Camp Coffee

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Camp Coffee is a Scottish food product, originally produced by a company named Paterson, but now produced by McCormick Foods.

It is a glutinous brown substance which consists of sugar, coffee essence, and chicory essence. This is generally used as a substitute for coffee, by mixing with warm milk in much the same way as cocoa, but it is commonly found on baking aisles in supermarkets as it is also used as an ingredient in coffee cake and other confections.

The label is rather old-fashioned in tone, consisting of a drawing of a Scottish soldier and a Sikh soldier sitting down together outside a tent, from which flies a flag carrying the drink's slogan, "Ready Aye Ready". Originally the picture depicted the Sikh as carrying a tray of coffee; it is widely believed that this was changed to avoid the imperialist connotations of the Sikh as a servant, although the company does not confirm or deny this.^[1] The original drawing was by William Victor Wrigglesworth.

The brand has been around since 1885; legend has it that it was originally developed as a method of brewing coffee quickly for military purposes.

Today Camp is a British totem of nostalgia, as many remember it from their childhoods.