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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Postum enjoyed an enormous rise in sales and popularity in the U.S. during World War II as coffee became heavily rationed and people searched for a replacement.[3]
Before being discontinued in October 2007, it was sold in the U.S. and Canada. The 8 oz. (226 g) 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.
In the wake of its discontinuance, a number of replica recipes for Postum have circulated across the Internet.[4]
Postum was sometimes marketed by an invisible cartoon ghost named Mister Coffee Nerves, who would appear in situations wherein people were shown in uncomfortable life-situations (e.g., irritability, lack of sleep, lack of athletic prowess) due to their use of coffee and its negative effects. These cartoons always ended with the afflicted people switching to Postum and Mister Coffee Nerves running away until the next cartoon.[5]
It was also a sponsor for the radio shows Lum and Abner, Beulah and The Aldrich Family, and for the radio version of Father Knows Best.
Postum was popular among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was part of Mormon culture for many years.[6][7]
Since 1945, Postum was a U.S. code name for polonium-210, used in the Urchin style nuclear weapon initiators
i was out last night with hubby buying things in preperation for a hard winter storm due here in Oklahoma.
while i was there i decided to start stocking up on my list of items i needed POST surgery...im having gastric sleeve.
so we were on the COFFEE/TE isle, and i have been reading that people with gastric surgery SHOULDNT get any coffee with caffine in it because it effects something in them...so i was looking for POSTUM.
i can remember as a kid, my grandmother (a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) having a container of postum on the counter at her disposal, when she might want something that resembled, or mimiked COFFEE.
other than postum, ive never known her to ever drink coffe, or tea in front of me. and on the postum? not too often on that, but enough i can remember the product.
ive had it myself. was neither here, nor there with it. could take it or leave it.
but last night, as im trying to find SOMETHING that wasnt decaf COFFEE (were commanded to not drink "HOT" drinks, which most Mormons interpret to be: COFFEE and TEA), which we all should know is STILL COFFEE...i was looking for the postum...
and sadly, couldnt find it..
today, craig (the hubby) sends me several links from online about the demise of the product.
Postum Coffee Substitute Dies but Mormons and Others Aren't Ready to Accept the Finality of Kraft's Decision to Kill the Product
Why the Product is Being Pulled Off Grocery Shelves and What People Are Doing About It
Jan Corn
Apr 8, 2008
Have you tried to find Postum lately? Did you ever drink this caffeine fee substitute for coffee? Plenty of people did. According to a recent article in The Christian Science
Monitor called "Postum Drinkers No More" the product is being discontinued. Apparently, there isn't a real substitute for Postum, a beverage made from roasted grains, and so people who can't drink caffeine (Mormons are one example) aren't too happy about this.
Here are the facts about the death of Postum coffee substitutes:
1. The death was apparently unannounced, sudden and relatively quiet.
It was so quiet that regular Postum users went to their grocery store shelves and found them empty. You can read about that here: www.csmonitor.com/2008/0312/p13s02-lifo.html in a link to a related Christian Science Monitor story. Imagine if you walked into a grocery store and wanted your favorite bag of potato chips or Cheetos or your favorite....food or beverage of choice...only to discover it had all disappeared overnight. That is what happened to many Postum coffee substitute drinkers.
I've tasted Postum and don't think it resembled coffee. But I guess plenty of people were attached to it and they are fighting back. They aren't providing funeral services or announcements yet.
2. For those who happened to stock up on Postum, intentionally or not, there appears to be a lucrative side market in the stuff.
You can figure that out by going to Ebay and checking out the going rates for Postum. As of this writing, six jars are being listed for a total of about $119.00 plus $12.95 in shipping. That'd be enough to pay for quite a few things besides Postum but those who are loyal to the product seem to be paying a pretty penny for it, although the optimistic seller who had it listed at $119.00 hasn't sold those six jars - yet.
From what I can tell, bidding does get frenzied towards the end of the auctions. For a sense of the final auction values, I looked at completed auctions. Four jars went for $160 plus $8.95 in shipping. Gee, maybe Kraft ought to consider their decision to discontinue making Postum coffee substitute.
You, too, can look at those auctions on Ebay by going to www.ebay.com and putting Postum coffee in the "search items" box, usually located at the top right of every page there. For now,
Postum lives on - at least, on Ebay.
3. Postum comes in both red and blue jars. The blue jars are the original flavor and the red jar is not.
4. It isn't easy to make your own Postum.
Making Postum can take 5-6 hours, certainly longer than brewing an average cup of coffee. Also, to get it to come out right. a person or group of people would have to stir the grain every 20 minutes or so. See the Christian Science Monitor llnk (above) for details. Most people aren't willing to spend that much time for a beverage.
5. Maybe a smaller company will rescue Postum, just like Ovaltine was rescued.
Personally, I don't get the appeal of Ovaltine either but those who love it really love it so when it was discontinued, another company simply bought the right to make and sell it and it appeared back on the shelves.
6. Loyal Postum coffee substitute drinkers are starting a major blog and mail campaign to get it back on the market.
I'd sure like to know who all those people are. A similar campaign was used to get the television show Jericho back on the air - and it worked. But then the show was canceled again. What does this prove? Maybe that people get upset when they face the loss of something but sometimes not enough to stay loyal to a product or television show once their efforts prove successful.Apathy, a busy schedule or another television show or product grabs their attention.
Or maybe the network decides to pull the plug on the television show or stop making Postum for their own reasons. In the case of Postum, it apparently came as a shock and was not announced very loudly, according to some Postum users (one of which lives near us and is peeved).
7. People are creating their own recipes for subsitutes:
You can see them here at the Chow.com website: www.chow.com/grinder/4524
8. Since writing a blog about Postum, this guy has gotten over 320 hits, many of them recently:
jeffwerner.ca/2004/12/postum_coffee_s.html He had no idea the post would be so popular. He happened to drink it, liked it, had it before bed for awhile and then stopped drinking it.
Meanwhile, people found his post and started posting him about Postum , growing increasingly desperate as time went on and Postum supplies started to dry up.
9. Here is where people seem to be going in their fight to bring back Postum. Can Postum coffee substitute truly be saved? Stay tuned for further announcements:
www.BringBackPostum.blogspot.com/
there seemed to be allot of tado about the demise of this product, hers another article online..
and anotherMormons mourning Postum: a consumer culture post
By Wm Morris | 12.17.07
My youngest sister recently shared the distressing news that the toasted wheat drink Postum has been discontinued. Created by Seventh-day Adventist health foods icon C.W. Post, the drink would appear to be a victim of the continued caffeinization of America. From what I can tell from Internet searches and anecdotal evidence, it would seem that the only people that drank it are Mormons, health food nuts (although Postum was hurt in this market by alternative toasted grain drinks that aren’t quite so American and mass-produced), and coffee lovers that were forced to go with a non-caffeine and/or gentler-on-the-stomach hot drink because of health issues.
I would imagine that some folks who know of the product might be surprised to hear that Postum was still around (up until last month). The beverages category has exploded in the past decade or so — energy drinks, tea, bottled water, juice blends and coffee. It would seem that there’d be little room for something as seemingly strange as Postum. Oddly enough, according to the New York Times, Kraft Foods actually tried to jump onto the beverages wave. It launched a Postum ad campaign in 1996, in an attempt to gain baby boomer customers. The article suggests that the campaign boosted sales, but I would guess that the gains were short lived and that Postum has had a steady sales decline since then. Still, up until recently you could find it on many supermarket shelves.
So what’s a Mormon arts and culture blogger writing about Postum for? In part, there’s the need to indulge in some personal nostalgia. Postum was a part of my childhood. My mom is a fan, and us kids developed a taste for it. Sometimes you wanted something hot that wasn’t hot chocolate. I don’t drink it much anymore, but it is still my go-to beverage when I have flu- or cold-related congestion. It’s hot and soothing, has more taste than tea, doesn’t have dairy (unlike hot chocolate), and can be consumed in greater quantities than hot cider (which is too acidic). I take mine piping hot with two teaspoons of sugar stirred in.
Funnily enough, I never thought of it as a coffee substitute — not until I started buying it as an adult and saw that it was marketed that way. As a kid I saw it as something Mormon. Not as Mormon as brigham tea, but much, much tastier.
But discovering that’s how it was marketed didn’t change it’s Mormon-ness for me. I figure the Mormons who flirt with the appearance of evil drink decaffeinated coffee. In addition to the fact that I like it as a drink, I also valued Postum because ties me to the converts who gave up coffee but needed a substitute, the Word of Wisdom nuts who bake with carob and unrefined sugar, the WWII-era old-timers. And, of course, to countless tellers of corny jokes.
And even more than that, I think that part of the appeal of the brand itself is that by nodding back to Post (and Kellogg) and the other health-food nuts of the late 19th century, I’m also in some strange, indirect way, nodding back to a time when Mormonism was more tied into consumer culture as a producer.
There was also the fun of being part of a consumer subculture, of supporting a product that was a little weird, fusty and yet not at all underground.
Of course, all is not lost for those who enjoy the hot toasted grain drink. There is still Pero (too European), Cafix (too coffee-sounding), Dandy Blend (oh, please), and countless other roasted barley/wheat/chicory/burdock/dandelion blends. But none have the mainstream, Americana appeal of Postum. So this is one Mormon who mourns the death of Postum. I’m quite sure that I’m not alone.
So what other non-specifically Mormon yet Mormon-supported (for reasons of lifestyle, belief and/or geography) consumer culture items are there?
Postcript: Ralcorp Holdings has acquired Post from Kraft Foods. I would imagine, though, that Ralcorp isn’t going to have any interest in bringing Postum back.
Update: This blog post by Mormon convert Jeff Werner seems to be the epicenter for those upset by the Postum discontinuance.
Update 1.5.09: Check out this awesome 1959 Mormon-oriented Postum ad that Ardis posted at Keepapitchinin.
Mormons mourn Postum’s passing
The Salt Lake Tribune, USA
Jan. 1, 2008
Kathy Stephenson
Generations of faithful Latter-day Saints have stored a jar of caffeine-free Postum in the cupboard, making this instant hot beverage as much of a Utah icon – or joke – as the beehive hairdo or the green Jell-O mold.
Lately, though, Postum lovers have been stirred by emotion after learning production of this powdered coffee substitute has stopped.
“Basically the overall demand for the product, both on a national and regional level, declined to the point that we decided to discontinue the product,” said Rene Zahery, a spokeswoman for Kraft, which purchased the Post-brand products several years ago.
“Whatever remains in the marketplace is all there is of Postum,” she said.and one more
That’s bad news for Postum lovers such as Don Corum. The Salt Lake City resident finished a jar about a month ago and hasn’t been able to find a replacement at any Utah grocery stores. Desperate, he looked on the Internet, but refused to pay $8.50 for a jar that normally costs $3.50.
Like many people, he’s trying to find a substitute. There are several caffeine-free beverages from Europe, such as Pero or Cafix. But nothing has the beloved cereal-flavor of Postum.
“I’ll miss it,” Corum said.
In 1895, C.W. Post, a Seventh-day Adventist, created the powdered drink as a healthy, caffeine-free alternative to coffee. At the time it even was called Postum Food Coffee.
Not long after its introduction, Postum became the elixir for faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who eschew coffee and tea. It became such a part of Mormon culture that instead of having a “coffee table” in the living room, some families called it the “Postum table.”
Recent government health studies have listed Postum as having high levels of acrylamide, a substance that can cause cancer and reproductive problems in animals and act as a neurotoxin in humans. But even such findings have not deterred fans.
“This is one Mormon who mourns the death of Postum. I’m quite sure that I’m not alone,” William Morris wrote on his LDS arts and culture blog – The Motley Vision (www.motleyvision.org). The blog has received numerous responses about Postum’s passing.
“I don’t drink it much anymore, but it is still my go-to beverage when I have flu- or cold-related congestion,” Morris said, adding that Postum was a way for conservative Mormons to express themselves.
“There was also the fun of being part of a consumer subculture, of supporting a product that was a little weird, fusty and yet not at all underground,” he writes.
Robert Campbell, a resident of Long Beach, Calif., started drinking Postum after his doctor told him to avoid caffeine. He liked the flavor and the added fiber Postum provided.
Campbell has posted Kraft’s toll-free consumer hot line on several Internet Web sites and blogs ( begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-431-7678 end_of_the_skype_highlighting) in hopes that people will call the company and complain.1-800-431-7678
“It’s tragic,” he said. “I’d like to see them bring it back in some form.”
and then, MY OWN internet find about the demise of the product, and where to go to find it again...
Fans in withdrawal from coffee substitute Postum
Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jan 1, 2008 by Sara Israelsen-Hartley Deseret Morning News
OREM -- Dark and hot -- but caffeine-free -- Postum has reigned for decades as the "Mormon coffee" among members of the LDS Church.
Well, it did until this fall, when it was discontinued by Kraft Foods and pulled off store shelves, leaving the hot wheat bran imbibers looking for a suitable substitute.
"It's always a difficult decision to stop making a product, even when there is a very small-but-loyal user base," said Renee Zahery, spokeswoman for Kraft Foods. "But the reason is that the demand for this product overall, both nationally and on a regional level, had continued to decline."
That small-but-loyal fan base begs to differ and has been filling online blogs with Postum memories.
"Postum was a part of my childhood," blogs William Morris, the creator of "A Motley Vision," a site devoted to discussing Mormon arts and culture. "My mom is a fan, and us kids developed a taste for it. As a kid I saw it as something Mormon. Not as Mormon as Brigham tea, but much, much tastier."
The product's origin has nothing to do with Mormonism. It was developed in 1895 by Charles William Post, a Seventh-day Adventist who felt that caffeine was an unhealthy, addictive substance.
Black-and-white Postum ads from the early 1900s show a masked and caped Mister Coffee Nerves flying around, reprimanding people for their nervous, irritable behavior -- all caused by coffee. But when the characters switch to Postum, the non-addictive coffee alternative, Mister Coffee Nerves disappears until the next cartoon.
Many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose the beverage because the church's religious code of ethics prohibits caffeinated coffees or teas.
Postum was also useful for folks who grew up drinking coffee, but later joined the LDS Church and had to renounce their caffeinated- beverage ways.
"I am a recent LDS convert and had no trouble giving up alcohol," wrote one person on a blog titled, "Postum: Coffee Substitute."
"Giving up coffee? Painful," she wrote, "Postum really helped with this."
Others liked Postum because it was easier on their stomachs and digestive systems.
But not everyone is mourning the loss. Karol Palmer of Orem said her father used to drink it all the time, and tried to persuade her to do the same.
"I tasted it a couple of times -- and that was that," Palmer said. "I hadn't heard of it for so long I thought it had died long ago."
Palmer's husband, Glen, however, used to be an avid drinker, which explained the boxes of individual Postum packets shoved in a corner of the couple's food-storage room.
"It got stuck downstairs," Palmer said. "I didn't want any of it; (Glen) never said, 'Bring more up'; the kids wouldn't even think of drinking it."
So she cleaned the store room -- and tossed the now-coveted substance out.
Many tone down the strong, dark flavor with brown sugar and milk or non-dairy creamer. Some throw in Nutrasweet or maple syrup. Some just use good old-fashioned cream.
"I love this stuff," writes another woman on the Postum blog. "My grandpa used to drink it, he'd add a little milk and sometimes honey. Best stuff ever. But he'd only share a spoonful with us. I'm going to be on a hunt for it now."
Good luck.
A search on Amazon.com shows a glass Postum bottle and has this note: "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."
And despite the dozens, if not hundreds of e-mail and phone complaints to Kraft Foods, the decision to stop production of Postum is likely permanent, Zahery said.
That's tough news to break to customers, said Stephen Bitter, store manager at the Provo Macey's, 1400 N. State. He still has customers asking about Postum, which has been off their shelves for about a month now.
"It's been such a routine for so many years, it's like pulling penicillin off the market," he said. "With any habitual pattern ... people like it, and want to keep it that way."
There are other products still on the market, like Pero, a hot drink from Switzerland made from barley, chicory and rye, or Cafix, another Switzerland concoction similar to Pero but with the addition of beet roots.
But for some, it's just not the same.
Rebecca Sample Bernstein, who comes from an LDS family, is hoping she has a container of Postum stashed away in a pantry somewhere. Even though she and her husband are not daily Postum drinkers, it's been a part of their lives since they began dating 20 years ago.
"I suppose that if you look at it in marketing terms, then right, they don't keep making things that only a few people buy," she said. "It's just something I expected to be there forever."
Alternatives to Coffee, Postum and Camel Piss (Monster Energy Drink)
Posted on October 20, 2009,
Even though Postum no longer exists (and people still crave it and will pay top dollar on eBay for it), coffee and camel piss (I mean "Monster Energy Drink") still do. Here's a quick list of some of the concoctions you can replace any or all of these with. The list is obviously not all-inclusive and there's no way in the world I'm going to spend the time it would take to search Google to find any more. While these concoctions probably won't replace coffee and Postum, anything is better than camel piss, made by the people attacking the makers of Vermonster.
The people that have tried these products say they taste nothing like coffee and Postum-lovers say they don't match the rich, smooth taste of Postum. By the way, this is another post I moved from another site. I didn't move the five comments, though, because I didn't think it would be worth the trouble.
- Caro Instant Beverage, more commonly referred to as simply Caro, is brand of caffeine-free beverages. It is manufactured by Nestlé and is widely available in the United Kingdom. Caro Instant is a powder-based drink available in 50g containers, whereas Caro Extra is granule-based and comes in 200g jars. Caro is made up of soluble solids of roasted barley, malted barley, chicory, and rye. It is most often available in health food shops, but can also be found in most major supermarkets.
- Barleycup is another instant cereal drink available in the United Kingdom. It comes in both powder and granule form, and is comprised of soluble solids of roasted barley, rye and chicory. It is commonly found in health food shops.
- Pero is a coffee substitute from Switzerland. Pero Instant Natural contains malted barley, barley, chicory and rye. Pero Extra contains all of the same except the rye.
- Cafix is another coffee substitute from Switzerland. Cafix Coffee Substitute contains malted barley, chicory, barley, rye and beet roots. Cafix Crystals contains roasted barley, rye, chicory and beet roots.
- Teeccino in the United States produces an herbal "coffee" in 10 different flavors. Various ingredients are used, such as chicory and ramon nuts.
- Roma, or Kaffree Roma, is available in U.S. health food stores. Ingredients: Roasted barley, roasted malt barley, roasted chicory. Contains gluten from barley.
- Wildcrafted Ramon Nut Powder is a product of rawganique.com.
- Bamboo is a coffee alternative marketed by Rapunzel in Germany which contain grains and chicory.
- Soyfee is a soy "coffee" product of soycoffee.com. The website may contain more information about ingredients that I couldn't find.
- Café de Cebada is a product of boliviamall.com. I don't read the language, so I can't tell what ingredients are included.
so, there it is, without warning, and without regard, this product would be pulle from the shelves of every store in america...
youd think with 30+ MILLION members of my faith...1/3 could keep this product on the shelf...
sadly, for whatever reasons, they cant.
and my alternatives are...well, over seas.
this is like findoing out a relative you never really knew has passed away...
im in shock. my world has changed, slightly. and i feel at a loss.
i never even really got to KNOW postum, for all it had to offer. and now, its...gone.
RIP Postum!
MICHELLE
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