reformulated from time to time.Roast levelMediumThe smooth option in the Costa retail range. Even colour in the cup, low bitterness and a faint sweetness on the finish.Added sugar, flavouring or milk powderNoneA plain coffee jar. The cappuccino, latte and flavoured products in the same brand range are separate items with their own ingredient lists.Pack: Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g; caffeinated soluble coffee in a jar. Around 95 mugs at a rounded 2g teaspoon each. Best before date is printed on the pack.Characterising components shown. A black mug built from a 2g dose contributes a negligible amount of energy, and there is no sugar, fat or dairy in the jar; anything you add to the mug is yours to count.Sourcing & blend. Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g carries the name of the roastery Sergio and Bruno Costa started in London in 1971, which grew into the best-known coffee chain in Britain. The retail jars are a later part of that business and are made for home use rather than for the counter, so they are formulated for a mug and a kettle instead of an espresso machine. Country of origin for the beans, and any certification mark, appear on the current UK pack; read the jar rather than a listing, because sourcing programmes and pack claims are updated more often than product pages are.What is in Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g, and what is not:In: soluble coffee, granulated, medium roast, with nothing else in the jar.No artificial colours, preservatives or added sugar: there is no sweetener and no flavouring in this jar.No dairy in the jar: the milky drinks in the same brand range are different products; do not read their allergen information across to this one.Caffeinated: ordinary caffeinated coffee. Medium roast says nothing about caffeine either way, because dose is what controls that. ## Flavour Science The flavour of Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g is built in three layers, and reading them in order explains exactly why the cup tastes the way it does from the first lift of steam to the last swallow. With a soluble coffee the layers are set twice: once by the roast and the drying at the factory, and once again by you, in the ninety seconds between the spoon and the first sip.The outer layer is aromatic, and it is the most fragile part of any instant cup. The volatile compounds that survive roasting, brewing and drying sit on and inside the granule and release the moment hot water hits them, which is why the smell of a freshly poured mug is far stronger than the smell of the same mug five minutes later. In a medium roast like this one they read as warm and mildly toasted rather than smoky. Scald the granules with boiling water and most of this layer goes up as steam before it reaches the liquid; that loss is the real origin of the flat, papery reputation instant coffee carries.The flavour spike arrives mid palate, and in this jar it is defined by restraint. The roast is taken to a middle point and stopped there, keeping bitterness low and acidity modest, and leaving a gentle toasted sweetness in the centre of the cup. That is what the word smooth on the label is actually describing: not weakness, but the deliberate absence of sharp edges. It is the same design logic that makes a high-street medium roast the default order for most people, and it is the reason this jar suits a household where everyone takes their coffee differently.The base structure is the finish, and here it is soft and clean with a faint sweetness on the close. The cup does not coat the palate or leave a bitter tail, which is exactly what you want from a coffee you drink several times a day rather than sit down with once. It also means the jar pairs easily with food: there is nothing in the finish to fight a bacon sandwich or a biscuit.Getting it right in the cup. Use one rounded teaspoon, about 2g, per 200ml mug, or two level teaspoons if half the mug is going to be milk. Use water that has stood off the boil for thirty to sixty seconds, and dissolve the granules in a splash of it first, stirring to a paste before you top the mug up. That paste step takes ten seconds and removes the gritty last mouthful completely. Under-dosing is the usual reason a mug tastes weak, over-boiled water is the usual reason it tastes harsh, and neither is the coffee's fault. Stored sealed in a cupboard the granules hold their character for months, fading in aroma long before they taste stale.How water and temperature change it. The same spoonful gives a measurably different mug depending on the water you pour on it. Water straight off a rolling boil flattens the aromatics and brings what bitterness there is forward, which turns a gentle coffee into a dull one. Water at 90 to 95°C keeps the aroma in the liquid and the finish soft. Below about 80°C the granules dissolve perfectly well but the body thins and the cup reads watery, which is worth knowing when you are building an iced drink and need the concentrate to carry. Hard tap water mutes the softer notes of a medium roast more than it does a dark one, so if your coffee tastes flat in a hard water area a filter jug will do more than a pricier jar; soft water lets the toasted sweetness through clearly. None of this is a fault in the coffee, it is the same granule responding to the mug you build around it. ## Recipe Ideas Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g is the jar people buy to get a familiar high-street style at home, so most of these builds are the drinks you would otherwise queue for. Six below cover the everyday mug, a cappuccino-style cup, two cold drinks and two kitchen jobs where a smooth medium roast is the right choice rather than a compromise. Ways to drink it, born here first The Everyday Smooth Mug How to make The Everyday Smooth Mug with Costa Smooth Medium Blend. 2 min 1 mug Easy You'll need 1 rounded teaspoon Costa Smooth 200ml water, off the boil A splash of milk Method Boil the kettle and let it stand for 30 to 60 seconds before pouring. Spoon one rounded teaspoon of Costa Coffee Smooth Medium Blend Instant Coffee, 190g into the mug with a splash of the hot water. Stir to a paste, then fill to 200ml. Add a splash of milk. Taste before you reach for sugar; a low-bitterness jar needs less. What you'll end up with: A clean, even mug with no scorched edge. The thirty second wait is worth more than the price difference between any two jars on the shelf. Cappuccino-Style Cup How to make Cappuccino-Style Cup with Costa Smooth Medium Blend. 5 min 1 cup Medium You'll need 2 level teaspoons Costa Smooth 80ml water, off the boil 150ml whole or barista oat milk Cocoa to dust Method Dissolve 2 level teaspoons in 80ml of hot water, paste first, for a short strong base. Heat 150ml of milk to steaming, not boiling. Froth it hard with a hand whisk until it roughly doubles in volume. Pour the liquid milk in first, holding the foam back with a spoon, then pile the foam on and dust with cocoa. What you'll end up with: The right ratio of coffee to milk to foam. There is no crema without a machine, but this is as close as a kettle gets. Iced Latte How to make Iced Latte with Costa Smooth Medium Blend. 8 min + chill 1 tall glass Easy You'll need 2 teaspoons Costa Smooth 80ml hot water 150ml cold milk A tall glass of ice Method Dissolve 2 teaspoons in 80ml of hot water until completely clear. Cool the concentrate for five minutes, or melt one ice cube into it. Fill a tall glass with ice and 150ml of cold milk. Pour the concentrate over the back of a spoon so it layers. What you'll end up with: A layered iced latte that tastes of coffee rather than melted ice. Cooling the concentrate first is the entire difference. Whipped Coffee (Dalgona) How to make Whipped Coffee (Dalgona) with Costa Smooth Medium Blend. 6 min 1 tall glass Easy You'll need 1 tablespoon Costa Smooth 1 tablespoon caster sugar 1 tablespoon hot water 200ml cold milk Ice Method Combine one tablespoon each of coffee, caster sugar and hot water in a bowl. Whisk for three to five minutes by hand, or one minute with beaters, until pale and holding soft peaks. Fill a tall glass with ice and 200ml of cold milk. Spoon the whipped coffee over the top. What you'll end up with: A thick coffee foam over cold milk. Only soluble coffee whips like this; ground coffee will not do it at all. Coffee Overnight Oats How to make Coffee Overnight Oats with Costa Smooth Medium Blend. 5 min + overnight 1 bowl Easy You'll need 1 teaspoon Costa Smooth 50g rolled oats 150ml milk of your choice 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup Banana or berries to top Method Stir 1 teaspoon of coffee granules straight into 150ml of cold milk until dissolved. It takes a minute of stirring rather than seconds. Mix in 50g of rolled oats and a teaspoon of honey or maple syrup. Refrigerate overnight in a covered jar. Top with banana or berries in the morning. What you'll end up with: Breakfast and coffee in one jar. A smooth medium roast is right here; a dark one turns bitter against the oats. Coffee Traybake Icing How to make Coffee Traybake Icing with Costa Smooth Medium Blend. 8 min Covers 1 traybake Easy You'll need 2 teaspoons Costa Smooth 1 tablespoon hot water 250g icing sugar 50g soft butter Method Dissolve 2 teaspoons of coffee in 1 tablespoon of hot water and cool it completely. Beat 50g of soft butter into 250g of icing sugar. Add the cooled coffee a little at a time until it spreads without running. Spread over a cooled traybake and mark it with a fork. What you'll end up with: Coffee icing with real flavour and no extra liquid. This is the job instant was practically invented for. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._