The world is full of coffee variations, traditions and flavors. But when traveling, the best coffee in the world is often the one you have access to. And sometimes, that means good old-fashioned instant coffee. Bring on the granules.
The only thing worse than a hangover is a hangover in Southeast Asia. Thanks to soul-sucking heat, sweltering humidity and the unbridled commotion of daily life, all of the regular symptoms are made infinitely worse. Dehydration? Worse. Headache? Worse. Sensitivity to light? Worse. Anxiety? Don’t even mention it. The only good thing hangovers in Southeast Asia is that, by and large, they’re cheap.
And so it is as I awaken, gruesomely, in a hammock on a remote beach in the Philippines, moments from death, and with only 20 minutes to get myself together before I’m due to rejoin my crew (the instigators of this hangover) and sail on to our next destination.
As a decidedly well-caffeinated individual (I worked as a barista in New Zealand and Australia for two years) I take great pleasure in sampling as much local java as possible when I travel. And not just in emergency situations. I’ve drunk lavender coffee in St. Petersburg, long blacks in Luang Prabang, kahvesi in Istanbul, espresso in Quito, filter coffee in Nashville, hungover coffee in St. Louis, boutique (whatever that means) coffee in Beijing.
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Coffee is as important to me as tasting the local cuisine, getting a feel for the history of a place, or drinking too much of the local beer (or rum). Coffee is what people all over the world drink to start their days, which means it’s the only logical thing to reach for when you wake up in a foreign land.
Of course, all of these worldly coffee styles and traditions invariably lead to heated debates over which country can lay claim to the ‘world’s best coffee’. But all of that, in my humble opinion, is irrelevant. Because since it can be tricky to locate a café and a freshly-ground cup when you’re in the throes of your chosen adventure, the best coffee in the world is not the most delicious cofee. It’s the most reliable coffee. And the most reliable coffee, friends, is instant coffee.
Think about it. Instant coffee is there when all other coffee has left you to die a slow, decaffeinated death. You can grab a sachet or a pot of the stuff and take it anywhere, and almost every supermarket and corner store in the world sells the stuff. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Sri Lanka or Kansas City, Colombia or Zanzibar—you won’t have to go far to find instant coffee. It’s the people’s coffee. And I am the people. You are the people, too.
And that’s not all. While not every hotel, motel or hostel has an on-site café or barista, almost every hotel, motel or hostel room—wherever you are in the world—has a kettle and at least one little packet of coffee granules. Instant coffee doesn’t care where you are, who you are, or how much money you have, it’ll love you just the same. And room service will even give you more of it the next day, for free.
