In a world of fancy espresso machines, gourmet blends and cold brews, instant coffee has often been considered to be at the bottom of the proverbial coffee barrel. But the powder is getting a glow-up, thanks to better quality, social media trends and advancements in instant coffee technology.

"It's having a moment," said Joey Pittoello, general manager of the coffee roaster Just Us! in Halifax. "I think people have discovered that instant coffee can be of much better quality now."

More brewers are choosing to highlight instant coffee, from big brands such as Starbucks, to smaller roasters like Just Us!, in part because they are seeing an increased demand for it.

At Just Us!, which has been selling instant coffee for over 15 years, instant coffee sales have grown around 15 per cent in the last two years, says Pittoello, with other coffee companies such as Eight Ounce Coffee and Canadian Heritage Coffee Roasters in Calgary reporting similar increases in recent years.

According to a 2025 Agricultural Canada report, instant coffee sales totalled $330 million in Canada in 2024, up 10 per cent from the previous year.

"Instant coffee is undergoing the same transformation as a lot of coffee drinks," said Robert Carter, a food industry analyst and the president of the Coffee Association of Canada.

"There's more premiumization that's taking place. And I think that's resulting in an increase in consumption."

Social media trends are also improving instant coffee's rep. There's the Dalgona coffee trend, popularized during the pandemic, which is a whipped drink made by whisking instant coffee, sugar and hot water, then putting it over milk.

People are also using instant coffee to make lattes or iced coffees at home. Additionally, Pittoello says people use it in baking, or in seasoning when barbecuing.

"It's easy to make interesting sweet milky drinks with instant coffee. You just have to add it, right?" said Pittoello. A change in quality and technology

Instant coffee isn't anything new though. Big brands like Nescafé and Maxwell House have been selling instant coffee for decades.

"I don't think it ever really went anywhere," said Pittoello.

What has changed, though, is the quality of instant coffee. Pittoello says the robusta bean, which has a simple flavour profile compared to arabica, had commonly been used to make instant coffee.

"You're enhancing the level of low quality by turning it into instant coffee and that's really what defined instant coffee for decades," said Pittoello.

Now more specialty roasters are using better beans to make their instant coffee. Just Us! uses arabica, as does Starbucks.

But that's not the only reason you're seeing specialty coffee shops selling their own instant coffee. Josh Hockin, head of coffee at Eight Ounce Coffee in Calgary, says it's easier than ever to manufacture it, thanks to advancements in technology.

Mainstream brands like Nescafé and Maxwell House make large amounts of instant coffee through a process called spray drying, which involves brewing coffee as strong as possible, then spraying that coffee into a heated chamber, creating the instant coffee powder.

But Hockin says a better quality coffee can be made by brewing the coffee then freeze-drying it instead. Years ago, the machine to do so would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and was as big as a shipping container.

Now, he says the machines cost about $3,000 to $4,000 Cdn, and can plug into the wall.

"It's not cheap to do, but it's certainly way less expensive than it would have been in the past," said Hockin.

According to Robert Carter, it's not that people are replacing their at-home set up with instant coffee. Rather, Carter says, instant coffee is giving people another option to enjoy one of the most consumed drinks in Canada.

"We're not seeing a cannibalization taking place. We're seeing an expansion of the types of coffee products being consumed that are different than just your traditional brewed coffee.”

And people are willing to pay a premium for that, says Hockin. He says it's the equivalent of buying a cup at a coffee shop, with some packets of four selling for $11, while some varieties sell for $42 for a six-pack.

But, he says, the quality is just as good, and it's as convenient as it gets.

"It's not their everyday cup of coffee, obviously. But they are very willing, very very willing to pay that money.”