system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What actually is instant coffee and how different is it from normal coffee?

Yes I understand instant coffee is instant but how is it possible to make coffee out of these water soluble flakes? If you were to compare these two cups of coffee would they be almost identical in terms of "coffeeness?"
gpt
Producing instant coffee starts in pretty much the same way as making a cup of coffee from beans.

They start with green beans, and roast them. Then they're ground, and mixed with hot water. It's then strained to get rid of the ground coffee. This basically gives you liquid coffee - the sort of thing that you might actually make from beans and drink.

The liquid is then frozen, and the solid is ground into flakes. It's then put into a vacuum, which drives the water off, leaving you with flakes of instant coffee which will dissolve if you add water to them.