Welcome to our series featuring Food Holidays: October 7th, 2022. Did you know today is National Frapped Day? I don’t know about you but I’ve never had a Frappe and if I’m going to drink Coffee I will just stick to boring old black Coffee with a splash of Milk and ton of Sugar. How about you?
National Frappe Day
Frappes are a favorite for all ages. As well as all ranges of taste. From Cupcake Creme to Peanut Butter Cup and everything in between. Frappes are undoubtedly an American staple in the Coffee consuming world. Thus, it only seems fair to dedicate a holiday to Frappe. National Frappe Day, is October 7th and you better bet there will be millions of people celebrating with you.
History of National Frappe Day
Necessity is said to be the mother of invention. The need for a caffeine fix was the reason behind Dimitris Vakondios shaking up the first Frappé at the 1957 Thessaloniki International Fair in Thessalonika, Greece.
Vakondios was representing the Swiss-owned Nestlé food company at the annual international exhibition, where Nestle was introducing a new instant Chocolate beverage made with Milk and shaken in a shaker. Vakondios could not find hot Water to make his usual Nescafe instant Coffee during his break, so he improvised by mixing his Nescafe with cold Water and Ice in one of the exhibit shakers.
The result was a satisfying and refreshing foamy cold Coffee beverage that became the first Greek café Frappé. Not only is Greek Frappé still the most popular Coffee beverage in Greece and Cyprus, but Frappe is also the official national Coffee drink of Greece.
Today’s popular American versions of the Greek Frappé contains Milk, Cream, or even Ice Cream, blended with instant Coffee, while the authentic Greek Frappé contains no Milk products. Greeks are quick to boast that the most important thing to know about a Greek Frappé is that it does not contain Ice Cream, only crushed Ice Cubes and that it is shaken until it foams.
How to Celebrate National Frappé Day
- Cover the cost of a Frappé for the person in line behind you when you stop by your Coffee house to celebrate National Frappe Day. Hopefully, these people will do the same for the person behind them. How cool would it be if you are the last person in that line of pay-it-forward Frappé celebrants.
- Instead of starting your day with the same old daily grind, why not seize the day early with a fabulously frothy morning Frappé. Go ahead. Shake it up early! Today is National Frappe Day, and It only comes around once a year.
- Try your hand at blending the perfect Frappe at home. Keep reading because we’re going to share the secret ingredient to keep your homemade Frappes frothy and foamy.
5 Things Every Frappé Lover Should Know
- Frappé is a French word, pronounced “fra-ˈpā” and rhymes with the word “today,” as in “today is National Frappé Day.” Its contemporary culinary meaning translates to English as “Iced.”
- Without Coffee, it is just a Milkshake.
- Authentic Greek Frappé is a foam-covered Iced Coffee drink made with spray-dried never freeze-dried instant Coffee, Ice Cubes, cold Water, and maybe Sugar. It is ordered by degree of sweetness: plain, medium, or sweet.
- If you are a Coffee snob who turns up your nose at instant Coffee, you can make a homemade Frappé with strongly brewed Espresso Coffee with foam that won’t separate. You just need to add the secret ingredient, an emulsifier called Xanthan Gum. Just add a big pinch before blending and your Frappé froth will stay lofty.
- We’re not rocket Scientists or Chemists, so we’ll get right to the bottom line without the equations and citations. Spray-dried instant Coffee, which is not the same as freeze-dried Instant Coffee, has a lower Oil content. Lower Oil is the key to the long-lasting frothy bubbles in a Frappe. We wonder if rocket Scientists and Chemists ever think about this when drinking a Frappe.
Why We Love National Frappe Day
- Have you ever seen anyone drinking a Frappé look sad or unhappy? Frappé and happy rhyme. A coincidence? We think not
- Show up today with a tray full of Frappés for your family or any gathering and watch your popularity bump up a full 10 points.
- Indulging in a cold and frothy Frappé on National Frappe Day transports us to another time and place where we’re sitting with friends around an umbrellaed Bistro Table at a Seaside Mediterranean Café.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
