In our series on quirky Swiss facts, we bring you the story of the Swiss inventor who finally cracked the instant coffee code.
It might not be a favourite of coffee snobs, but in desperate times – think camping, travelling or staying over at your weird tea-drinking friend – a cup of hot instant coffee can really do the trick.
But while the beverage is now consumed the world over, few know that one of the most popular ways of drinking it – from its instant form – was invented in Switzerland.
The Swiss are an inventive bunch. For a diverse country with a small population, Switzerland has made a number of notable novel contributions to the world.
Swiss inventions include some well known ones including muesli, Helvetica font and the Swiss army knife, while some lesser known Swiss contributions are absinthe, milk chocolate, cellophane and LSD.
And while the Swiss love their coffee – which other country has a strategic coffee reserve as per government law? – the road to inventing instant was not an easy one.
