Postum is a
coffee/
tea substitute using a
grain base, instead of the traditional coffee beans or tea leaves. Invented in
Battle Creek, MI by
C.W. Post in 1895, it pretty much launched
Post Cereal Company. It was followed two years later by
Grape-Nuts.
Postum was marketed as a healthy alternative to the available hot beverages. C.W. Post sold it door to door for a time, to get word out. It was billed as being 100% natural and caffeine-free.
17 years after the invention of Postum, in 1912, C.W. Post refined the product and introduced Instant Postum. Later on, coffee-flavored Postum hit the market.