The Origin of Instant Coffee - Where Does It Come From?

 

The origin of instant coffee is not fully known, but based on the introductory chemistry of coffee beans, it can be assumed that it started in America. There is a tale in America about a Native American who started dehydrating the coffee seeds and grinding them to make powder. This was considered a highly unsanitary way of preparing the beans and was rejected by the English until the late 1700s. It was only when the Spanish took over the New World that they used the bean to make the best Instant Coffee, and from there, it traveled around the world.

In the early days of Araku Coffee, it was known as 'percolated coffee' since the powder was made up of boiling water, and the seeds were allowed to soak for nearly double the time compared to normal boiling. However, these first versions could not keep their shape for more than a few seconds, so the powder got compacted with water and could not retain its flavor for long. As time passed, the methods and ingredients for making the powder changed, but it remained a constant in the tropical areas around the world. From here, it traveled across Asia and eventually formed into two distinct varieties - instant chai and coffee powder.

The essential ingredient of Araku Instant Coffee is the kola nut, which is native to South America. These nuts are bitter and are the main ingredient in the preparation of the drink. When you combine this bitter flavor with the high water content from the kola, the result is a product called instant chai. However, there is a difference between the two. Kola nut tea is created from the grilled and roasted kola nuts, while the powder contains no kola, and the coffee powder is made by roasting the coffee seeds.

The origin of the freeze-dried version of Medium Roast Instant Coffee is not clear. There are two theories on this - one is that the kola nuts were roasted so that they did not lose their flavor, and the other is that the allies' starch was used to protect the outer shell of the kola nut. Today, the only difference is that the starch is removed from the kola nuts before they are dried, retaining the bitter flavor.

Types of Instant Coffee Production Methods

There are two types of Strong Instant Coffee production methods - thermal or mechanical drip and hot air popcorn poppers. Thermal drip machines produce instant coffee to heat the oil or water put into the coffee pod. The heat melts the center of the bean, which begins to release the oils as the coffee brews. Mechanical popcorn poppers, however, use hot air to create a flavored coffee mist that is poured into the pod after the process of heating the pod is complete. Both forms of production have many advantages, especially for people who are not interested in drinking instant coffee daily.

Instant Coffee during the American Civil War 

It’s also worth noting a connection between the instant coffee phenomenon and the rise of the civil war in America. During the civil war, many products that would later be identified as "instant" (in the US) included tea and coffee. When the soldiers came back home, they brought with them their instant teas and coffee, which became famous in the US and across Europe. It is believed that the soldiers drank their instant coffee (without the added creamer or sweetener) when they came back from the war because it was so much cheaper than what they would have received from a hotel, inn, or cafe.

The subsequent significant development in the production of instant coffee occurred in nineteenth-century France. This took place in response to the problems that coffee was causing in the grinding process that was happening at the time. During the industrial revolution, powder roasting was taking place, which caused the coffee bean to lose its natural oils, which were necessary for the flavor to develop. Two methods were developed to counteract this: the steam distillation method and the other being the dry roast method. The French chose the latter as the method of choice since it produced a cleaner cup of coffee.

 

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