About Folgers
Folgers traces back to 1850, when 14-year-old James A. Folger arrived in San Francisco and joined the Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills; by 1859 he owned the company outright and renamed it J.A. Folger & Co. It is one of the longest continuously operating coffee companies in the United States, and its main roasting facility has run in New Orleans since 1960. Folgers became part of The J.M. Smucker Company in 2008 and marked its 175th anniversary in 2025. Alongside its ground coffee, the instant lineup spans Classic Roast, Classic Decaf, the darker Black Silk crystals, and ready-to-drink formats including instant iced coffee.
On BrewGazette's cupping table, Folgers Classic Roast Instant Coffee earned its place as the value anchor of our instant coffee roundup: more than 30,000 owner reviews at a 4.7 average, the deepest verified review base of any product we tested in the category, at the lowest cost per cup on the page. It won't compete with a freeze-dried single-origin on flavor complexity, and we say so directly in our review, but as an honest, reliable, resealable jar of real black coffee it's hard to beat.
Brand website: folgerscoffee.com
What Folgers makes
Folgers's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Classic Roast Instant Coffee
medium roast crystals, sold as a jar and in single-serve packets -- our reviewed pick — featured on Brew Gazette
Classic Decaf Instant Coffee
the caffeine-free version of Classic Roast, jar and packets
Black Silk Instant Coffee Crystals
a darker-roast instant option, jar and packets
Instant Iced Coffee
crystals formulated to dissolve in cold water for iced coffee
Ready-to-Drink Coffee Beverages
pre-made caramel and vanilla coffee drinks, no brewing required
Why we recognized Folgers
The Brew Gazette Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Folgers earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, brewed with daily, and judged on what lands in the cup.
Folgers products we rated highly
Folgers Classic Roast Instant Coffee, 8 oz Jar
In our testing it delivered the lowest cost per cup of any product in the roundup by a wide margin, backed by more than 30,000 owner reviews at a 4.7 average -- the deepest verified track record of any product we tested in the instant coffee category. It's loose spray-dried granules in a resealable jar rather than a sealed packet, which puts strength entirely in the drinker's hands: a level teaspoon makes a mild cup, a heaped one makes something closer to a diner refill. The granules dissolve cleanly at any temperature above lukewarm and don't clump in a humid kitchen.
Read the Best Instant Coffee of 2026 guide →What earned Folgers the recognition
- The deepest verified review record in BrewGazette's instant coffee testing: more than 30,000 owner ratings at a 4.7 average, well ahead of every other product we cupped in the category.
- The lowest cost per cup on our instant coffee page by a wide margin, which keeps real black coffee an easy everyday default rather than an occasional splurge.
- One of the longest continuously operating coffee companies in the US, founded in San Francisco in 1850 and still roasting at its New Orleans facility that has run since 1960.
- A resealable jar of loose granules that gives drinkers direct control over strength, cup to cup, rather than locking them into one fixed dose per sealed packet.
- Backed by the scale and supply consistency of The J.M. Smucker Company's coffee portfolio, which Folgers has been part of since 2008.