Postum
 | |
| Product type | Roasted grain beverage |
|---|---|
| Owner | Eliza's Quest Foods |
| Country | U.S. |
| Introduced | 1895 |
| Website | postum.com |
Postum (US: /ˈpoʊstəm/) is a powdered roasted grain beverage used as a coffee substitute. Post Cereal Company founder C. W. Post developed the caffeine-free beverage in 1895 and marketed it as a healthier alternative to coffee. (Post was a student of John Harvey Kellogg, who regarded caffeine as unhealthy.) Post Cereal Company eventually became General Foods, and merged into Kraft Foods Inc. in 1990. Eliza's Quest Foods assumed the trademark rights and secret recipe of Postum in 2012.
The "instant" drink-mix version, introduced in 1911, replaced the original brewed beverage.
Postum is made from roasted wheat bran and molasses. In addition to the original flavor, coffee-flavored and cocoa-flavored versions have been introduced.