Instant coffee

Instant coffee, also called soluble coffee, coffee crystals and coffee powder, is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans. Instant coffee is commercially prepared by either freeze-drying or spray drying, after which it can be rehydrated. Instant coffee in a concentrated liquid form is also manufactured.

Advantages of instant coffee include speed of preparation (instant coffee dissolves instantly in hot water), lower shipping weight and volume than beans or ground coffee (to prepare the same amount of beverage), and long shelf life — though instant coffee can spoil if not kept dry.

History

Instant or soluble coffee was invented and patented in 1881, by Alphonse Allais, France, under patent number 141520. In 1890, David Strang of Invercargill, New Zealand, under patent number 3518 sold under the trading name Strang's Coffee citing the patented "Dry Hot-Air" process. The invention was previously attributed to Satori Kato, a Japanese scientist working in Chicago in 1901. Kato introduced the powdered substance in Buffalo, New York, at the Pan-American Exposition.George Constant Louis Washington developed his own instant coffee process shortly thereafter, and first marketed it commercially (1910). The Nescafé brand, which introduced a more advanced coffee refining process, was launched in 1938.

Instant Coffee (artist collective)

Instant Coffee is a Canadian artist collective based in Vancouver and Toronto. Formed in 2000, the collective’s membership has undergone a number of changes. At present, Instant Coffee’s most active members are Jinhan Ko, Kelly Lycan, Jenifer Papararo, and Khan Lee.

Artistic approach

Instant Coffee uses the format of the art exhibition as a framework for its practice. Precedents include the 1960s art events known as Happenings, “a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art.” As with the Happening, Instant Coffee stages events that “bring artists, writers and musicians together in combinations rarely encountered elsewhere.” However, Instant Coffee updates this idea by designating their activities as “service-oriented.” The use of corporate-style language is deliberate and is an aspect of the collective’s creation of a strong brand identity. Instant Coffee establishes its brand through the use of a specific graphic style on their website, event invitations, posters, publications and related ephemera. As a further expression of their brand, the collective uses a consistent, self-reflective and ironic, tone in all written communications. For instance, the tagline “Instant Coffee: it doesn't have to be good to be meaningful”, plays on the collective’s real world namesake, fake coffee, while promoting their utopian belief in inclusiveness, as opposed to more traditional artworld modes of selection and exclusion.