Coffee! Ratings/reviews from a coffee junkie

[Failsafe77]

I decided to do something fun for the coffee lovers out there. Also because I love drinking coffee. I sat down with 4 cups of piping hot water and the 4 most commonly found instant coffees found in MRE's. They were all tasted scalding hot and black first, then with sugar. I didn't test them with cream because I don't use it, but I don't see non-dairy creamer affecting any of them in a negative way. Ill rate them on a 1-5 scale starting with the most disappointing. Also keep in mind these are being rated on an "instant coffee MRE" scale, these are not being weighed against real coffee from coffee houses or your kitchen. The scores I gave were done so while keeping this mind and keeping expectations low. If I find any more MRE coffee types ill edit this post but these are, so far, the only 4 I have obtained.

#4. Tasters Choice 1.5/5
by Nestle
Ground: Fine

This is the source of every joke about bad instant coffee. The taste is flat and acidic. Its so weak and flavorless, you almost have to cut back the water to 4oz. Sugar helps, but its fighting an uphill battle in an unwinnable war. Its bland, leathery, and watery. I'm glad to see these gone from 2014-present MREs.

#3. Coffee Instant Type III 2/5
by Trade Packers Services Corp
Ground: Extremely coarse

Only slightly better than the Tasters Choice but better is better. A tiny bit stronger and more robust. This one, as opposed to the TC, actually has a slight aroma. Its a bit more rich and creamy, and the aftertaste, while bad, is better than the TC. Sugar helped this one immensely.

#2. Deep Rich 3.5/5
by American Instants inc.
Ground: Fine

This coffee was surprisingly good. Rich aroma and creamy, mild flavor. The flavor tasted like a cup of coffee should, strong and robust but not over strong and acidic. I could drink this one with or without sugar. I know these are more commonly found in civilian MREs like the Sure-Pak and XMRE and not in genuine military MREs. The military should switch over to these, they would have happier coffee-loving troops.

#1. Café Diario 4.5/5
by Maximus Coffee Group
Ground: Extremely fine

Wow. Didn't expect the results I got from this one. The color and aroma on this one is light brown and creamy, you'd almost swear there was creamer already in it. It was rich and deep, smooth and creamy. The flavor was excellent with or without sugar. It smelled and tasted like something that was just brewed, not granules from a pouch. No bitter aftertaste and a great flavor that left me wanting another cup. I believe this one came from a 2011 Genuine MRE but don't quote me.

[dirtbag]

Instant coffee has made amazing progress in the last 3-4 decades.
The 'instant' in C-rats was disgusting, but it was a hot drink, and having something instant was a novelty.
When Tasters Choice came along, it was the best powdered coffee ever made!
Since then, the quality of all coffees is so much better, that Tasters Choice got left behind.
I believe the coffee quality improvements were due mainly to the development of Decaf, as the chemical process used demanded the very best beans merely to get an average brew.
Those 'Best Beans' also make better instant.
Personally, I'm NOT a coffee snob, but I use a lot of Nescafe Cafe Classico, known in Europe as Nescafe Gold, I believe.
Really good coffee!

[Norton]

Great thread and good review, Thanks

The coffee is an import part of the ration when he temps drop or you start dragging.
I have never seen Café Diario or Deep Rich brand. What time frame are some of these packs? Current of Iraq war time frame?

I thought the Tasters Choice was a great improvement also. My own opinion was the the Coffee Type II tasted like Maxwell House Instant. If you put the coco powder and creamer you had a great breakfast drink. I would even mix this up cold and drink it in the early 80's. Yes it was a poor mix and the coffee floated to the top. I didn't care

[Failsafe77]

Thanks!! The type III is currently being used in genunine MREs as of 2014. The "deep rich" is In a lot of the current commercial MREs (Sure-Pak still uses it) and were in TOTMs from 2011-2013 (and still might be, I haven't had a current one) the Cafe Diario was out of a 2012 FSR. And the Tasters Choice was from a few 2012 genuine MREs I had lying around. So everything I tasted was "relatively" new from 2012 to present.

I agree, the overall quality of coffee, instant especially, has gone up. And this isn't to say Nescafé makes a poor product, on the contrary, many of their coffees are amazing! But when you stack TC up against some of the others you'll see, or taste, what I mean.

[steve1989]

Failsafe, what an awesome idea for a mreinfo thread!

I've thought about starting a review thread on all Ration Coffees in general, but I haven't gotten around to it yet!

I was wondering, may I add my photos of various coffees on your thread here? We can turn this into the Official ration coffee rating thread!

I have photos of coffee instant type 1 & 2 from C-rats, Vintage MRE's, Modern MRE's, Civilian MRE's, and International rations like UK, German, Lithuanian, Polish, French, Russian, and I'm sure there's more but I am severely sleep deprived at the moment so I cannot remember.

Hey dirt, you say the old school C Rat coffee is nasty?? I LOVE that coffee! I just took some with me on a camping trip 9 days ago and my buddy Jamin & I really enjoyed it.
We also had civilian instant in a jar and that stuff was awful compared to the coffee that was maybe 45 years old.
If anyone wants to do trade or sell me really old coffee - I would be totally interested.

I always thought that name of one of the newer contractors for the US instant is completely hilarious.. DIARIO! I was like... uhhhhh Diarrhea much? Imagine if that was your last name - no kid in school would live that one down.

Dude, I only tried that new Coffee Instant Type III once, cavguy sent me a new MRE (Ratatouille) and I had that in the ACC packet. I thought it was pretty cool they finally went back to the old school brown packet termed : Coffee Instant Type..
Very different from it's predecessors though. I say Coffee Instant type I is very fine ground and somewhat medium roast. Coffee Instant Type II (Oddly enough thats whats in the old C rat packs) it was also very fine but more like a dark roast.. still very smooth but also acidic.. which I actually like.
Coffee Instant Type III was more like Taster's Choice sized grounds but it tasted a little fuller bodied and higher quality. Thanks again Cavguy for hooking me up with that one!

If you think it's ok, I'll post a review of various Ration Coffees on this thread - and if required, we can start a new thread just like this one in international to review our Foreign Comrade's brew as well.

Awesome stuff, Failsafe! Thankyou again!

[elandil]

/ \
| I like his idea...
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[Failsafe77]

Absolutely! Feel free to add/expand on anything you like that's MRE coffee related. I'll do the same if I come across any more I haven't tried yet.

[RockyRaab]

I'll add my congratulations for an original review idea. Thanks!

I like coffee (having my second cup as I type this) but am not a coffee snob. Hate Starbucks-style brews. I seldom drink MRE coffee, mostly because there isn't a way to get the water hot enough with an FRH and if I'm going to pack a stove, I may as well cook instead of eating an MRE.

I do like to add the coffee packet to either the hot chocolate drink or one of the cappuccino packs to boost their flavors a bit. For that, the type of coffee isn't as important because the flavors meld together.

[rationtin440]

I recall when my unit was still being issued MCIs almost 8 years after they stopped being produced. Almost without exception the coffee was nearly solid in the packet, but still tasted ok (knead packet with fingers, carefully tear open, dump contents into boiling water and stir until solid pieces are dissolved ) Thank God my ambulance crew chief had plenty of dry creamer on-board because the dry creamer packets we had in the MCIs also seemed to suffer the same fate and there was a definite difference in the taste.

[Woodland]

Very good topic. I'm a coffee lover too.Especially when the coffee comes from a ration
As far as I remember I liked the old (I think spray dried) Type I coffee. I still have one from '93 (?). The last one.
Tasters Choice isn't my choice .I drink it when I don't have any coffee at home.I mean, no commercial coffee.
Diario: very tasty,almost no aftertaste. I like it very much. My favorite MRE coffee at the moment.
I was happy to see the old style,brown pack,Type III coffee in a 2012 MRE. I haven't tried it yet.
I noticed something interesting.
The earliest coffee I have (Type I) is from 1993,is 2,2grams. Diario is 1,7 grams and the latest Type III coffee is only 1,5 grams.
Here is a pic which shows a 2,5 grams Type I coffee : viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4839&start=10