Nescafé Gold Blend Roastery Collection Light Roast: A Brighter Jar

Take beans out of the roaster early and you keep the sharp, fruity top notes that a longer roast burns away. That is the whole idea of this jar, and it makes for a really different drink rather than a slight variation on the usual Gold Blend.

What stopping the roast early does

Within the Gold range, the Roastery Collection is where the roast level changes, and this is its lightest jar. The beans come out before their sugars have browned into the toasted depth most jars rely on. In the cup that means a clean acidity, something nearer citrus or stone fruit than caramel, very little bitterness and a light body. Body is what you give up to get that brightness.

Freeze drying matters more here than on any darker jar. The fragrant, fruit-leaning compounds a light roast depends on escape easily, and a hot spray-drying tower would strip them out first. Removing the ice under vacuum at a low temperature keeps them in the granule, which is why the opened jar smells clean and a little sweet, not toasty. The ingredient list published for it is simply soluble coffee.

Who should buy it, and who should not

This is a jar for people who drink their coffee black and have long suspected that all instant tastes alike. What it adds is exactly what most jars leave out. If you take your coffee strong, dark and milky it will seem thin, and the standard Gold Blend is the better choice. We like it mid-morning and in warm weather, when a lighter, livelier cup feels right.

Do not read pale as gentle. Roast depth changes flavour, not caffeine, so this is an ordinary caffeinated mug of coffee, however pale the granules look. Allow roughly 1.8g, one rounded teaspoon, for each 200ml mug and the 95g jar gives about 52 cups. That is our own sum from the weight, worked out the same way as for the standard Gold Blend so the two compare directly.

Brewing a light jar without flattening it

Hotter water is not the answer here, whatever you may know about brewing light roasts through a filter. The delicate top notes are the reason to own the jar, so rest the kettle briefly after it clicks rather than pouring at a rolling boil. Stir well and drink it soon, because the aroma is at its strongest in the opening seconds after pouring and fades from there.

Black is how this jar shows best. If you do add milk, keep it to a small splash, because the bright acidity and light body are easily smothered. A buttery or caramel biscuit suits it better than dark chocolate, which tends to crowd out the citrus edge. Treat it as you would a pale filter brew when you plan what goes alongside.

The packs we stock

• Nescafe Gold Blend Roastery Collection Light Roast Instant Coffee, 95g (barcode 8445290044785)

What the label says

The published ingredient list for Nescafe Gold Blend Roastery Collection Light Roast Instant Coffee, 95g names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the Light Roast jar you are buying, as Nescafé may adjust the recipe and allergen advice.

Ingredients, as published: Soluble Coffee.

Ingredient and nutrition information for this product, as published on the manufacturer's label. The Light Roast jar on your shelf decides.

What to eat with it

• Lotus Biscoff Caramelised Biscuits, 250g: A caramelised biscuit supplies the toasty sweetness this light roast deliberately leaves out.
• Border Butterscotch Crunch Organic Biscuits, 135g: Buttery and gentle, it sits with a bright black coffee rather than fighting it.
• McVitie's Digestives Biscuits The Light One, 250g: A plain digestive that leaves the bright, citrus-edged notes of a black cup alone.

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

Does light roast instant coffee have less caffeine? No. Roast level alters the taste, not the caffeine, so treat it as an ordinary caffeinated coffee.

What does a light roast instant taste like? Brighter and sharper than a standard jar, with a clean citrus or stone-fruit acidity, very little bitterness and a light body.

Can I drink it with milk? A small splash is fine, but a generous pour covers the bright notes that make the jar worth having. For milky mugs a darker jar is the better choice.

Should I use boiling water for a light roast? No. Rest the kettle briefly so the delicate top notes are not flattened.

How many cups are in the 95g jar? About 52 at one rounded teaspoon per 200ml mug, by our own calculation from the jar weight.

Curator's note: Try it black, mid-morning, before you judge it. If it seems thin with milk in, that is the jar telling you it wanted to be drunk the other way. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.

In short: Nescafé Gold Blend Roastery Collection Light Roast: A Brighter Jar

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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