Kenco Original Cappuccino: foam, sugar and the right cup

The head on an instant cappuccino is built by the way the water goes in, and knowing that fixes most disappointing sachets. The rest comes down to what Original means on a Kenco box: the standard, sweetened recipe.

Sugar first: reading the Original label

Original is the unflavoured, sweetened cappuccino, sold alongside Kenco's unsweetened version. The published ingredient list opens with sugar, then skimmed milk powder, then instant coffee at 15 percent, followed by fully hydrogenated coconut oil, maltodextrin, glucose syrup and milk proteins. Read in that order it tells you the character before you tear a sachet: a milky, gently sweet drink with the coffee underneath rather than out in front.

Because the milk arrives in the sachet as powder, the label confirms it contains milk, so it has no place in a dairy-free kitchen. It is also why the box needs no fridge. The published nutrition puts sugars at 43.3g per 100g of powder. If you would rather decide the sweetness yourself, the unsweetened box is the one to buy, since sugar cannot be taken back out of this one.

Pouring for a proper head

Tip the sachet into a dry cup, boil the kettle and let it stand for about a minute. Then pour from a little height and fairly briskly, straight onto the powder. The force of the water landing is what whips up the foam, so a slow, careful trickle gives you a flat drink. Pouring straight off a rolling boil is the other common fault, because it leaves powdered milk tasting cooked.

Stir once, from the bottom, and then leave it alone. Every extra turn of the spoon knocks down the head you have just built. If a little powder has settled at the base, a single slow stir lifts it without flattening the top. Spooning a little of the foam back over the surface after that stir is a small trick that keeps it looking like a cappuccino to the last mouthful.

Cup size, strength and a biscuit

Each sachet is portioned for an ordinary cup, not a pint mug. Fill a big mug to the brim and the whole drink thins out, because one sachet is all the flavour the cup is getting. Most complaints that it tastes weak are really a mug that is too large. Use a standard cup, stop pouring a little short of the top, and taste before you add any more water.

A sweet, milky cup like this wants a biscuit with some structure rather than more sugar on top. A milk chocolate digestive is the natural partner, sturdy enough for a quick dunk and plain enough underneath to sit with the milk. A dark chocolate digestive brings a bitter note the drink does not have on its own, which we think is the better balance for anyone who finds sachets sweet.

The packs we stock

• Kenco Original Cappuccino Instant Coffee, 8 Pack 118.4g (barcode 8711000677681)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Kenco Original Cappuccino Instant Coffee, 8 Pack 118.4g (barcode 8711000677681) says it contains milk. Read the current pack first: Kenco may revise this cappuccino's recipe and allergen advice.

Ingredients, as published: Sugar, skimmed MILK powder, instant coffee (15%), fully hydrogenated coconut oil, maltodextrin, glucose syrup, MILK proteins, modified starch, stabilizers (E340, E452), salt, anticaking agent (E551), flavouring, emulsifier (E481).

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. Go by the Kenco Cappuccino pack you actually hold.

What to eat with it

• McVitie's Milk Chocolate Digestives Biscuits, 266g: The everyday choice: a sturdy biscuit that takes a quick dunk and sits happily with a milky, gently sweet cup.
• McVitie's Digestives Dark Chocolate Biscuits, 433g: Dark chocolate supplies the bitterness a sweetened cappuccino lacks, so the pair tastes less sugary together.
• Border Classic Biscuit Sharing Pack, 400g: A sharing pack for the office or a visitor's tray, which is where a box of sachets most often gets opened.

Elsewhere in the Kenco range

• Kenco Classic Latte Instant Coffee, 20 Sachets
• Kenco Decaf Instant Coffee, 190g
• Kenco Gold Indulgence Instant Coffee, 190g
• Kenco Iced Hot Salted Caramel Latte Instant Coffee, 20 Sachets
• Kenco Iced Hot Vanilla Latte Instant Coffee, 8 Sachets
• Kenco Latte Instant Coffee Sachets, 8 Sachets 130.4g

The full range is on the Kenco brand page.

FAQ

How many sachets are in a box of Kenco Original Cappuccino? Eight sachets of 14.8g, 118.4g in total, and each one makes a single cup.

Does Kenco Original Cappuccino contain milk? Yes. The published ingredient list includes skimmed milk powder and milk proteins, so keep it away from anyone avoiding dairy.

Is the Original cappuccino sweetened? Yes, sugar is the first ingredient. For a version with the sugar left out, look for Kenco's Unsweetened Cappuccino.

Why is there no foam on my cappuccino? Usually a gentle pour or too much stirring. Pour briskly from a little height and stir once at most.

Does it contain caffeine? Yes. It is made with instant coffee, so treat it like any other caffeinated cup.

Curator's note: Use a normal-sized cup and you get what the sachet was designed for: soft, milky, with a thread of roast underneath. Put it in a pint mug and you will blame the powder for a problem the mug made. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Kenco Original Cappuccino: foam, sugar and the right cup

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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