Nescafé Gold Alta Rica: The Character Jar in the Gold Range

Standard Gold Blend is designed to please everyone in the house; Alta Rica is designed to taste of something in particular. That difference in brief decides who should buy it, how to make it and why a big mug of milk is the quickest way to waste it.

A name, not an address

Alta Rica is the label Nescafé uses to set this jar apart from the rest of the Gold line, not a place you will find on a map. What it signals is an origin-led style: a coffee chosen for a recognisable personality instead of one blended to hit the same target in every season. That is why it can split a household where a general blend does not, and why the people who buy it usually go looking for it rather than buying out of habit.

The published ingredient list is a single line, soluble coffee and nothing else, and it names none of the major allergens. In the cup the roast is fuller than standard Gold Blend, dark and leaning towards cocoa rather than light and toasted, with medium body. Bitterness stays in check as long as the water is off the boil and the spoon is rounded rather than piled high.

Making a cup that shows the character

Measure one rounded teaspoon, about 1.8g, into 150 to 200ml of water. Measured like that, the 190g jar runs to roughly 105 cups; heap the spoon and it empties faster and, worse, muddies exactly the character you bought it for. Let the boiled kettle stand for around half a minute so the water sits between 90 and 95 degrees, because a rolling boil shoves bitterness in ahead of the roast.

Try it black first. If you take milk, keep it to a splash, since a full milky mug flattens an origin-led coffee: the depth that tastes like richness in a small cup starts to taste like an edge under a lot of milk. Anyone who mostly drinks milky coffee is better served by the Gold Blend Espresso jar, which is made to hold up under milk.

Who it suits, and how long a jar keeps

Alta Rica suits the one coffee drinker in a house who wants something with shape to it. Ground coffee starts to fade within a fortnight of opening the bag, but soluble granules in a closed jar stay in good shape for months, even with the lid coming off twice a day. For a single drinker that is the gap between a coffee you finish and one you end up throwing out. Keep the lid screwed down between cups.

It is fully caffeinated, with nothing removed, so treat it as a daytime jar. With food, the cocoa-leaning roast meets chocolate halfway. A dark chocolate florentine or a ginger biscuit in dark chocolate sits well beside a small black cup, and a buttery Danish cookie offers a softer, sweeter contrast for anyone who finds the coffee bold on its own.

The packs we stock

• Nescafe Gold Alta Rica Instant Coffee, 190g (barcode 7613287005700)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Nescafe Gold Alta Rica Instant Coffee, 190g (barcode 7613287005700) names none of the 14 major allergens. Read the Alta Rica jar on sale now; Nescafé can revise this Gold jar's recipe and allergen advice.

Ingredients, as published: 100% Soluble coffee.

Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The Alta Rica jar on your shelf has the last word.

What to eat with it

• Thomas Fudge's 6 Dark Chocolate Florentines: dark chocolate meets the cocoa-leaning roast halfway beside a small black cup.
• Border Dark Chocolate Ginger Organic Biscuits, 150g: dark chocolate and ginger give warmth and bite that match a fuller-roasted coffee.
• Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g: a plain butter cookie softens the edges of a bold cup without covering its character.

Elsewhere in the Nescafé range

• Nescafe Azera Americano Decaff Instant Coffee, 90g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Instant Coffee, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Americano Intense Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 140g
• Nescafe Azera Decaf Americano Instant Coffee with Finely Ground Beans, 135g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Decaf Unsweetened Taste Instant Coffee Sachets, 7 Sachets 105g
• Nescafe Cappuccino Instant Coffee, 7 Sachets

The full range is on the Nescafé brand page.

FAQ

What does Alta Rica mean? It is the name of the jar, not a place. Nescafé uses it to mark out an origin-led, fuller-roasted coffee within the Gold line.

How is Alta Rica different from Gold Blend? Gold Blend is built to suit everyone and taste the same all year; Alta Rica is built around a fuller, more distinctive roast. If one jar has to serve the whole household, Gold Blend is usually the safer choice.

How much Alta Rica should I use per cup? A rounded teaspoon, roughly 1.8g, for every 150 to 200ml of water.

Can I drink Alta Rica with milk? A splash at most. Try it black first, because a full milky mug hides the character you bought it for.

Does Alta Rica contain any allergens? The published ingredient list is soluble coffee alone and names none of the major allergens. Check the current jar, as recipes can change.

Curator's note: Small cup, a rounded spoon, water off the boil and no milk the first time. If you still want a mugful of milk after that, you probably wanted a different jar. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nescafé Gold Alta Rica: The Character Jar in the Gold Range

More from the tea wiki

• Nescafé: The Instant Coffee Benchmark
• 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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