The Frappé: How a Spilled Coffee Became a Greek Icon in 1957

Sometimes an entire national icon is born out of pure desperation. Thessaloniki, September 1957, the International Fair: a Nestlé representative named Dimitris Vakondios just wants his usual instant coffee during his break. Problem: no hot water anywhere in sight. But there's a shaker at the stand – actually meant for whipping up a children's cocoa drink in seconds. Vakondios pours in coffee powder, cold water and ice cubes, shakes hard – and ends up with a suit covered in coffee foam and, without realizing it, the invention that would change Greece forever.

The frappé was born – entirely by accident, with no marketing plan, no ambition to invent anything. It wasn't until around 1979 that the drink got its official name and, through targeted Nescafé ad campaigns, became the unofficial national drink of Greece. To this day, making one is almost touchingly simple: instant coffee, sugar, a splash of water – shaken hard until a thick, light-brown crown of foam forms, then topped up with ice cubes, cold water and, if you like, a little milk. No espresso, no expensive machine, no filter – just a shaker and pure stubbornness.

What still makes the frappé special today is the lifestyle around it: drink it slowly, through the straw, nursing the same glass for hours while life carries on around you. Greece made that relaxed, summery "no stress" feeling its own long before Dalgona coffee or American instant-coffee trends got celebrated as some great new discovery. Anyone today proudly posting their homemade whipped instant coffee is essentially reinventing what one stressed-out fair employee already figured out back in 1957.

Here, your frappé comes with hot water rather than an accidental lack of it – but shaken just as well. And while you enjoy it: only 5 days left until our Drachmen Fest on 29.09. – live music, prices like it's 1960! And mark your calendars already: from 04.10. to 15.10. we're closed for our annual break, and from 16.10. we're back for you.