Postum

Postum

Encyclopedia

Tutorials

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Directory

Email this to a friend Postum

Postum

Original flavor Postum beverage mix.

Postum was a powdered roasted grain beverage sold by the Kraft Foods company as a coffee substitute. The caffeine-free beverage mix was created by company founder C. W. Post in 1895 and produced and marketed by Postum Cereal Co. as a healthy alternative to coffee. Post was a student of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg who believed caffeine to be unhealthy. Postum was made from wheat bran, wheat, molasses, and maltodextrin from corn. It was discontinued in fall of 2007.^[1]^[2]

Prior to being discontinued in October of 2007, it was sold in the USA and Canada. The Canadian packaging included English, as well as French, on the label. The 8 oz. (226g) glass jar contained about 75 teaspoon servings. This 10 calorie beverage was caffeine free, fat free, trans-fat free, sodium free, and Kosher. In addition to the original flavor, there was also a coffee-flavored version.

Postum was sometimes marketed by an invisible cartoon ghost named, "Mister Coffee Nerves", who would appear in situations wherein normal human characters were shown in uncomfortable life-situations (e.g. irritability, lack of sleep, loss of athletic prowess) due to their use of coffee and its negative effects. These cartoons always ended with the humans switching to Postum and Mister Coffee Nerves running away until the next cartoon.^[3]

It was also a sponsor for the radio show Lum and Abner.