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Who Invented Instant Coffee? The People Behind the Product

Trace instant coffee through David Strang, Satori Kato, George Washington, Pratt and Trigg, and Nescafé, with the contribution and date of each milestone.

By Edward MillerPublished October 4, 2026Updated October 26, 20264 min read

Quick Answer

Instant coffee developed through several inventions and commercial launches. David Strang advertised a soluble coffee before Satori Kato's 1901 patent application; George Washington later built a commercial business, and Nestlé launched Nescafé in 1938. Their contributions addressed different jobs: making coffee soluble after drying, retaining aroma and producing a convenient product for sale.

A jar of instant-coffee granules beside a spoon and a cup of black coffee.

On This Page9 Sections

Instant coffee starts with coffee extract that is dried into a soluble product. The history becomes clearer when you follow both the manufacturing problem and the people who brought products to market.

Key Dates in Instant Coffee's Development

Reader GuideCoffee Reference Table

Coffee Reference Table
	Date	Documented contribution
	1889–1890	Strang's soluble coffee is advertised in New Zealand; the heritage record dates his patent application to January 28, 1890.
	1901–1903	Kato files his US application on April 17, 1901; the patent is issued on August 11, 1903. The Smithsonian also records a public introduction in 1901.
	1909–1910	William H. Ukers dates Washington's product readiness to 1909 and company organization to 1910.
	1918–1921	David S. Pratt and Charles W. Trigg file jointly on May 31, 1918; their patent is published on February 8, 1921.
	1938	Nestlé dates the Swiss launch of Nescafé to April 1.
	1952 and 1965	Nestlé records a formulation without added carbohydrates in 1952 and freeze-dried Gold Blend in 1965.

These dates distinguish an advertised product, a patent and a brand launch. Each records a different contribution to the history.

Strang's Product and Washington's Business

A Western Star advertisement from August 7, 1889 offers Strang's soluble coffee. Heritage New Zealand's account of Strang House dates David Strang's patent application to January 28, 1890. Together they put a named soluble-coffee product before Kato's US application.

Commercial scale was another part of the story. In All About Coffee (1922), trade writer William H. Ukers reports that George Washington's product was ready for market in 1909 and his company organized in 1910. He identifies the Red E and later G. Washington names. This George Washington was the coffee entrepreneur, not the US president.

Kato's Approach to Coffee Concentrate

Satori Kato's US patent 735,777 describes a coffee concentrate and a process for making it. Its approach handles aroma-bearing material separately, then combines it with a dried extract. The problem was not simply getting a powder to dissolve: it was carrying coffee aroma through manufacture.

The Smithsonian's Coffee in an Instant places Kato's public introduction at the 1901 Pan-American Exposition. That presentation and the patent's 1903 issue are two separate events in his contribution.

Pratt and Trigg's Aroma-Retention Work

The Smithsonian also describes Charles W. Trigg's research at the Mellon Institute from 1916 to 1920. His notebooks include calculations, sketches, research notes and patent references: the ongoing work behind a convenient finished product.

US patent 1,367,715 names David S. Pratt and Charles W. Trigg jointly. It discusses lactose as an ingredient intended to retain aroma in a water-soluble coffee extract. That is a particular historical formulation; today's product label tells you what is in the jar you buy.

Why Aroma Was a Separate Challenge

Kato's recovery of volatile coffee oil and Pratt and Trigg's proposed aroma-retaining ingredient show two approaches to the same practical problem. A product could be easy to dissolve yet lose qualities people expected from brewed coffee. The patents describe proposed solutions, rather than independent taste comparisons.

A personal note: I appreciate the convenience of instant coffee, and its history makes that convenience more interesting to me. A familiar jar hides several different problems: making a soluble product, retaining aroma and producing something people can use easily. I like following those problems through the records rather than looking for one name to put beside the whole category. The aroma question especially holds my attention because dissolving quickly tells me so little about the experience of drinking the result. For me, the history becomes more human when the work between the milestones stays visible alongside the finished product.

Nescafé's Manufacturing and Launch

Nestlé's 75th-anniversary account describes Max Morgenthaler's work on soluble coffee and aroma retention using carbohydrates. It dates Nescafé's Swiss launch to April 1, 1938, with production at Orbe and later introductions to the UK and US.

The company also records a formulation without added carbohydrates in 1952. Its Nescafé history places the introduction of freeze-dried Gold in 1965. These are developments in the brand's products, not dates for the invention of freeze-drying itself.

Bring the Distinction Back to the Jar

The modern jar brings together soluble extract, a drying process and choices about aroma and formulation. Read its ingredients and follow its directions when comparing products at a repeatable concentration.

Our instant coffee method guide explains present-day preparation and product differences. For a straightforward home cup, use the instant coffee drink recipe.