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Sugar is the whole difference between the 2 in 1 and the 3 in 1, and it accounts for most of the gap between a nine-gram sachet and a sixteen-gram one. Once you know that, the right cup size, the right water and the right buyer all follow.
What two in one actually means
The two things in the sachet are coffee and a whitening component, blended and measured before it is sealed. Nothing sweet goes into the mix, so the mug arrives white and plain. That changes how the coffee comes across: sugar tends to crowd the same part of the palate as the roast and flatten it, and with sugar absent the same instant coffee reads noticeably clearer and drier.
Each sachet weighs nine grams, against the sixteen of its sweetened sibling, and most of that gap is the sugar this one leaves out. Eight sachets make 72g in the box and eight mugs. Expect a lighter-bodied cup than a 3 in 1 gives; that lightness is the absence of sugar rather than a shortage of coffee, and it is why a second cup never feels sticky.
A small cup and a patient kettle
Nine grams will not stretch across a 300ml mug, and trying is the usual reason people decide a 2 in 1 is weak. Aim for 150 to 180ml, a modest cup rather than the big mug by the kettle, and the drink holds its shape. If you want it stronger, the simplest lever is less water, because the dose of coffee was fixed before the sachet was sealed.
Give the kettle a minute's rest after it clicks, so the water goes in at around 90 degrees. Whitener that meets a rolling boil picks up a cooked, slightly metallic note. Tip the powder into a dry cup first, pour, and stir right down to the bottom. If you do sweeten it, stir the sugar in while the coffee is still hot, then taste before adding any more.
Who should keep a box
The 2 in 1 is for people who take their coffee white but without sugar, and who regularly find themselves somewhere with a kettle and little else: a desk drawer at work, a hotel room, a caravan, a site cabin. It will not replace a jar and a fridge at home, and it is not trying to. What it gives you is a whole white coffee on your terms rather than the packet's.
Within the Nescafé range, the neighbours are easy to place. The 3 in 1 is the same idea with the sweetness decided for you, in a sachet nearly twice the weight. The Caramel Latte sachets are a different drink altogether, a flavoured latte rather than a white coffee. And in a kitchen with milk to hand, a jar of instant gives you control over strength as well as sweetness.
The packs we stock
- Nescafe Original 2 in 1 Instant Coffee 8x9g (barcode 8445291304604)
What to eat with it
- Royal Dansk Danish Butter Cookies, 340g: Butter cookies bring the sweetness the mug leaves out, so the pair balances without a spoonful of sugar going in.
- McVitie's Milk Chocolate Digestives Biscuits, 266g: The milk chocolate side of a digestive gives an unsweetened white coffee something sweet to lean against.
- Thomas Fudge's 6 Dark Chocolate Florentines: Dark chocolate florentines are the grown-up partner, doing the job a sugar spoon would otherwise do while keeping a bitter edge.
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 Nescafé Original 2 in 1 have sugar in it? No sugar goes in at the factory. The sachet holds coffee and a whitening component only, so any sweetness comes from your own spoon.
Why is the 2 in 1 sachet smaller than the 3 in 1? It weighs nine grams against sixteen, and the difference is mostly the sugar it leaves out. It makes a lighter cup, not a weaker coffee.
How much water does a 2 in 1 sachet need? Between 150 and 180ml. A large mug spreads nine grams too thinly.
Can I sweeten it myself? Yes. Stir sugar in while the coffee is hot and taste as you go; sweetness can always be added to a plain cup, but it can never be taken back out of a sweet one.
How many mugs does a box make? Eight. There are eight sachets of 9g, 72g in all, and each one is a single cup.
Curator's note: Taste it before you reach for the sugar bowl. With nothing sweet laid over the top, the coffee has more to say than most people expect from a sachet. Lee, teas.co.uk, Tunbridge Wells.
In short: Nescafé Original 2 in 1: The Sachet With the Sugar Left Out
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Brand | Nescafé |
| Packs we stock | Nescafe Original 2 in 1 Instant Coffee 8x9g |
| Category | Instant Coffee |
| Caffeine | caffeinated |
| Sweetness | None added, so it is yours to set |
| Best cup size | 150 to 180ml |
| Suits | White-coffee drinkers who skip sugar |
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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