Instant coffee
Café soluble (instantáneo)
- Date
- 1901 · confidence medium
- Place
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Credited to
- Satori Kato; David Strang; Nestle (Nescafe, 1938)
- Field
- Life & health
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A soluble coffee powder that dissolves in hot water, obtained by evaporating a concentrated brew. Kato presented a soluble coffee at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition; Nescafe industrialised it with spray-drying in 1938.
Priority is disputed: the New Zealander David Strang patented a coffee powder in 1890; George Washington's 'Red E' (1909) also competes. Nestle developed it from 1930 at Brazil's request over its coffee surpluses.
What it led to
- Nescafe and mass-market soluble coffee
- freeze-dried coffee (1960s)
- instant drinks (tea, cocoa)