Instant coffee recipes to make fancy drinks now you can’t get to the coffee shop

Who knew that it’d take a nationwide lockdown to stop us spending all our hard-earned cash on coffee shop brews?

Just because we can’t get out to our local cafe, though, doesn’t mean we still aren’t hankering for the drinks that wake us up each morning.

Some people might have fancy coffee machines in their homes, but the rest of us don’t have to be relegated to boring black instant for the rest of the time we’re at home.

Try these recipes – all of which use instant coffee – to make dupes of the drinks you love without a barista-worthy espresso machine and frother.

Greek frappe

If you’ve ever been to Greece, you’ll know the joy of waking up first thing and enjoying an iced cold frappe.

If you have a cocktail shaker this would be perfect for this recipe, but any container with a tight lid will do.

Put your desired amount on instant coffee in the container, and add in sugar to taste and one tablespoon of cold water.

Shake it for around 30 seconds until it’s foamy, then pour into a glass (if you have ice you can serve over a few cubes). You can top up with more cold water or milk, but evaporated milk will make this truly authentic.

Iced latte

Another iced drink here for these warm days we’re having.

You’ll need ice for this one, as well as instant coffee, milk, and sugar or sweeteners if you want them.

Pop your desired amount of coffee into your glass, and fill up with around two-fingers in height of boiling water – as well as any sweetener or sugar you’re using.

Fill your glass up with as much ice as possible and give it a stir to cool the coffee down, before topping up with cold milk (any type will do).

If you have any coffee syrups lying around, you can switch up the flavour as you wish by putting in a few pumps along with your coffee and water.

Shaken cappuccino

That frothy top on a cappuccino is the one thing that eludes us home baristas without foaming machines.

It’s easily achieved, however, with a cocktail shaker or washed-out jar with a tight lid.

Make an instant coffee as normal, leaving room for the amount of milk you’d like to have.

Then put your milk on the hob and heat it up, but make sure to take it off the heat as soon as it begins to bubble.

Fill your sealable container no more than halfway with the warm milk, and use a tea towel over it so you don’t burn your hands. Then, give it a good shake for at least 20 seconds until it goes frothy.

Pour the liquid milk into the instant coffee, and spoon the frothy part over the top to make a cappuccino to be proud of.

You can also sprinkle over nutmeg or cocoa powder for that extra touch.

Chilled Nutella coffee

For people who like their drinks sweet and thick, this is the ideal recipe. You will need a blender of some sort for this.

To your blender, add a cup of cold milk, two tablespoons of Nutella (or other chocolate spread), a tablespoon of instant coffee, and half a teaspoon of vanilla extract if you have it. You can also add half a teaspoon of sugar or sweetener.

Whizz it all up until it’s frothy and you’re good to serve. You can also top this one with a scoop of ice cream if you’re feeling extra indulgent.

Spiced latte

It’s nowhere near pumpkin spice season, but this warming cuppa is delicious on long evenings cuddled up in front of Netflix.

To your mug, add two teaspoons of instant coffee, two teaspoons of cocoa powder of hot chocolate powder, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of cinnamon (roughly 1/8 of a teaspoon of each of these). As ever, you can also add sugar.

Add a couple of teaspoons of milk to your powdered ingredients until it makes a paste-like consistency, then heat up the rest of a mug of milk on the hob until it starts to bubble.

From there, pour your milk into the paste, and it’s ready to serve.

If you’re feeling wild, some people add a tiny pinch of chilli powder to the spice mix to give it a kick and bring out the chocolate flavour.

Indian cappuccino

In a twist on the standard cappuccino, this involves whipping the coffee instead (but not the same as the TikTok coffee in this list).

Add one and a half teaspoons of instant coffee to a tablespoon of water and any sugar or sweetener you want to a mug. Whisk this for about five minutes (yes, you’ll have a sore arm) until it turns a light brown colour.

Meanwhile, warm your milk on the hob until it starts to bubble, after which you can pour it over the coffee mixture. Give it a good stir, and you’re ready to go.

Instant coffee cold brew

This one is certainly going to anger the coffee snobs, but this is really no time for being precious about something as silly as coffee.

Cold brew is normally made by steeping finely ground beans in cold water for 12 to 24 hours. This brings out the flavour of the coffee, and if you happen to have them lying around it’s the ingredient that works best.

If you only have instant, though, fill up a jug or bottle with cold water. For every cup of water you use you want about a tablespoon of instant coffee.

Leave overnight if possible without touching it and give it a shake in the morning. It’ll probably be quite strong, so dilute the chilled drink with water or milk when it’s ready to drink.