Good Housekeeping's blind consumer taste test has named Exceptional by ASDA Brazilian Instant Coffee the UK's best instant coffee, scoring 85/100 and outperforming major brands including Kenco and Nescafé.
The supermarket own-brand jar beat Kenco and Nescafé in the ranking, with consumers and an expert panel assessing each coffee blindly after labels were removed to avoid bias. Coffees were rated on aroma, flavour, body and mouthfeel, with each given a final score out of 100.
Value for money
At £3 for 100g, the Asda jar offers significantly better value than Kenco Gold Indulgence Instant Coffee, which costs £7.35 for 195g despite matching Asda's score of 85/100. Nescafé's Azera Americano Instant Coffee came in 10th place with a score of 71/100.
Good Housekeeping described the Asda coffee as "rich and full-bodied", offering coffee fans a "smoky aroma, bold roast and hints of dark chocolate", as well as "a smooth finish that made it stand out".
Full rankings
The taste test ranked the following supermarket and branded instant coffees from best to worst:
- Exceptional by ASDA Brazilian Instant Coffee, £3 for 100g, Score: 85/100
- Kenco Gold Indulgence Instant Coffee, £7.35 for 195g, Score: 85/100
- Tesco Finest Colombian Instant Coffee, £3.50 for 100g, Score: 84/100
- Co-op Fairtrade Rich Roast Instant Coffee, £3 for 100g, Score: 82/100
- M&S Fairtrade Italian Style Instant Coffee, £3.90 for 100g, Score: 81/100
- Cafedirect Fairtrade Mayan Gold Mexico Instant Coffee, £6.60 for 100g, Score: 76/100
- Grind Craft Instant Coffee Smooth Barista Blend, £6.50 for 90g, Score: 75/100
- Morrisons Gold Roast Instant Coffee, £2.65 for 200g, Score: 74/100
- Douwe Egberts Pure Gold Instant Coffee, £8 for 190g, Score: 73/100
- Nescafé Azera Americano Instant Coffee, £7.25 (now £3.50) for 90g, Score: 71/100
- Costa Coffee Instant Coffee Smooth Medium Roast, £7.70 for 100g, Score: 70/100
- L'OR Intense Instant Coffee, £9.20 for 100g, Score: 70/100
The results show that a budget-friendly own-brand option can match or beat premium names in blind testing, offering a cheaper daily caffeine fix for British households.
