The history of the Greek frappe

The history of the Greek frappe

According to a popular legend, the Greek-style frappe was invented in September 1957 at the annual Thessaloniki International Fair in the convention center of Greece's second largest city. Working at an exhibition for Andreas Dritsas, then the Greek distributor of Nestle products, Representative Dimitrios Vakondios made an important discovery.

There was reportedly no hot water available. Maybe he just wanted a cold refreshment. Anyway, Vakondios grabbed a shaker meant for Nesquik, the Nestle cocoa drink, instead filled it with Nescafe instant coffee and a little cold water and shook it vigorously. Not taking into account the foam that this action would cause, Vakondios achieved two results. The first result was the stains on his business suit; the second was the invention of the foamy concoction that would become a kind of Greek soda.

The hallmark of a Greek frappe is a foam that is so sensationally frothy it resembles a cream. Coffee foam, like the crema on top of an espresso, is usually produced by the proteins in the coffee. These proteins act as surfactants that form a thin elastic membrane on the surface of the liquid and trap air.

The main advantage of instant coffee over brewed fresh coffee for foaming purposes is that it can be prepared in a highly concentrated solution. When that solution is shaken, there is a lot of protein to arrange the bubbles that form and help form a thick, durable foam.

In both powder and granular form, instant coffee is basically brewed coffee that has been dried to remove most of the water. The amount of water added to it can be carefully controlled. A small amount of water can be used to produce the foam. Then more water or milk can be added to dilute some of the froth and fill the cup or glass below with drinkable coffee liquid. A dense extract made with instant coffee and water at a whopping 6 percent concentration provides an abundance of protein molecules to surround the bubbles as they form.

Where, when and how this drink took the name frappe is uncertain. Soon after its invention, a form of this frothy cold coffee was promoted by Nestle at the Modern Home Exhibition at the Zappeion conference center in Athens. But a Nestle company promotional brochure from the period, written in Greek, described a slightly different recipe:

Place 2 cups Nestle evaporated milk, 1 cup water, 2 teaspoons Nescafe and 1 scoop vanilla ice cream in a blender. Mix for a few seconds and serve.

This formula was as much based on the French classic café frappe, made with ice, as the Greek, which acquires its foam and fullness without ice. By 1963, ice was no longer a part of Nescafe's frappe.

A print ad from that year featured a bold illustration of a glass with an extraordinarily thick cup of light-colored foam over a dark liquid. That this was what Greeks came to know as a milkless frappe horis gala, albeit rather top-heavy, there can be little doubt. The ad copy linked “Nescafe” to “frappe” and revealed these simple instructions for preparing a frappe coffee:

All you have to do is whisk Nescafe, sugar and cold water.