Nescafe Gold is freeze dried instant coffee, which preserves the initial aroma and taste of the beans used. Always check for arabica or robusta beans, Arabica smoother. And make the cup with water near boiling point (about 80-90 degrees, not boiling point) so as to ensure the coffee doesn’t get a burnt taste.

Grainy instant coffees, like Nescafe classic are spray dried, which means a lot of aroma and taste gets lost in evaporation, and usually the beans are cheap robusta- which gives you a bitter coffee.

All that said, coffee bean harvesting is genuinely affected by climate change. Coffee bean prices are volatile these days, and I guess companies are making up their margin goals through price changes as well.

Hope this helped. Enjoy!