Coffee and Caffeine FAQ

In the frappé recipe above, the writer neglected to specify that instant coffee is required. And so if anyone reads the recipe but not the comment above it, they are liable to produce a glass undrinkable, grainy, runny mud.

Both prior entries did not mention that frappé, as they've described, is a Greek invention that is wildly popular in Greece and the Greek diaspora. I've co-written a new book about the phenomenon, "Frappé Nation." According to popular legend, the frappé made its debut in 1957 at the Thessaloniki International Fair, a trade show held each September in Greece's second largest city. Working at an exhibit for Andreas Dritsas, then the Greek distributor of Nestlé products, sales representative Dimitrios Vakondios made an important discovery. Either because he had no hot water or merely wanted cold refreshment, Vakondios grabbed a shaker meant for a Nestlé cocoa drink, filled it instead with Nescafé instant coffee and cold water, and shook it vigorously. Not accounting for the burst of foam this action would generate, Vakondios achieved two results: The first was the staining of his business suit. The second was the invention of the foamy concoction that would become known as frappé.