If the title of this article sounds a bit too much like one of those clickbait ads, then don’t worry – this is still RocketNews 24! But seriously, we do really have a pretty simple and easy way to make your coffee taste way yummier, and it’s straight from the wisdom of the dad of one of the writers of our sister site, Pouch. You won’t need any fancy Hello Kitty shaped coffee beans to pull this off (especially since I just made up the existence of Hello Kitty shaped coffee beans), just your regular coffee and some water. So, what’s the magic trick?

Sweets-holic writes that for years now, she’d been under the impression that instant coffee tastes pretty much the same no matter how it’s brewed. That is, until she found herself having the following conversation with her coffee-loving pa:

Papa: If you mix the coffee granules with cold water before adding in hot water, you can make instant coffee taste like the real thing.

Sweets-holic: What? No way! That’s totally not possible!

Papa: Fine, if you don’t believe me, then try it yourself. It totally makes it more delicious. *smug face*

Of course, she had to find out the truth about this dubious-sounding coffee hack. First, she gathered everything she’d need for the experiment:

Tools:

1 teaspoon instant coffee of choice

1 teaspoon cold water

1 coffee cup

140cl of freshly boiled hot water

Method: Add teaspoon of coffee granules and teaspoon of cold water to coffee cup. Mix until all the granules have melted. Then pour on hot water. That’s it!

Sweets-holic was shocked (and perhaps a little annoyed) to find that her dad was absolutely right! The aroma and flavour of the instant coffee seemed in some way more pleasant than usual. She credits the use of cold water to break down the coffee granules before adding in hot water for the significant difference.

It turns out that there’s a scientific explanation behind this coffee hack. On the NHK program “Tameshite Gatten”, it was found that adding hot water directly to instant coffee granules causes the amylum contained within them to harden, giving off a “powdery” flavour. Mixing the granules with cold water first allows the granules to dissolve more gently, creating a more flavoursome and aromatic cup of joe.

Did you already know about this trick before reading this? Are there any other methods you habitually utilise to make your coffee extra-yummy? Personally we like to add some deco-latte strips to our coffee. Everything tastes better with cute characters on them, after all.
[ Read in Japanese ]