by Nigel Ong
When it comes to coffee, some of us like it cheap, fast, and convenient. For these folks, nothing beats the magic of instant coffee. A spoon or two, add hot water, stir, and off you go.
The only problem with instant coffee is the taste. Not all instant coffee is the same, with some tasting better than others. How will Maxwell House’s instant coffee perform? Let’s find out.
In this post, I will be reviewing the Maxwell House instant coffee. I will try it black and with popular flavorings before comparing it against other regular instant coffee. Finally, I’ll decide if this is a suitable coffee for you. Let’s go.
About Maxwell House Instant Coffee
Maxwell House coffee company started as a partnership between Joel Cheek and Roger Smith in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1892. Joel was a coffee broker and was so good at coffee he could smell green beans and tell where they came from.
He later created a coffee blend and offered 20 pounds of it to the local Maxwell House Hotel for free. The hotel offered it to the guests, and when it was finished, they stopped. However, their patrons complained and wanted Cheek’s blend.
Sensing a business opportunity, Cheek and Smith partnered up and launched the Maxwell House Coffee Company, named after the hotel.
The company later became one of the largest coffee companies in the US, with its Maxwell House coffee being the highest-selling coffee until the 1980s. Maxwell House’s instant coffee remains one of the best-selling instant coffee in the country today.
How Does Maxwell House Instant Coffee Taste?
| Style | Taste |
| Black | Not much aroma. Mild and soft bitterness. Some dried fruit and fresh bread notes. |
| With Sugar | Silkier, and more pleasant to sip. Stronger fruity note |
| With Sweetener | Similar to sugar. Longer, sweeter finish that does not feel natural |
| With Milk | Silkier and more viscous. Creamier, more indulgent. Slight increase in sweetness. |
| With Creamer | Silkier and thicker. Loses bitterness. Even creamier than milk. Slight increase in sweetness, less natural than milk |
| Iced | Stronger bitterness. Strong earthy notes. Rather unsatisfying sips. |
First Impression
The Maxwell House instant coffee is a medium roast made of 100% pure coffee. This means there’s no micro-ground coffee inside.
The jar is made of transparent plastic, a telltale sign that it is not packaged as a premium instant coffee. The transparent jar also made me wonder if the granules can maintain their freshness since they will be exposed to light.
Once I opened the plastic lid, a layer of aluminum and plastic foil protected the content inside. You open the lid by puncturing a hole and then remove the lid. However, the lid tears up and makes removal a hassle, similar to Nescafe Classic.
The granules are large, about the size of instant oat flakes. It is amber-ish brown, likely showing that the coffee is not made from dark roast beans.
I placed the granules with some of the more common instant coffees for you to compare. From 12 o’clock clockwise, are the Maxwell House, Nescafe Classic, Cafe Bustelo, Folgers Classic, and Amazon Happy Belly instant coffee.
Aroma-wise, there’s nothing much to talk about. I must bring my nose close to the granules before I can smell anything. My nose picked up the smell of freshly baked bread and some dried squid. Let’s get brewing and see how it performs.
Black
I brewed my cup following the instructions on the jar. It asks to combine 1 teaspoon of coffee with 6 ounces (about 180 ml) of boiling water. I get a dark brown coffee that seems to be a little see-through.
The aroma was not strong, and I only managed to smell something as I sipped the coffee. It is soft, light, and rather smooth for instant coffee. There is not much of the strong, earthy bitterness common with instant coffee.
I seem to pick up a bit of dried fruit taste, with a bit of sweetness coming towards the finish of the coffee. It’s a surprisingly decent package for something this affordable.
With Sweetener
I experimented with two popular sweeteners here. I first made two fresh piping-hot cups. Then I added a stick of brown sugar to one cup and two drops of Equal artificial sweetener to the other.
The sugar helped add some glaze to the coffee. I think it looks a little shinier. The coffee also feels fuller when on my palate.
The coffee also tastes even better since the sweetness does not have to compete with the smoke of the instant coffee. There’s little smoke to start with, anyway. I also think the sugar slightly elevated the dried fruit note, but not too much.
I would say I tasted about the same thing with Equal. The only difference is that Equal’s sweetness tends to linger a little too long, to the point that the sweetness feels unnatural. The sugared version tasted better to me.
With Milk
I made another hot, fresh cup of Maxwell House Instant Coffee. Then, I added a single shot of milk (about 1 oz or 30 ml) to the coffee. I use whole, fresh, UHT cow’s milk here.
The milk softened the already soft coffee even further, making it a rather indulgent cup. The creamy taste is very forward, with coffee coming sheepishly behind. The lactose in the milk also mildly sweetens the coffee, and I think it made this a pleasant cup.
I would easily consider my favorite way to enjoy Maxwell House is with milk. However, since Maxwell House is soft, you want to watch how much milk you add. Too much, and you will risk drowning the coffee out.
With Creamer
With the creamer, I use the regular non-dairy creamer from Coffee Mate here. I added two teaspoons of it into my fresh cup of Maxwell House.
As I sip the coffee, I can taste that the coffee is creamier than the one with milk, which is quite nice. This makes coffee much richer or has a fuller taste and texture in the mouth.
I also picked up some sweetness in the coffee, which I think comes with the creamer. However, the sweetness is not as natural as milk. My palate may sometimes be inconsistent, but I seem to enjoy my Maxwell House coffee with milk.
Iced
Finally, I filled a glass to the brim with ice and poured a cup of Maxwell House instant coffee into it.
To me, the ice elevated the bitterness of the coffee. This is quite normal, as ice tends to make coffee more bitter. However, the Maxwell House instant coffee’s bitterness here has an earthy taste, which reminds me of dirt.
I like the bitter taste in my coffee to have some sweetness, much like in dark cocoa. However, the bitterness here is rather flat, with little depth in taste.
I do not think Maxwell House instant coffee is nice when iced. Perhaps some sweetener and fat can help make it better.
Alright, I’m done with the sampling. Let’s compare Maxwell House to some other coffees I have in mind.
Maxwell House Instant Coffee vs. Regular Instant Coffee
It only makes sense to compare the Maxwell House with the other instant coffee I have in my collection. They are:
- Cafe Bustelo Instant Coffee
- Amazon HappyBelly Instant Coffee
- Folgers Classic
- Nescafe Classic
I only included regular, affordable instant coffee here and skipped the more premium ones. This way, I can create a more sensible, fair comparison. I made a cup of coffee from each and then drank them side by side.
I would rank Maxwell House quite highly from this list, perhaps only behind Nescafe Classic. Nescafe Classic has that bit more bittersweetness that I enjoy. It has a much better aroma than Maxwell House, making it better.
As for the rest, I think Maxwell House wins by being softer and milder. It does not have that flat bitterness that is common with more affordable instant coffee, too.
Maxwell House Instant Coffee vs. Regular Brewed Coffee
It may not make sense to compare instant coffee with brewed coffee since, in most cases, we would know that brewed coffee will taste better.
However, I am keen to compare Maxwell House with regular brewed coffee, which you can get from gas stations and convenience stores. The idea is that since they are cheap and usually taste not too good, would Maxwell House instant coffee beat it?
I picked up a regular Americano from 7-Eleven and sipped it side by side with the Maxwell House instant coffee. I think this is a good representation of the regular, cheap brewed coffee from shops and gas stations.
The brewed regular coffee still wins, although Maxwell House may not be too far behind. The brewed coffee simply has a better aroma and depth in taste. As a result, it satisfies me more.
Is Maxwell House Instant Coffee For You?
Maxwell House is a regular, affordable instant coffee made for the masses. It does not pretend to be something more premium, which I am very happy to see.
The good thing is that despite the price, the coffee does not taste too bad for an instant coffee. There are worse instant coffees, and Maxwell House’s is much better than them.
Maxwell House would be a good choice to keep around the house if you are short of time and just want a fast cup of coffee. It may not deliver you an excellent cup of coffee, but an acceptable one, extremely fast.
Suppose you are the type that just wants something bitter and caffeinated to start your day and thinks fancy coffees are a waste of money. In this case, Maxwell House would work well for you, too.