By Nigel Ong
Nescafe may not be as popular as Folgers here in America. Still, they are pretty much the default instant coffee in Europe and Asia. Nescafe also offers a more premium version of their instant coffee, called the Nescafe Gold.
Will Nescafe Gold taste better than regular Nescafe? Or is it nothing but a branding exercise? Let’s find out.
In this post, I will review the Nescafe Gold Blend and explore how it tastes with all sorts of flavorings. I will also compare its tastes with regular Nescafe and see if the Nescafe Gold is better.
What Is Nescafe Gold?
Nescafe is a line of instant coffee made by Nestle. This Swiss food company is also behind many popular foods such as Cheerios, Coffee Mate, and Gerber.
Within the Nescafe line, there is the regular Nescafe. These are the basic instant coffee made with Arabica and Robusta bean blends. Then there’s the Nescafe Gold.
Nescafe Gold is a more premium offering, using only a higher-quality blend of coffee beans. Nestle also tried to blend different beans to produce different flavors and styles of coffee with Nescafe Gold.
As a result, you can find a wide variety of Nescafe Gold blends, such as:
We will review the Regular Nescafe Gold Blend today, referred to as ‘Rich & Smooth Blend.’
The jar is made of glass, which can quickly tell you the effort and quality to expect from this instant coffee. This is because many regular instant coffee simply use plastic jars.
Premium instant coffees usually come in glass, or aluminum cans, such as the Starbucks Premium Instant Dark Roast.
The twist lid opens easily and is made of high-quality plastic. Protecting the instant coffee granules are a thin layer of aluminum seal with the word Nescafe printed on it. This helps to guarantee the authenticity of the coffee inside.
Unlike Illy’s Classico Instant Coffee or the Lavazza Prontissimo Intenso, there is no way to remove the seal properly. These instant coffee have seals with a pull tab, making seal removal easy.
With Nescafe Gold, you just have to poke a hole and then tear the rest away bit by bit. A little messy, to be honest.
I was greeted with some coffee aroma when I tore the lid open. Not too intense, but this is acceptable, coming from a jar of instant coffee.
It is not as strong as the aroma from Illy Classico but stronger than the Lavazza Prontissimo Intenso or the Starbucks Premium Instant Dark Roast.
The jar also does not contain brewing instructions. I think this is probably the case of using a small jar, but if Starbucks and Lavazza can squeeze the instructions in, why not Nescafe?
I decided to brew my own using the usual measurements. I combine two teaspoons of instant coffee granules, with 180ml of hot water, at 185°F (85°C). The aroma of the coffee now starts to fill my kitchen. This is promising.
How Does The Nescafe Gold Taste?
| Flavoring | Taste |
| Black | Mild earthy tasteHints of cream, and cereal-like flavorsVery smooth, easy to sip coffee |
| Iced | Has less creamy hint.Stronger bittersweet flavor.Sweet finish |
| With Sugar | Reduces earthy taste further.Silkier and smoother |
| With Sweetener | Reduces earthy taste further.Stronger bittersweet notesSweet taste becomes stronger at the finish. |
| With Fresh Milk | Coffee becomes silkier, thicker, and slightly sweeter.Bitterness remains, but less intenseBecomes more creamier. |
| With Creamer | Coffee becomes silkier, thicker.Becomes more creamier and decadent.Coffee flavor becomes diluted.Bittersweet taste remains |
Black
The coffee has a pleasant aroma and is inviting to sip. The color is lighter brown and does not look like an intense cup of coffee.
You should be greeted by a mild, earthly, bitter taste upon sipping. However, it does not shock my palate. The blend has some sort of creaminess, and I somehow detect a bit of cereal-like flavors with it, perhaps Cornflakes.
As a result, this coffee makes me want to eat something savory and rich. Perhaps some fried sausages with bacon, eggs, and roasted tomatoes will match this coffee well.
This is a smooth, easy-to-sip coffee black. This will also make great weekday morning coffee, as it does not shock you too much. You can save the heavier stuff for after lunch when you feel sleepy.
Iced
When mixed with ice, the coffee instantly turns cold and crisp. The creaminess of the coffee went away, and instead, I tasted a stronger bitter, earthy flavor.
The bitterness also has a bit of sweetness, making the coffee a bit more bittersweet and cold. I notice the sweetness in the latter part of the drink, especially if I let the coffee linger on my palate a little longer.
This coffee should be refreshing during a hot day, especially if you cannot get iced Americano.
With Sugar
I made a fresh cup and slipped in two sticks of brown sugar. The sugar, of course, sweetens the coffee. However, I do not think it takes away the bitterness but only masks it.
As a result, the coffee tastes more intense overall, with the bitterness and the sweetness engaging in a ‘fight’ sort of. This also gives the coffee a bittersweet taste, which may appeal to some drinkers.
Not to me, though. I was never a fan of sugar in coffee in the first place. I still prefer mine to black, with no sugar.
With Sweetener
This time, I made another fresh cup with two droplets of Equal artificial sweetener. Equal is made from aspartame, meaning the sweetness will slightly differ from regular sugar. As a result, I see fit to try this sweetener with Nescafe Gold.
After a few sips, I think the sweetener reduces the earth and bitter taste of the coffee further than sugar did. This gives the coffee a smoother bittersweet taste compared to sugar. The sweetness also comes later and is stronger.
I prefer the sweetness of sweeteners compared to sugar. Still, it cannot beat having instant coffee black.
With Fresh Milk
I added three tablespoons of fresh milk to another hot cup of Nescafe Gold. I am using fresh UHT cow’s milk.
Milk is thicker in texture compared to instant coffee. As a result, when you mix them together, the coffee becomes slightly thicker. The coffee also has a silkier and smoother texture.
Fresh milk contains some lactose, which helps introduce some sweetness to the coffee. It, however, does not take away this coffee’s overarching flavor of bitterness and earthiness. It only mellows it down a little. The coffee also tastes creamier.
With Creamer
I made my final cup and, this time, slipped in two sticks of Coffee Mate creamer. Again, I washed my palate by drinking some carbonated water and continued tasting it.
I was surprised this time. The creamer version of the Nescafe Gold actually tastes creamier and richer than the one with fresh milk. With the creamer, you get a more creamy taste, to the point that it takes away a large part of the bitterness of the coffee.
However, you get a little sweetness, making the coffee less bitter and creamier. Overall, much more mellow. This may be my second favorite way of enjoying Nescafe Gold after black.
Nescafe Gold vs. Regular Nescafe
Before I started tasting Nescafe Gold with flavorings, I also tried a hot cup of regular Nescafe. My take? Nescafe Gold wins, hands down.
Nescafe Gold has a better aroma, smoothness, and taste. It also has a more refined taste than regular Nescafe, which may taste a little crude.
Both have some bitterness, but the bitterness on the Nescafe Gold seems to have more substance and depth, and the earthiness is not too overpowering. With the regular Nescafe, the earthiness can be strong, which may make the coffee taste like dirt to some drinkers.
I attribute the difference to the blend of coffee beans. Regular Nescafe uses Robusta beans in the blends, which can reduce the overall flavor of the coffee.
Nescafe Gold vs. Regular Coffee
When served black, Nescafe Gold may rival your regular dripped coffee in the aroma. It should be good enough to fight gas stations or convenience store coffee.
This is because Nescafe Gold has an aroma and depth of taste, which sets it apart from regular instant coffee. If you make instant coffee well and serve it to someone without telling them, they may think it’s brewed coffee.
However, I do not think it can fight coffee from more premium coffee shops. It is instant coffee, after all. If you try to grind your beans and brew them properly using French presses, you will make better-tasting coffee than Nescafe Gold.
I also do not think Nescafe Gold tastes better than Illy’s Clasico Instant Coffee. Illy’s instant coffee is still better and remains one of the best instant coffee I have ever had.
Who Is Nescafe Gold For?
As a start, I think Nescafe Gold is for those wanting to explore beyond regular instant coffee. If you are tired of Folgers, or regular Nescafe, you can start with Nescafe Gold.
I also think Nescafe Gold can be considered part of Euro-styled instant coffee. Euro-styled coffee may taste slightly different from American blends but not too alien. This means Euro-style coffee tends to not shock your palate too much.
The regular Nescafe Gold is also a good starting point to explore the full range of Nescafe Gold’s blends. The options are aplenty, and you can easily spend a long time trying out these instant coffees.If you find my review of Nescafe Gold helpful, consider checking out my other instant coffee reviews. These include the Lavazza Prontissimo Intenso, Illy Clasico, and Starbucks Premium Instant Dark Roast.