Instant coffee has rescued many late night study sessions, midnight runs to hospital waiting rooms, and expectant fathers throughout its history. Made from beans that many coffee connoisseurs find to be somewhat inferior instant coffee actually contains more caffeine than the finer Arabica blends of coffee that can be found on the market in trendier stores and gourmet coffee shops around the nation and around the world.

Whether you are an instant coffee enthusiast or will only touch the stuff in moments of sheer desperation or extreme duress it may pay to know a little about the method that is used when processing this liquid that has salvaged many grade point averages and allowed many grown men the opportunity to get that first peek at their newborn bundles of joy over the years.

The roasting method for instant coffee is much like that of regular Arabica coffee beans. You can even roast these green coffee beans at home if you are willing to go through the effort. Most people however, elect not to do so when it comes to Arabica beans because the value of the flavor isn't really worth the effort involved in roasting the beans. If you are one of the few who chooses to roast your own Robusta beans then I hope you find that the flavor of freshly roasted Robusta beans is well worth the effort you have placed in the process or you simply enjoy the smell and find Robusta beans an inexpensive way in which to achieve that luxury.

Most people who drink instant coffee on a regular basis do so not for the flavor of the coffee but for the higher caffeine content alone. There are others who elect to drink instant coffee for another reason-convenience. We cannot always have our coffee makers with us and having access to instant coffee at all times is a great way to have the caffeine you need on hand while only needing a cup of hot water in order to enjoy the caffeine your body so desperately craves.

However there is another use for instant coffee that is growing in popularity around the world-iced coffee drinks. Whether you enjoy Greek frappe or have another cold coffee concoction that gets your taste buds off to a great start on a hot day many people find that instant coffee is the only choice when it comes to creating cold coffee drinks. We all have our quirks and those who live in warm weather climates often find that something a little different and cold in the afternoon is just what is needed to brighten the day. The problem is we do not want to give up the caffeine boost that our afternoon coffee breaks provides (giving us the much needed energy to finish our days). Iced coffee drinks give us the perfect solution to our afternoon drink dilemma while utilizing the once shrinking market share that instant coffee utilizes.

If you haven't given instant coffee a try in a few years you may want to take the opportunity to do so regardless of your prejudices against the perceived quality of this particular blend. You just might find that the joyous jolt the iced instant coffee drinks provide is the perfect afternoon treat to get you through the 3-5 PM workday slump we all experience on occasion.