Historical information

Before the era of powdered instant coffee; the main method of non-percolated coffee was to have a bottle of 'coffee essence' on hand. These bottles contained a thick liquid compound of coffee and chicory and were added to hot water to make a drink. The product is still available. The earlier bottles had the name of the manufacturer embossed into the glass but later versions had a label panel onto which a label was affixed. This allowed for several different flavours or variations to be sold in one type of bottle with different labels. The bottles came in brown or clear glass and have a distinctive shape. Bottle One has a screw top enclosure with 'Robur Tea Co. Limited' on a side panel. The bottle manufacturer's mark is AGM; used post 1938. It is a 2-piece mould and mould marks are visible on the shoulders and through thread of screw top. The neck is slightly askew and looks stretched on one side; perhaps because it was removed from the mould before being fully cooled. Bottle Two has a cork stoppered neck in clear glass. It has no embossing and has the AGM monogram on its base. It is from a 2-piece mould with a strong mould mark through to the top of the stopper closure. Bottles are 8 ounce size and were recovered from the garden of a GHS member.

Physical description

Small collection of 4 bottles.

Subjects