# Soluble Coffee Sticks Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/instant-coffee-sticks/ Last updated: 2026-10-19 > 3-in-1 coffee, or coffee mix, is instant coffee, powdered creamer and sugar mixed in a single stick or sachet. You tip it into a cup, add hot water and stir. Korea's Dongsuh Foods is usually credited with the first, in 1976, and coffee mix sticks became a fixture of Korean homes and offices, and are now sold across Asia and beyond. ## At a glance - Category: Instant & Industrial (Industrial) - Difficulty: Beginner - Origin: South Korea, 1976 - Also known as: 3-in-1 coffee, coffee mix, coffee mix sticks, instant coffee sticks, Korean coffee mix ## Steps 1. **Open the stick**: Tear open the coffee mix stick and tip it into a cup. 2. **Add hot water**: Pour in hot water, using the amount on the pack. 3. **Stir**: Stir until the coffee, creamer and sugar have dissolved. 4. **Drink**: Drink it hot, or pour it over ice for an iced coffee mix. **3-in-1 coffee**, or **coffee mix**, is coffee reduced to a single step: **instant coffee, powdered creamer and sugar**, measured into one paper **stick**. You tip it into a cup, add **hot water** and stir, and you have a sweet, milky coffee. It began in **South Korea** in **1976**, when **Dongsuh Foods** combined instant coffee and sugar with its own powdered creamer, and it went on to become a fixture of Korean homes and offices. Here's what it is and how to make it. ## The short version - **Instant coffee, creamer and sugar** in one stick. - **Add hot water**, as the pack says, and stir. - **First made in Korea in 1976**, by Dongsuh Foods. - **Cheap, fast and consistent.** - **Sweet and milky**: not one for black-coffee drinkers. ## What's in a coffee mix stick? Three things, in set proportions: - **Instant coffee**, usually [spray-dried](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/spray-dried-instant/) or [freeze-dried](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/freeze-dried-instant/). - **Powdered creamer**: Dongsuh's original, **Prima**, was made with palm oil. - **Sugar.** Because everything's measured, every cup tastes the same, which is a big part of its appeal. ## How do you make it? 1. **Tear open the stick** and tip it into a cup. 2. **Add hot water**, using the amount on the pack. 3. **Stir** until it dissolves. 4. **Drink it hot**, or pour it over ice. Too much water makes it thin and less sweet, so start with the pack's amount. ## A short history of coffee mix - **1976:** **Dongsuh Foods** launches what's usually credited as the **first three-in-one coffee mix**, combining instant coffee and sugar with its powdered creamer, Prima. The Korea Times calls the first product **Maxwell House Coffee Mix**, sold in pouch-type packets. - **1989:** Dongsuh introduces **Maxim Mocha Gold**, which later moved from pouches to **sticks**, giving people more control over the sugar. - **1997 onwards:** after the **Asian financial crisis**, coffee mix becomes an **office staple** in Korea, and Dongsuh says Korea became the world's biggest consumer of instant coffee in that period. - **2009:** The Korea Times reports that Dongsuh's coffee mixes hold about **80% of the Korean market**. - **Today:** Maxim Mocha Gold sold **5.3 billion sticks** in 2025, according to The Korea Times, and coffee mix is sold across Asia and beyond. In Korea itself, ready-to-drink "convenience store coffee" now has the largest share of the coffee market, says the Korean Cultural Center. ## Why is it so popular? It's **cheap**: a Dongsuh spokesperson told The Korea Times that people could have a cup for about **100 won**. It's **fast**, needing only hot water, and it's **consistent**. In offices, a box of sticks and a hot water dispenser serve everyone. ## Coffee mix vs other convenience coffee | | 3-in-1 coffee mix | [Instant coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/spray-dried-instant/) | [Canned coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/canned-coffee/) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Contains | Coffee, creamer and sugar | Coffee only | Coffee, often milk and sugar | | You add | Hot water | Hot water, milk, sugar | Nothing | | Taste | Sweet and milky | As you make it | Varies | *General guidance only. Coffee mix contains sugar and creamer as well as caffeine, so check the pack if you're watching any of them, and take care with hot water.* ## Coffee mix vs other methods - **[Spray-dried instant](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/spray-dried-instant/):** the coffee in most mixes, and its history. - **[Freeze-dried instant](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/freeze-dried-instant/):** premium instant granules. - **[Japanese canned coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/canned-coffee/):** ready-to-drink coffee from vending machines. - **[Camp Coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/camp-coffee/):** the British coffee and chicory essence. Explore every industrial method in the [instant and industrial chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/instant-industrial/). ## FAQs ### What's in a 3-in-1 coffee stick? Instant coffee, powdered creamer and sugar, measured into a single stick. You only add hot water. ### Who invented 3-in-1 coffee? Korea's Dongsuh Foods is usually credited with the first three-in-one coffee mix, in 1976, combining instant coffee and sugar with its own powdered creamer. ### How much water do you add to coffee mix? Follow the pack: each stick is measured for a set amount of water, and more water makes it weaker and less sweet. ### Why is coffee mix so popular in Korea? It's cheap, fast and consistent. It moved coffee into Korean homes and offices, and after the 1997 financial crisis it became an office staple. Maxim Mocha Gold alone sold 5.3 billion sticks in 2025, according to The Korea Times, about 170 every second. ### Is 3-in-1 coffee the same as instant coffee? It contains instant coffee, but adds creamer and sugar in the same stick, so it's sweet and milky straight away. ## Sources - [Maxim Mocha Gold marks 37 years of sweetening coffee culture](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/amp/business/companies/20260424/maxim-mocha-gold-marks-37-years-of-sweetening-coffee-culture) - [Koreans addicted to instant coffee](https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/amp/southkorea/20090422/koreatoday-koreans-addicted-to-instant-coffee) - [Korean coffee mix](https://www.koreaherald.com/article/1227267) - [Korean culture webzine, March 2026](https://www.korean-culture.org/eng/webzine/202603/sub01.html)