Why 3‑in-1 Coffee Shouldn't Be Your Daily Morning Choice

3-in-1 coffees (and 2-in-1 coffees) are essentially coffee drinks because their coffee content usually reaches only a few percent. Due to the additives, mainly simple sugars, this drink won't energize you and can cause a sudden drop in energy. Occasionally consuming such products is not harmful, but regularly opting for a sachet of 3-in-1 coffee drink is not the best practice.

Convenience is likely the only benefit of 3-in-1 coffee. This product eliminates the need to add sugar and milk to your cup. It works well during camping trips, short excursions, and situations where you crave coffee but don't want to buy an entire package of beans. It's fine if 3-in-1 coffee remains an emergency option. It's problematic if it becomes a mandatory part of every morning. Why?

First, it's essential to distinguish between two products: instant coffee and 3-in-1 coffee. It's inaccurate to say that 3-in-1 coffee is the same as instant coffee with added milk and sugar. Instant coffee is a product made from 100% coffee, so it has a similar composition and properties, although with less caffeine. When you scoop a teaspoon of instant coffee, you get coffee that you can later sweeten and lighten if desired. How is it with 3-in-1 coffee?

The composition of 3-in-1 coffee contains only a few percent coffee (in the example below, less than 10%). So, what comprises the remaining 92% of the drink? As seen on the label of a popular 3-in-1 coffee:

"Sugar, glucose syrup, coconut oil, coffee [instant coffee (9%); roasted, finely ground coffee (0.05%)], milk proteins, acidity regulator: potassium phosphates, flavour, emulsifier: mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids."

3-in-1 coffee is primarily sugar, which appears multiple times under different names on labels. In this case, it includes sugar and glucose syrup. They occupy the first and second places in the ingredients, indicating they are the most plentiful components. Following those are coconut oil, milk proteins, acidity regulators, and emulsifiers—in short, ingredients that don't usually appear in coffee and that we wouldn't add to our cups. This is what differentiates 3-in-1 coffee from instant coffee with milk and sugar.

Coffee doesn't need chemical additives to taste good. Many would even argue that 3-in-1 coffee lacks the best taste and aroma. Additionally, its stimulating properties are questionable because instant coffee has a low caffeine content. If the drink contains only 10% coffee, one can conclude that the stimulating effect of 3-in-1 coffee is negligible. It's also worth noting that glucose syrup causes a sudden and significant rise in blood sugar levels.