Cold Coffee

Studies reveal more than two billion cups of coffee are consumed daily, all over the world. In the US, coffee is the most consumed beverage, besting even water and soda. These staggering data attest to the worldwide popularity of coffee. And if there is one beverage that caffeine addicts everywhere swear by, it is Iced Coffee.

This chilled beverage has been reinvented in countless ways, each yielding a delicious result. But we're told necessity is the mother of invention, and the first-ever Iced Coffee was also born out of necessity, specifically to withstand extreme weather conditions.

The creation of the first Iced Coffee can be traced to Algeria in the 1890s. It is likely the French troops stationed in a region named Mazagran started drinking a concoction of cold water and coffee syrup to combat the blistering heat. The drink was thus christened 'Mazagran', in acknowledgement of its birthplace. When the troops returned to France, they kickstarted the Mazagran culture in Paris. But by the 1950s, as the market began teeming with versions of Iced Coffee, Mazagran's popularity faded.

Arguably, the most popular of these newer coffee drinks was Frappe, the outcome of a quintessential discovery by accident. The legend goes that in September 1957, a Grecian sales representative of Nestle was attending the annual Thessaloniki International Fair. When this man, named Dimitrios Vakondios, couldn't source hot water for his coffee, he instead poured cold water on instant coffee powder and vigorously shook the mix inside a shaker meant for Nestle's cocoa drink Nesquik. What was born was a foamy, frothy concoction that would come to be the staple soft drink of Greece, and eventually the world.

Today, every region has its own kind of cold coffee. Japanese Iced Coffee, for instance, is made with gum syrup and milk. Vietnamese Iced Coffee uses condensed milk, and Thailand brews a special concoction using black coffee, sugar, heavy cream and cardamom. It is garnished with a generous dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon and star anise. Curiously, while the latte is native to Italy, the Iced Latte was conceived in the US, and made by pouring ice over espresso and chilled milk.