What is Highground Organic Instant Coffee?
The other freeze-dried organic jar, and it publishes almost exactly what Mount Hagen does.
Highground publishes freeze-drying, 100% Arabica beans at a medium roast, organic and fair-trade certification, a 3.53oz jar giving more than 40 cups, and solubility in hot or cold water for iced coffee or coffee with milk.
Freeze-dried against spray-dried, and why it is the whole story
One process preserves the aroma and the other burns it off, and that is most of what separates good instant from bad.
Spray-drying blasts brewed coffee through hot air. The water flashes off, and so does most of the aromatic compound load, because those are volatile and the air is around 250C. What is left dissolves perfectly and smells like the inside of a jar. It is cheap, it is fast, and it is why instant coffee got its reputation.
Freeze-drying takes the opposite route. The brewed coffee is frozen, then the ice is removed under vacuum by sublimation, going straight from solid to vapour without ever becoming liquid. Nothing gets hot, so the aromatics stay where they are. It costs considerably more and it is the reason the good instants cost what they do.
You can usually see it in the jar: freeze-dried granules are irregular, glassy and amber; spray-dried powder is a fine uniform brown. It is worth checking before you buy, because the process is the single most predictive fact about how a cup will taste.
Highground vs Mount Hagen
Two jars with nearly identical published specifications.
Mount Hagen publishes the same process, the same certifications, the same bean type and roast, the same jar size, and the same cold solubility. It claims about 50 cups a jar to this one's 40-plus, which is a dosing difference rather than a quantity one.
On the specification we score, these two are effectively tied, and they should be. Which you buy comes down to price on the day and which you can taste a difference in, and this site does not score taste. Buying either is a better decision than buying neither.
What neither of them tells you
Where the coffee is from.
Both publish organic and fair trade, which says something about how the coffee was bought. Neither publishes an origin country, a farm, a roaster or tasting notes, all of which our sourcing criterion looks for and none of which appears on either jar.
Fair trade certification is a floor price and a set of conditions rather than a relationship, and it is a different thing from the direct trade that a roaster like Intelligentsia documents. Both are worth having; they are not the same claim.
Is it worth it?
Yes, on the same terms as Mount Hagen.
Freeze-dried, organic and fair-trade at supermarket pricing is the combination that makes instant worth owning, and 40-plus cups a jar is real value.
No origin, no roaster and no tasting notes are published, which is where it loses ground to specialty instants. It also gives no serving size, so the cup count is the maker's dose rather than yours.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Buy it if it is cheaper than Mount Hagen on the day.
It suits the same buyer: someone who wants an honest jar in the cupboard, cares about organic and fair-trade, and drinks iced coffee often enough that cold solubility matters.
Do not buy it expecting origin transparency, which it does not offer. And as with any instant, it is a convenience rather than a replacement for fresh beans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Highground freeze-dried?
Yes, published plainly, which is the most important fact about any instant coffee.
Does it dissolve in cold water?
Yes, the maker publishes hot or cold, which makes it usable for iced coffee without diluting it twice.
How many cups in a jar?
More than 40 per 3.53oz jar, at the maker's dose.
Is it better than Mount Hagen?
On published specification they are effectively identical: same process, certifications, bean type, roast and jar size. Buy whichever is cheaper.
