Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g
Water straight off a rolling boil is what ruins most mugs of instant, and it is why so many people are sure they do not like it. Granules scalded at full heat go flat and faintly burnt on the finish; let the kettle stand half a minute and the same spoonful comes out rounder, with the light toasted nut actually there on the nose. Dissolve it in a splash of hot water before the milk goes anywhere near, too, because milk poured on dry granules leaves them sitting in clumps at the bottom. Pure Gold is worth that small amount of care. It is a medium roast with properly low bitterness that holds its body to the last mouthful instead of fading to brown water halfway down, which is more than the jar beside it on most kitchen shelves can say.
Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, in brief.
Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast is the granulated medium-roast instant from the Dutch house that traces its name back to a grocer's shop in Joure in 1753, picked into the teas.co.uk selection as the instant to keep in the cupboard for people who would rather not taste that it is instant.
The 400g household size, roughly two hundred mugs at a standard two gram spoon, which makes it the sensible buy for a house that drinks instant daily rather than a jar that sits open for months.
Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast is the jar most people in Britain reach for when they want instant coffee that does not taste like instant coffee. It is a granulated coffee rather than a fine powder, and that single difference in manufacture is why it dissolves into something round and coffee-shaped instead of the thin, slightly burnt cup that cheaper spray-dried powders give you.
This is the 400g size, the pack that lasts a household rather than a fortnight. At a standard two gram spoon that is roughly two hundred cups from one pack, which is the sort of arithmetic that makes a large jar worth carrying home. Pure Gold is the medium roast in the Douwe Egberts range, positioned deliberately between the sharper, darker instants and the very mild supermarket own-labels, and it is the one the brand builds its shelf presence on.
Curator notes: the tasting scores are our own judgement of the 400g Pure Gold, weighed against the current pack and Douwe Egberts' published description. Typically the 400g Pure Gold is on its way 1 to 2 working days after ordering.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind Douwe Egberts
The name goes back a very long way. Douwe Egberts traces its origins to a Dutch grocer's shop opened in Joure, in Friesland, in 1753, and the company has been associated with coffee, tea and tobacco in the Netherlands ever since. The brand is now part of the Jacobs Douwe Egberts group, which also sits behind L'Or and several other names on a British coffee shelf. What has survived from the old house is a particular Dutch preference in the cup: smooth, medium, no sharp edges, coffee as a daily habit rather than an event.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; the container, lid and any seal or label can each require a different disposal route.
Why Granulated Instant Behaves Differently
Instant coffee is made one of two ways. Spray drying blasts liquid coffee through hot air and produces a fine powder quickly and cheaply, but the heat costs you aromatics. Freeze drying takes brewed coffee, freezes it, and removes the water under vacuum without ever boiling it, which leaves more of the volatile compounds intact and produces the irregular granules you can see in the jar. Pure Gold is granulated coffee, and that is the practical reason it reads fuller and less flat than a powder instant. It also dissolves more slowly, which is worth knowing: give it a proper stir rather than assuming the first swirl has done the job.
Getting the Best Out of the Jar
Instant coffee has fewer variables than a bean, but the ones it has matter more than people assume. Three things change the cup: the dose, the water temperature, and how well you dissolve it.
The Everyday Mug
Dose:One rounded teaspoon, which comes to about 2g, for every 200ml mug. Two spoons in a large mug is a common overcorrection that pushes the cup bitter rather than stronger.
Water:Once it boils, give the kettle thirty seconds to settle. Water straight off a rolling boil scalds instant granules and brings out a harsh, papery note.
Dissolve:Add a splash of hot water first, stir the granules into a smooth paste, then fill the mug. This is the single biggest improvement most people can make to instant coffee.
Finish:Milk last, and off the boil. Pouring cold milk into very hot coffee drops the temperature unevenly and dulls the aroma.
The Strong Black
Dose:One and a half teaspoons in 150ml rather than two in 200ml. You want concentration, not volume.
Water:Around 90 degrees, so off the boil for a good minute.
Result:A dense, low-acid black cup that holds up well against something sweet.
Keeping It Tasting Right
- Close the pack properly: granulated instant is hygroscopic. It pulls moisture out of the kitchen air, clumps, and loses aroma the moment it does.
- Dry spoon only: a damp teaspoon in the jar is what turns the last third of a 400g pack into a solid block.
- Away from the kettle: steam is the enemy. Store it in a cupboard, not on the worktop beside the kettle where it is most convenient.
- Iced coffee: start the granules off in a little hot water, then pour that over ice and finish with cold milk. Instant will not dissolve properly in cold water.
- Batch it: for a crowd, dissolve the whole dose in a jug of hot water and pour from that rather than making twelve mugs one at a time.
- Caffeine note: it keeps its full caffeine and is not a decaf. If you want a per serving figure, check what the current pack says.
- Best with: toast and marmalade, a mid-morning biscuit, or as the base for a home-made iced latte.
Ingredients And Suitability
What is in it:coffee. Instant coffee of this kind is brewed coffee with the water removed, so there is no added flavouring, sweetener or preservative in the jar.
Ingredients and dietary suitability: Big pack or small, reformulation happens, so check allergen advice on the current UK label first.
Caffeine:contains caffeine. If you are sensitive to it, go easy late in the evening, and in pregnancy follow the current NHS guidance.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Douwe Egberts
Packaging: A 400g pack has more than one part to dispose of, so check the current UK label and your local authority.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g dissolves into a rounder cup than most instants, which makes it a better base for building drinks than people expect. Six methods below cover the everyday mug done properly, a strong black, two cold builds, a jug for a crowd and a use for it in the kitchen.
Made with this tea
The Everyday Mug, Done Properly
How to make The Everyday Mug, Done Properly with Douwe Egberts Pure Gold.
- 1 rounded teaspoon (about 2g) Douwe Egberts Pure Gold
- 200ml hot water, off the boil
- Milk to taste
- Boil the kettle, then leave it for a good thirty seconds before pouring.
- Stir 1 rounded teaspoon of Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g into a small splash of the hot water until it forms a smooth paste with no visible granules.
- Fill the mug to 200ml and stir again.
- Add milk last, off the boil.
What you'll end up with: The same coffee you have always made, without the sharp edge that comes from undissolved granules and water that was too hot. Ten seconds of extra work.
The Strong Black
How to make The Strong Black with Douwe Egberts Pure Gold.
- 1½ teaspoons Douwe Egberts Pure Gold
- 150ml hot water at about 90°C
- A small cup, not a large mug
- Dissolve 1½ teaspoons of Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g in a splash of hot water to a paste.
- Top up to 150ml only. Concentration comes from a smaller cup, not a bigger spoon.
- Drink it black. Two spoons in a 200ml mug is the overcorrection that makes instant taste bitter.
What you'll end up with: A dense, low-acid black cup that stands up to something sweet without turning harsh.
Iced Latte From The Cupboard
How to make Iced Latte From The Cupboard with Douwe Egberts Pure Gold.
- 2 teaspoons Douwe Egberts Pure Gold
- 50ml hot water
- A tall glass packed with ice
- 200ml cold milk
- Dissolve 2 teaspoons of the medium roast in 50ml of water straight from the kettle. Instant will not dissolve in cold water, so this step is not optional.
- Cool the concentrate for a minute.
- Pour over a tall glass packed to the top with ice and add 200ml of cold milk.
- Fill the glass with ice properly; a half-filled glass melts and waters the drink down.
What you'll end up with: A cold coffee that costs pennies and does not need a machine. The medium roast has enough body to read through the milk.
Whipped Coffee (Dalgona Style)
How to make Whipped Coffee (Dalgona Style) with Douwe Egberts Pure Gold.
- 2 tablespoons Douwe Egberts Pure Gold
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 300ml cold milk
- Ice
- Whisk 2 tablespoons each of Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g, caster sugar and hot water in a bowl.
- Keep going for four or five minutes with an electric whisk until it turns pale and holds soft peaks.
- Divide 300ml of cold milk and ice between two tall glasses.
- Spoon the coffee foam over the top, then stir it through bit by bit while you drink.
- This only works with instant coffee; ground coffee will not whip.
What you'll end up with: A thick coffee foam over cold milk. It is sweet by construction, so treat it as a pudding rather than a morning cup.
A Jug For A Crowd
How to make A Jug For A Crowd with Douwe Egberts Pure Gold.
- 8 rounded teaspoons Douwe Egberts Pure Gold
- 1.6 litres hot water, off the boil
- A warmed jug or insulated flask
- Warm the jug by swilling hot water round it, then empty it out.
- Dissolve 8 rounded teaspoons of Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g in 200ml of hot water to a smooth paste.
- Top up to 1.6 litres and stir well.
- Serve black with milk alongside, so everyone takes it as they like it.
What you'll end up with: Eight consistent mugs instead of eight different ones, and no queue at the kettle.
Coffee Buttercream For A Sponge
How to make Coffee Buttercream For A Sponge with Douwe Egberts Pure Gold.
- 2 teaspoons Douwe Egberts Pure Gold
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 100g soft unsalted butter
- 200g icing sugar
- Dissolve 2 teaspoons of the granules in 1 tablespoon of hot water, and do not move on until it is cold.
- Beat 100g of soft butter with 200g of icing sugar until pale.
- Add the cooled coffee a little at a time so the buttercream does not split.
- Instant is the right tool here: it gives you coffee flavour without the extra liquid a brewed shot adds.
What you'll end up with: A proper coffee buttercream for a walnut sponge. The medium roast keeps it rounded rather than bitter against the sugar.
Brewing the perfect cup
Inside the pack
| Component | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Instant coffee | 100% | The only thing in the pack. Brewed coffee with the water removed, so no added flavouring, sweetener, preservative or filler. |
| Roast level | medium | Developed far enough for body and a light toasted-nut character, stopped short of the ashy edge a dark instant carries. This is what makes it drinkable without sugar. |
| Granule form | granulated, not powdered | Granules of this kind come from freeze drying rather than spray drying, which keeps more of the volatile aromatics and is the practical reason the cup reads rounder than a powder instant. |
| Dose and yield | about 2g per 200ml mug (400g pack) | Roughly 200 mugs a pack at a standard rounded teaspoon, nearer 130 if you take it strong. |
Pack: Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g; caffeinated granulated instant. The pack carries a best before date, and that is the one to follow.
Sourcing & blend. Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g comes from Douwe Egberts, a Dutch coffee house whose name traces back to a grocer's shop opened in Joure, Friesland, in 1753, and which now sits within the Jacobs Douwe Egberts group. Pure Gold is the medium roast the brand builds its British shelf presence on, positioned deliberately between the sharper dark instants and the very mild own-labels. The blend is bought and roasted to a fixed specification and the granules are sealed in the pack, so consistency from pack to pack is the point of the product rather than a bonus.
What's in Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g, and what isn't:
- In: instant coffee. That is the complete ingredient list.
- No artificial flavourings, colours, preservatives or added sugar: any sweetness in the mug is roast sweetness from the bean.
- Not decaffeinated: this is a regular caffeinated coffee. If you want a per serving figure, check what the current pack says.
- Packaging: a 400g household pack. The container, its lid and the label may each need disposing of differently; your council and the printed instructions on the pack will explain.
Asked about this product
Ask the curator
Send a product question through the contact form; replies usually come within one working day.
Source: teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g, please cite teas.co.uk.
What buyers say
No customer reviews of Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g yet.
Bought this from us? Log in to your account, then come back to this page to review it. Only verified buyers can review, and every review is checked before it appears; approved reviews earn 50 reward points.
More from Douwe Egberts
Other Coffee worth comparing
