"Fancy a steaming hot cup of…Nestea?"

“Fancy a steaming hot cup of Nestea?” “Umm…thanks, might give that one a miss.” If that question sounds like a conversation stopper on a first date, when we launched Nestea in 1947, some people really did like it hot!

We invented the process to make Nestea as an instant tea powder at around the same time we created Nescafé. The 1943 US patent for Nescafé mentions using the same method to make an instant tea powder.

In the 1950s we even referred to Nestea as the ‘twin brother’ of Nescafé! And like good parents everywhere, we’re proud of our offspring.

In the early days Nestea struggled in Europe, where people drank it hot. But it thrived in the States, where they used the powder to make iced tea. Sales accelerated from 1956, when we tweaked the recipe so it dissolved easily in cold water.

In 1968 you could crack open ready-to-drink Nestea in aluminium cans. And within four years it was our most important US brand. Today the brand is sold across the world, and you can even slot a Nestea capsules into your Nescafé Dolce Gusto machine.