CHICAGO — The company that added "venti" and "frappuccino" to American vocabularies is making a push throughout North America to convince connoisseurs to sample what many see as a down-market drink — instant coffee.

Nearly eight months after Starbucks began selling its Via instant coffee in Seattle and Chicago, the company today will begin offering the dissolvable drink to the rest of the country and in its Canadian stores. Backed by the company's first television ads, along with large-scale distribution to about 1,500 sites outside its stores, the Via launch shows just how determined Starbucks is to own a stake in the $21 billion worldwide instant coffee market.

Executives didn't release sales data on Via for its eight months in the limited markets.