Vietnam doesn't have coffee pots. I have put up a picture of the Vietnamese coffee maker (a metal basket which holds grounds... hot water is poured into the cup and the coffee is ready in about three minutes) in previous posts. I own several of these. When you go to a restaurant, it's the way coffee is served. It's really not very convenient. You have to wait for it. Instant coffee might not taste as good but some brands are better than others. Nescafe is the best brand here and it's cheaper than other brands. Some of the lesser brands put in chemicals which prevent the powder from sticking together. That makes the coffee taste nasty.

I'd vote for the "truly desperate" answer. I had only instant coffee Wednesday mornings for one yukky semester: It was my first term teaching at the state university where I went on to work for 15 years. The scheduler gave me an 8 a.m. Wednesday class and a Tuesday night class that got out at 10 p.m. (and students sometimes needed help after 10 p.m. - they were mostly people who held full-time day jobs), so I'd stay as long as they needed. I didn't protest my schedule; I was the new kid. I lived 45 miles from campus. If I went home, I'd get maybe 4.5 hours of sleep. I'd be a zombie the next day. So I dragged a chaise-longue cushion, a pillow, and a blanket into my 2-person office and kept them out of sight. Each Tuesday I brought an extra blouse, and before my Tuesday night class I'd buy a croissant with ham in it (no mayo) and set up a cup of coffee with instant coffee in it. I slept on the floor of the office. To be safe, I didn't tell anyone I was there except campus security. I told them I was working all night, to account for why my car was in the parking lot all night. I'd be awake again, with clean shirt on, by the time the custodian came around. "You're in early!" he'd say. That coffee, Wednesday morning, was (1) desperately essential and (2) very nasty. But I wouldn't recommend instant to anyone.

My father used to drink it daily... I prefered brewed coffee myself, although I do keep it on hand. Sometimes it's good for late days, and I make coffee milk with it.

I've had it. It's pretty sucky. You know what's REALLY good though? Mix a spoonful of instant coffee in with vanilla ice-cream. De-lish.

Of course I have had instant coffee and if you live alone it is not always a good idea to make a pot it just goes yucky and gets wasted. I have cut down my coffee intact dramatically.

I'm an instant coffee addict. I boil water and stir two teaspoons of Folger's Crystals into my cup. I'm a five cup a day person.

I hate it, but my parents drink instant Kava, a reduced acid coffee.

I'm suprised at the amount of people that haven't. It must be a British thing to buy it regularly. I prefer tea and good real coffee, but I'll happily drink instant coffee and it's whats usually in my house

People in prison rely on it I'm sure.

If it is a good brand, and fresh, it isn't too bad. When I am given packages as gifts, I defeat the purpose by mixing it, and then put it in the refrigerator to re-heat the next day. It tastes much better that way.

Doesn't everyone drink instant coffee? Over here in the UK, the majority of people who do drink coffee, drink instant. I can only think of one person who drinks perculated coffee. So I would say we drink instant cos most of us don't know or can't be bothered to make proper coffee.

I have used espresso powder, mostly for cooking, but it makes a decent quick cup.

I think it is for desperate situations! Yuck, hardly worth it then.