Frappe no matter how one prefers to drink it (sweet, bitter, with or without milk, with ice cream, stirred or shaken, strong or decaffeinated) frappe is always refreshing and stimulating. The ingredients are simple: instant coffee and water, sugar, milk and ice and a straw to enjoy these freshening sips.
Our “national coffee”, as often described, is said to have been accidentally invented in 1957 at Thessaloniki International Fair by Dimitris Vakondios, an employee at the booth of the Swiss company Nestle, which was producing instant coffee Nescafe, which was is largely identified with the frappe. It said that Vakondios could not find hot water to make his coffee, so he used cold water and a shaker to stir the mixture. This is how one of the most widely known coffee beverage, that would then enter the daily lives of Greeks, was created. This story, although adopted by the company itself, is disputed by many, as there are references and advertisements of frappe prior to the event that took place during the Fair. It seems that the company had launched the iced instant coffee some years earlier and what Vacondios actually invented was the rich frappe foam as we now know it. The consumption of frappe was eased and it seems that the company adopted this version of the story as the time the frappe was born.
No matter what the real history of frappe, it is sure that this is the coffee that has accompanied many generations of Greeks in their most enjoyable moments. It is associated with the summer months of relaxation and carelessness, while its birthplace, Thessaloniki, has been linked to the reputation of a city which has a rather relaxed pace, usually accompanied and associated with the slow drinking of frappe.