Camp Coffee facts for kids
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Camp Coffee is a special liquid called an "essence" that tastes like coffee and chicory. It has been a popular ingredient for baking and drinks in British homes for many years. This brand started in 1876 in Glasgow, Scotland. It's a handy item to keep in your kitchen cupboard because it's ready to use and adds a delicious coffee flavour to cakes, cookies, and drinks.
You can find Camp Coffee in many big supermarkets like Tesco, Waitrose, Asda, Sainsbury's, Ocado, and Morrisons. It's a concentrated syrup, meaning a little goes a long way! It was first made by Paterson & Sons Ltd.
Over the years, the company that makes Camp Coffee has changed hands. In 1984, it became part of a larger company called McCormick & Company. Today, Camp Coffee is produced in Paisley, Renfrewshire, still in Scotland.
What is Camp Coffee?
Camp Chicory & Coffee is a dark brown, thick liquid, a bit like a syrup. It's made from simple ingredients: sugar, water, chicory extract (which comes from the chicory plant), and dried coffee extract.
It has a smooth taste of both chicory and coffee. Chicory adds a slightly bitter, earthy flavour that blends well with the coffee. It also has a sweet aftertaste, mostly from the chicory.
You can use Camp Coffee in different ways. Many people mix it with hot water or warm milk to make a quick coffee-like drink, similar to how you'd make cocoa. You can also add it to cold milk and ice to create an iced coffee. It's often found in the baking aisles of supermarkets because it's a popular ingredient for making coffee cakes and other sweet treats.
The Story of Camp Coffee
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Camp Coffee was first created in 1885 by Campbell Paterson in Glasgow. His family's company, R. Paterson & Son, was known for making sweet cordials. Campbell Paterson developed the coffee essence for people to use at home. Back then, making coffee often needed special and expensive equipment, so Camp Coffee offered an easier way to enjoy coffee flavour.
There's a famous story, mostly because of the picture on the bottle, that Camp Coffee was made as an instant coffee for soldiers. The label on the bottle shows a scene from the time of the British Raj in India. It features a Scottish soldier, a Gordon Highlander, sitting down. A Sikh soldier is serving him a drink from a tray with a bottle of Camp Coffee and a jug of hot water. They are in front of a tent with a flag that says "Ready Aye Ready." This was the motto of a British Indian Army group called the 59th Scinde Rifles (Frontier Force). In this motto, "aye" means "always," so it means the drink is "always ready" to be made.
The original picture on the label was very detailed. It showed the Sikh soldier holding a tray with a bottle of Camp Coffee, and on that bottle, you could see the same picture again, with another bottle, and so on, going on forever! This is called the Droste effect. Later, in the mid-1900s, the tray was removed from the picture. This was done to make it seem less like the Sikh was a servant. Even later, after 2006, the picture changed again. Now, the Sikh is shown as another soldier sitting next to the Scottish soldier, and he has his own cup of coffee.
Why is Camp Coffee Still Popular?
Camp Coffee is a special part of British nostalgia. Many adults remember it from their own childhoods, which makes them feel good. It's still a popular choice for people who love to bake at home, especially for making delicious coffee-flavoured cakes and coffee-flavoured buttercream frosting.
In the late 1970s, Camp Coffee even became a popular choice for a short time when regular instant coffee became very expensive in the UK. This happened because bad weather in Brazil caused a shortage of coffee beans.
See also
