Question: I come from a land of tea-drinkers and have only recently taken a fancy to coffee. I just ordered [this](http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B00H34OA7U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00) coffee-maker for myself, which is the first that I'll ever own. 

I am a bit perplexed as to what *type* of coffee is used in a coffee-maker. It gets all the more confusing since I couldn't get my hands on all the types on the internet.

Until now, I had been making coffee with the help of this Nescafe.

[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IFWNE.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/IFWNE.jpg)

Is this instant or ground coffee? What is the difference between the two? Can they be used in my coffee-maker?

Along with the coffee-maker, I also ordered myself a bottle of **Grandos Espresso Instant Coffee**. Would I be able to make it with the help of my coffee-maker?

Answer: 
Ground coffee is just the roasted coffee beans ground up to a fine powder. In order to make the beverage coffee, you need to combine this with hot water to extract the flavour (there are many different ways to do this). Typically, there is a filter that makes sure that the water can pass through the ground coffee but none of the ground ends up in your drink. 

Instant coffee is dried brewed coffee - they grind up the coffee beans, brew the coffee and then remove the water.

A coffee machine or coffee maker is used for brewing coffee from ground coffee, not instant coffee. Instant coffee powder just needs to be rehydrated, so adding hot water is enough. It will completely dissolve in the water, which the ground in a coffee maker will not.

The machine you bought seems to be an espresso machine (it puts the water with high pressure through the ground coffee). This requires a relatively fine ground. Preground espresso will probably work, or you can also buy a grinder and grind the beans yourself. It also seems to have a pressurized filter basket, which means it will be quite forgiving and therefore easy to use.
Coffee maker usually only process ground coffee. If you put instant coffee in it, it's gonna get messy inside-out. 

So, ground coffee can only be processed with coffee maker to produce coffee that is really concentrated, unlike the taste of 3-in-1 and instant coffee.

While 3-in-1 or instant coffee, only need a cup with hot water to produce coffee. 

If you are serious about coffee drinking, you should invest to learn more about ground coffee. Instant coffee is just for casual coffee drinker