What is Single-Origin Coffee? How Does Single-Origin Coffee Differ from Instant Coffee?

The Impact of the Third Wave Coffee Movement

Under the influence of the third wave coffee movement, more and more people are choosing to buy whole beans. Even so, it has to be said that instant coffee still holds a substantial share of the market.

What's the Difference Between Instant Coffee and Whole Bean Coffee?

What exactly sets instant coffee apart from whole bean coffee that has to be ground? How is instant coffee made? And which one should you drink?

Is Instant Coffee Really Made from Real Coffee?

First, instant coffee is indeed made from coffee. Coffee beans, however, are not truly "beans" at all — they are seeds.

Coffee is a fruit, often called a "coffee cherry" for its round, red appearance. Typically one fruit holds two seeds, and a small percentage hold only one — a Peaberry. After farmers harvest the fruit, it goes through a series of processing steps, which vary according to how the pulp around the seeds is removed. Different processing methods all shape the coffee's flavor profile. Drying and roasting follow, and then a cup can be brewed.

It is at this stage that instant coffee and whole bean coffee part ways.

How is Instant Coffee Made?

Whether you drink two-in-one or three-in-one instant coffee, both are products of science.

Visit an instant coffee factory and you will see large vats of brewed coffee liquid waiting to be turned into instant powder. The process is quite simple — it is really just dehydration. Once the water is drawn out of the coffee liquid, what remains is the instant powder you scoop from the jar, retaining the coffee's water-soluble substances.

Dehydration mainly uses two methods: freeze-drying and spray drying.

It is worth noting that processing causes the loss of certain compounds in coffee, caffeine and aromatic molecules in particular. The quality of the powder depends heavily on the drying process, and some manufacturers even add substances to make up for the flavors that are lost.

Differences in Brewing Methods

Instant coffee is very simple: just mix the powder with water and it is ready to drink.

Whole bean coffee, by contrast, involves a sequence of steps. You need to grind the beans and brew them (usually through filter paper), then discard the grounds afterward. These brewing rituals are precisely what draws so many enthusiasts in: they can experiment with different methods, grind-to-water ratios, water temperatures, and more, to brew a cup they love.

If you want a rich, full-bodied coffee, you might reach for a French press or an AeroPress instead of a V60 dripper. To soften bitterness and bring out sweetness or acidity, you can lower the extraction rate by grinding coarser, shortening the brew time, or dropping the water temperature.

The same instant coffee always tastes the same. With ground coffee, by contrast, you can taste the brewer's technique.

Which is Better: Whole Bean Coffee or Instant Coffee?

Instant coffee is usually cheaper, and a cup is as easy as adding hot water, which makes it convenient. On convenience alone, instant coffee has a slight edge.

In terms of coffee quality, however, whole bean coffee wins, because drinking it puts more emphasis on the coffee's flavor and its inherent quality, whereas instant coffee is not given such refined consideration.

How to Choose Whole Bean Coffee?

At FrontStreet Coffee you can find many types of whole bean coffee. Basically, coffee from Asia, Africa, and the Americas is all available. With dozens of varieties on offer, you are sure to find one that suits you.

About FrontStreet Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee is a Guangzhou roastery with a small shop but a diverse range of beans, where you can find both famous and lesser-known varieties, and it also serves customers through its online store.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

In roasting, three factors decide the coffee's final flavor and must be kept in balance: acidity, sweetness, and bitterness. The darker the roast, the more bitter and heavier the cup; the lighter the roast, the more acidic and lighter it becomes. So if you value a balanced cup, it is best to start with a medium roast.

If you dislike both acidity and bitterness, FrontStreet's Queen Estate is a natural pick. Grown in Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer, it is the region's distinctive Yellow Bourbon variety. Its cup is quietly sweet, and a medium roast brings out the aromas and sweetness of creamy peanut, chocolate, toasted bread, and sugarcane. It works as a pour-over and equally well in a moka pot or an espresso machine. If you want a sweeter medium roast, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy is a good first choice — fruit-forward and unusual, it combines two renowned origins from Central and South America: a honey-process coffee from Costa Rica and a washed Geisha from Panama. To make the most of the blend, FrontStreet roasts it medium, so it brews with both orange-blossom honey sweetness and a rounded sweetness, suiting cold brew, pour-over, espresso, and more — refreshing from the first sip.

For a medium roast that speaks to Yunnan, FrontStreet's 2013 Sun-Dried Typica carries the authentic character of Yunnan small-bean coffee. To restore its balanced, gentle temperament, we roast it medium, giving it soft notes of nuts, brown sugar, black tea, and dried apricot; it works as a pour-over, a cold brew, or in a drip machine, and offers exceptional value. And for those who want a classic, FrontStreet's Jamaica Blue Mountain No. 1 — Typica grown in Jamaica's Blue Mountains, one of the world's famous fine Arabicas, where the region's natural advantages are essential to Blue Mountain's balanced flavor — is roasted medium so that its distinctive acidity, bitterness, sweetness, and body fuse into one, producing a powerfully alluring, elegant aroma. From the first sip you taste chocolate, roasted nuts, cream, and caramel — roasted flavors that no other coffee can match.