Postum goes the way of the buggy whip

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Postum addicts among Mormons in Utah are looking for a new way to get a caffeine-free fix now that Kraft Foods has discontinued the cereal beverage.

Postum was invented in 1895 by C.W. Post, a Seventh Day Adventist and founder of the cereal company that bore his name. Both Adventists and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints eschew coffee and tea, along with liquor and cigarettes.

Rene Zahery, a spokeswoman for Kraft, which now owns the Post brand name, said the demand for Postum had dwindled to the point where manufacturing it no longer made sense, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"Whatever remains in the marketplace is all there is of Postum," she said.

Postum was once so much a part of Mormon life that coffee tables elsewhere were referred to as Postum tables. But the drink appears to have fallen out of fashion even while the church has grown.

The drink clearly has its fans.

"This is one Mormon who mourns the death of Postum. I'm quite sure that I'm not alone," wrote William Morris, creator of a Mormon arts and culture blog.