Pretty Great Instant Coffee Review: Instantly Pretty Great

There is no shortage of ways to make a cup of coffee outside, but what’s the best way to do so? While that answer might have more to do with personal preference than anything, Nic used his background in coffee to dissect whether Lachlan Morton’s Pretty Great Instant is the best coffee outside option available. Grab a cup of joe and dig into the caffeinated conundrum below…

With additional photos by Cass Gilbert, Josh Meissner, and Lucas Winzenburg

Coffee is a simple thing. The roasted seed of a fruit dried and processed in myriad ways; this little caffeinated bean is the world’s most popular stimulant. Entire nations, economies, and global supply chains center themselves and depend on its trade and consumption. To say the world would be altered forever without it would be an understatement. While most coffee drinkers don’t commit more than a few moments of thought to what their cup contains, some invest thousands on personal setups that put some shops to shame. Though some would describe me as something of a “coffee snob,” I’ve taken a far more lax approach to my coffee-enjoying habit in the last few years. Within that time, I’ve grown incredibly fond of Pretty Great Instant’s offerings and what they mean for coffee drinkers seeking a pretty great cup outdoors.

Caffeinated Context

Without diving into a dissertation, a brief context of coffee feels appropriate. Coffee beans are the seed of a fruiting body, roasted to change the taste and chemical properties and make it easier to grind before ultimately brewing. Most people drink coffee because of the caffeine, a natural byproduct the coffee plant produces to fend off pests. Much like tobacco, it’s a naturally occurring pesticide we humans use and abuse for our own purposes. Coffee plants typically grow well in high-elevation, high-humidity environments, which is why places in Central and South America have historically been some of the biggest producers of the crop.

Nic's Editor's Dozen
  • Nic's Editor's Dozen
  • Nic's Editor's Dozen

With a wide range of varietals, not all coffee is created equal. Fairtrade-stamped or not, most coffee is grown and harvested using exploitative labor practices that rob producers and the land of any benefit. With the rise of craft and specialty coffee, smaller, independent cafes have generally taken it upon themselves to strike up relationships with farmers, or more typically, farmer collectives, that charge a higher price for a higher-quality product that ensures fair compensation for themselves and those who harvest the crop. In theory, anyway. Specialty coffee differs from typical commodity coffee as it must be “Q-graded”—a scoring system that judges imperfections and inconsistencies within the dried beans—and achieve a score no lower than 80/100.

These higher-grade specialty coffees are also where consumers can typically find experimental processes, with more recent innovations moving toward anaerobic co-fermentations that impart fruitier flavor profiles into the cup, for example. All that said, coffee is simple. But it also very much isn’t. What drew me into specialty coffee in my early 20s was the idea that you could ethically engage with the supply chain. The person who picked and processed the cherry could, in theory, be appropriately compensated for their work. After almost a decade in the scene, it’s a topic I still wrestle with but something that I find endlessly intriguing. Either way, it’s a good context to have before complaining about the price of your five-dollar latte. If you’re patronizing a cafe that has a relationship with its producers, those farmers are likely being compensated far better than ever before. In my mind, that’s a price worth paying.

  • Pretty Great Instant
  • Pretty Great Instant
  • Pretty Great Instant
  • Pretty Great Instant

However, that’s where the complexity of making coffee begins, not where it ends. As I said, some home brewers spend thousands on machines and tools that aid in brewing, while others dump Folgers into a cup and call it a day. There isn’t necessarily a wrong way to do it, but I tend to err on the side of intention. You don’t need a multi-thousand-dollar setup to make a fantastic cup of coffee, but it goes beyond simple taste for some. It’s a ritual. A practice. A game, even. Trying to dial in the best cup of coffee you can before the bag runs out can be fun. Achieving that careful balance of heat, grind size, water, and flow, amounting to excellent extraction, has spawned an entire culture of coffee aficionados. And that’s to make no mention of professional barista competitions and brewer’s cups. It’s a whole new world out there.

Pretty Great

You might be asking, “What does any of that have to do with this instant coffee?” Aside from its obvious relation as a coffee product, it’s important to mention because that’s where most of this coffee provides its value. Like I said, I enjoy coffee. However, I’ve found that making a high-quality cup of coffee outdoors is more complex than initially presented. On or off the bike, I don’t always have the time or motivation to pull out the scale and make myself a gorgeous pour-over. I appreciate the effort put into these coffees enough to know that I should dedicate some intention to the brewing process. And when I can, I do! But my life isn’t very slow anymore. I travel a lot, and I seem to constantly be juggling 45 different thoughts, activities, and responsibilities. If I’m going to squeeze out any time to enjoy myself, sacrifices have to be made. Thus, my dedicated coffee ritual has suffered. When camping or bikepacking, that time crunch is exacerbated by the nature of temporarily living outdoors, and time, effort, and resources are all at a premium.

Pretty Great Instant
  • Pretty Great Instant
  • Pretty Great Instant
  • Pretty Great Instant

In the past, that has generally meant opting for a lesser product—a quick cup from a global chain or packing away some canned nightmare amalgam posing as coffee. However, after picking up a box of Pretty Great Instant a few years back, I feel I’ve found the Holy Grail of instant coffees. The impossible balance between minimal effort and maximum taste. Where other instant offerings have often imparted a tingey, metallic aftertaste, likely due to the chemical required to make it “instant,” I’ve never found that to be the case with Pretty Great. Moreover, compared to other bikepacking or camping-oriented options, the process of making instant is superior because it eliminates all of the factors that could potentially result in a lesser cup of coffee. And that’s to make no mention of its microscopic pack size when compared to other options.

Not So Great

Generally speaking, there are two popular, non-instant means of brewing camp coffee: steeped and pre-made pour-over. The former works a lot like tea, containing the coffee in a small, tea-like bag. You plop it into your water, and steep it. Job done. The latter is typically an open-faced, tea-like bag that opens up to expose the grounds. Users are then meant to pour the coffee over the top of the bag containing the grounds, usually suspended above the water by paper arms that attach to the walls or rim of the cup. Unfortunately, in my experience, both have a variety of flaws that yield a less-than-ideal cup, but I find the issue with these methods to be more philosophical than physical.

Coffee Outside, Aeropress, Helix Brewer, Moka Pot, Hario Mini Mill, Waka Coffee, Canyon Coffee, Swift Coffee, Voila Coffee, Exo Roasters, Cartel Coffee Lab, Espro

Obviously, both methods are more complex than instant. The tradeoff is supposed to be a better cup of coffee. However, as stated, what makes a high-quality cup is multi-faceted. Not only do you need a great product, but the variables of your brew have to be dialed. That includes everything from water temperature and quality to pouring methods and extraction time. In the comfort of my kitchen, it’s pretty easy to nail down most of the most essential variables. On top of a mountain, when the wind is howling, the surface is rocky and uneven, and the handles of my titanium camp cup are almost burning my hand, it’s more complicated. Having tried steeped and pre-made pour-overs several times, they never seem to taste like they should.

Though I’ve alluded to it a few times, it’s important to clarify what makes a cup of coffee “good.” Extraction is the act of pulling soluble compounds out of coffee beans by using water. It can refer to both what’s being extracted and how, but for our purposes, I’ll be speaking to the latter. From the perspective of extraction, the steeped methods of camp coffee are less than ideal for a few reasons. I’ll try to avoid opening this can of worms for the coffee people reading along, but extraction can be extraordinarily complex. When making a typical pour-over, it can vary in many ways. How one pours water onto the grounds, how it drains through said grounds, how hot the water is, etc., are all variables in the extractive equation. The tea bags I mentioned are simply sitting, completely submerged, in the water meant to extract them. Given extraction can be affected by turbidity, water flow, and factors that relate to how water interacts with the grounds, I’ve found these bags often over-extract the coffee. Am I being pedantic? Sure. But it’s something I can’t seem to get past. It might work for tea, but I’ve never found it all that great for coffee.

GSI Halulite Kettle
  • enamel mug gsi coffee filter
  • gsi-coffee-filter

Pre-made pour-overs have always been a bust for me, too. Often suffering from the opposite issue, the water drains through the grounds too quickly and can never extract enough. I prefer over-extraction to under, so it irks me more than any other method. In addition to their underwhelming body, these tend to make a mess. The cardboard arms rarely hold up, and I’ve made more than my fair share of ground-y messes faffing around with this method. It’s my least favorite style of camp coffee and something I’d gladly never try again.

The other popular form of outdoor brewing is with a dedicated coffee outside set up. Be it an AeroPress or a V60 brewer, allocating a significant portion of your bikepacking setup toward coffee has never seemed ideal. Though a lot can be shared with a smaller cooking setup, you’re still bringing a grinder, a small burner and its gas, the brewing device, and potentially more. If you’re headed to a coffee outside meetup or want a truly great cup of coffee outdoors, this is your best bet. Given that Pretty Great Instant demands so much less regarding setup and offers a comparable cup, I tend to opt for my trusty sachet these days. After all, you don’t even need the water to be hot! It dissolves in liquids of any temperature. And while it’s nice to have a hot beverage when you wake up, I’ve used their Brazilian varietal as a sort of cold brew.

In addition to its ease of use, though it started as a bike-oriented product, I’ve started to bring my large bag with me on trips around the country. Whether I’m road-tripping to events through the American Southeast or simply in unfamiliar places around the country, hot water isn’t a tough thing to come by, and it’s usually free. Asking for a cup and adding a scoop instead of spending the money on what’s usually a less-than-ideal means of caffeination has been a game-changer. Of course, I seek out local shops and am an adventurous consumer of all food and drink, but it’s there when I need it to be. And it’s always pretty great.

From The Source

To get a better idea behind the magic, I reached out to Pretty Great Instant with some questions about their process. While they couldn’t give away too much, I’m happy to report that my assumptions about sourcing and operations have all been confirmed. Run out of the Mast Coffee roastery in Sacramento, CA, Pretty Great Instant became its own company in 2022. Co-founded by the owners of Mast in 2021, they’ve taken on other partners—most notably Lachlan Morton and his wife Rachel Peck—to great effect. With Lachlan officially serving as a brand ambassador and Rachel serving as creative director, Mast Coffee’s co-founder Michael Sanchez said their roles at Pretty Great Instant extend far beyond what goes on paper. For example, much of Pretty Great Instant’s success can be attributed to their quirky, fun social media campaigns, many of which star Lachlan and are devised by Rachel.

Lachlan Morton Tour Divide
  • Lachlan Morton, The Divide film, GDMBR
  • Lachlan Morton Tour Divide
Photos by Ryan Hill/EF Education-EasyPost and EF Pro Cycling

In any case, the thing that has stood out most about Pretty Great Instant is the taste. Where others tend to impart a slightly metallic flavor, Pretty Great Instant is consistently smooth-bodied and chocolatey. Michael was pretty coy on divulging how they’ve managed to avoid that all-too-common instant pitfall, but, with some experience trying to develop whole-bean roasts into more package-able, instant offerings, it came as no surprise to hear they do it all in-house. Where most other specialty roasters resort to third-party companies for “instantification,” Pretty Great Instant owns each step of the supply chain. I have no doubt that this is what makes the taste distinctly different from other instant offerings.

While they’ve been slow to add other single origins to their now three-option lineup, Michael said they’re excited about what’s to come soon. With some “really exciting partnerships on board this year for some totally new products,” it seems they’ll be expanding far beyond black coffee.

Final Brew

All in all, the outlook that led me toward a preference for this particular instant is reflected in my perspective on coffee consumption. You can get close to a perfect cup of filter coffee in the comfort of your own home. With a decent grinder, a kettle, and a brewer, it’s well within the achievable spectrum. But things like espresso are simply better out of a shop, where employees have all the necessary equipment, can dial it in, and control certain variables. Patronizing worthwhile local shops is a great way to support local businesses and potentially engage with an ethically minded part of the supply chain. For coffee outside, the bar has to be lowered. You’re out in the elements in a potentially remote location. In my eyes, it’s nearly impossible to recreate the environment that allows for a great cup of home-brew in the middle of nowhere. For there to be an instant offering that removes several of the variables from what can sometimes be an overly complex equation, I’ve found Pretty Great Instant to be the best option for my outdoor coffee needs. It might not have the complexity or variance that some find appealing about a direct, ground-oriented brew, but the consistency, price, and ease of use are pretty much unparalleled.

Pros

  • Easy brewing process
  • Great taste
  • Tastes great hot or cold
  • Decaf now available
  • Minimal pack size and great branding

Cons

  • A tad pricey
  • Single-use packages are always less than ideal
  • Sometimes the shipping process can take a little longer than expected
  • Limited varietals

For more on Pretty Great Instant, visit ItsPrettyGreat.com.

Further Reading

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