Khoren Cyrus Sirak Melikian (November 24, 1920November 27 2008) was an

Armenian-American Armenian Americans () are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after Armenians in Russia. The first major wave of Armenian immig ...

coffee industry

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

credited with several

inventions An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

that propelled coffee use into the American public. He is credited, along with his

business partner A business partner is a commercial entity with which another commercial entity has some form of alliance. This relationship may be a contractual, exclusive bond in which both entities commit not to ally with third parties. Alternatively, it may be ...

, Lloyd Rudd, as the

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

of the

coffee vending machine Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

and the first US fresh-brew machine. Furthermore, Cyrus was instrumental in several other inventions, including coffee pods, post-mix vendor

icemaker An icemaker, ice generator, or ice machine may refer to either a consumer device for making ice, found inside a home freezer; a stand-alone appliance for making ice, or an industrial machine for making ice on a large scale. The term "ice machin ...

s, and in-machine coffee bean grinders. He initiated the Culinary Institute at Rockland Mansion in Fairmount Park. Melikian also established the Flavor-Maker Culinary Chef's Training School, and taught there for 10 years. Melikian was awarded with the Person of the Year Award by the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal in 2002.People of the year: Cyrus Melikian
Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, 20 December 2002 After Rudd-Melikian was sold and became Refreshment Machinery, Melikian and his sons founded Automatic Brewers & Coffee Devices (

Conshohocken, PA Conshohocken ( ; ) is a borough on the Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in suburban Philadelphia. Historically a large mill town and industrial and manufacturing center, after the decline of industry in recent years Conshohock ...

). Melikian had designed a method of sandwiching finely ground roast coffee between two long strips of

filter paper Filter paper is a semi-permeable paper barrier placed perpendicular to a liquid or air flow. It is used to separate fine solid particles from liquids or gases. The raw materials are typically different pulp (paper), paper pulps. The pulp may be ...

, supplied in rolls for the RMi fresh-brew machine. Melikian's entrepreneurial spirit and passion lives on through his grandchildren Pearce Fielding Lockwood, Alexander Melikian, Anayis Melikian, Armen Melikian, Hunter Harrison, and Casey Harrison. All of whom had the rare privilege of learning from Mr. Melikian himself.

Patents

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melikian Cyrus 1920 births 2008 deaths American people of Armenian descent Businesspeople in coffee 20th-century American inventors