Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast 400g: the big jar

The granules you can see in a jar of Pure Gold are the visible result of freeze-drying, and they are the practical reason it tastes rounder than a fine instant powder. The 400g size is for the household or office where the kettle goes on all day.

Granules, not powder: why it matters

Instant coffee is made in one of two ways. In spray drying, liquid coffee is sprayed into hot air and falls as a fine powder; it is quick, but the heat strips aroma on the way. In freeze drying, the brewed coffee is frozen first and its ice is drawn off in a vacuum, so it is never boiled, more of its aroma survives, and the result is the irregular granule. Douwe Egberts labels Pure Gold as freeze-dried.

In the mug that shows up as body. Pure Gold is a proper medium roast, taken far enough to have some weight but stopped before anything ashy creeps in, and it holds that weight to the last mouthful instead of thinning out halfway down. Bitterness is low and clean, so it drinks well without sugar.

What a 400g jar means in mugs

At a rounded teaspoon of about two grams, a 400g jar gives around 200 mugs. Take it stronger, at three grams a mug, and you are nearer 130. For two coffee drinkers at home that is months of mornings from one container, and beside an office kettle it is the difference between restocking constantly and hardly thinking about it.

A big jar gets opened many more times before it is empty, so it is worth a little care. Put the lid straight back on after each spoonful, use a dry spoon, and keep the jar out of the kettle's steam. If you only make the odd mug, the 190g Pure Gold jar is the more sensible size, and it is the same medium roast.

The two-step mug

Water at a rolling boil scalds granules, and the flat, faintly burnt finish it leaves is usually blamed on the coffee. Give the kettle half a minute to settle and the water drops to around 90 degrees. No thermometer is needed, just the pause, and the same spoonful tastes rounder, with a light toasted aroma you can actually smell.

Then dissolve before you dilute. Spoon the coffee in, pour over just enough hot water to wet it, and stir it to a smooth paste before filling the mug. If you take milk, it goes in last, because cold milk poured onto dry granules makes lumps. The whole routine adds ten seconds and does more for the cup than changing brands.

The packs we stock

• Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast Instant Coffee, 400g (barcode 8711000275238)

What to eat with it

• Border Butterscotch Crunch Organic Biscuits, 135g: Butterscotch is the biscuit we suggest beside a medium roast, and its toasty sweetness sits right on the coffee's roasted note.
• Border Classic Biscuit Sharing Pack, 400g: A sharing pack for the same office kettle the big jar lives beside.
• Maryland Cookies Double Chocolate, 200g: A black mug of Gold cuts through the sweetness of a double chocolate cookie without turning harsh.
• Maryland Minis Cookies - Choc Chip 6 Mini Bags, 118.8g: Mini bags for the desk drawer, portioned for one mug at a time.

Elsewhere in the Douwe Egberts range

• Douwe Egberts Pure Decaf Instant Coffee, 190g
• Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Instant Coffee, 190g
• Douwe Egberts Pure Indulgence Instant Coffee, 190g

The full range is on the Douwe Egberts brand page.

FAQ

How many mugs does a 400g jar of Pure Gold make? Around 200 at a rounded teaspoon of roughly two grams. At three grams a mug, for a stronger cup, expect about 130.

Is Pure Gold granulated or powdered? Granulated. Douwe Egberts labels it freeze-dried, the process that produces irregular granules instead of a fine powder.

Why does my instant coffee taste burnt? Usually the water was too hot. Let the kettle stand for about half a minute so it is nearer 90 degrees when it meets the coffee.

Should I buy the 400g or the 190g jar? Both are Pure Gold, the medium roast of the range. Choose the 400g for a household or office drinking instant every day, and the 190g if a jar lasts you a long time.

Should milk go in before or after the water? After. Dissolve the granules in a little hot water first and add milk last, or the coffee clumps.

Curator's note: Half a minute off the boil and a quick stir to a paste: that is the whole trick. This jar is worth the ten seconds it takes, every single mug. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Medium Roast 400g: the big jar

More from the tea wiki

• Tea vs Coffee: Taste, Caffeine and Switching
• Caffeine in Tea
• Tea vs Coffee
• Tea for Coffee Drinkers: Where to Start
• Chai vs Coffee
• Best Instant Coffee UK

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