How to Make Dalgona Coffee

Learn how to make a decadent frothy whipped coffee, known as Dalgona coffee, at home with a few pantry ingredients and a handheld mixer or whisk! It takes less than 10 minutes to make. Enjoy this coffee hot or cold.

Whipped coffee has become wildly popular on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook. This drink is visually appealing, delicious, and is surprisingly very easy to make! It's made by whipping equal proportions of instant coffee, sugar, and hot water to create a frothy cream.

The trend first started in South Korea where it was nicknamed “Dalgona Coffee” because it resembles the look of a popular toffee treat with the same name. The sweet and bitter taste of the coffee foam and color is similar to Dalgona, hence the name.

What you'll need

What's amazing is just how easy it is to make this decadent drink at home. All you need are a few pantry staple ingredients and less than 10 minutes.

• Instant coffee: Regular ground coffee and powdered coffee will not have the same results.
• Sugar: Cane sugar, coconut sugar, or brown sugar can be used. However, I found that cane sugar worked the best to form the strongest foam peaks. You can also adjust the amount of sugar but you'll need some sugar to make this beverage.
• Hot water: The temperature of what water affects how it whips so make sure the water is boiling hot.
• Vanilla extract: Just a tad bit for flavor and is optional.
• Milk: It doesn't matter what kind of milk you use. I use almond or oat milk.
• Ice: You'll want a few cubes of ice but you can also serve it over warm milk.

How to make Dalgona Coffee

Detailed ingredient measurements, instructions, and notes can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Here’s a summary:

1. Combine ingredients: In a bowl, combine the instant coffee, sugar, hot water, and vanilla extract.

2. Whip the ingredients: Using a hand mixer, blend the ingredients until it forms a whipped coffee cream. It should take about 5 minutes.

3. Prepare beverage: In a glass, add ice cubes and pour milk until it's ⅔ full.

4. Spoon whipped coffee: Spoon the whipped coffee on top and smooth over. Stir the whipped cream into the milk and enjoy. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to two days.

Quick tips for the best whipped coffee

After making this drink countless times over the past few weeks with variations, here are some of the things I've learned:

• Use a handheld mixer: If you don’t have a handheld mixer, you can use a regular whisk but be prepared to spend ten or more minutes whisking!
• It takes time: When you first start mixing, it may feel like nothing is happening. It takes about 3-5 minutes of using the handheld mixer before the mixture starts to foam up and become silky thick so be patient!
• Reducing sugar: You can reduce the amount of sugar, but the drink needs some sugar to form the whip. I suggest reducing the amount by half and going from there.
• Use boiling hot water: Hot water will help combine the coffee and sugar. I find it best to boil some water in a kettle before adding it directly to the bowl.
• Use coffee at room temperature: Many people store their instant coffee in the freezer. I suggest using it at room temperature, otherwise the grinds will be too cold to mix well.

More easy drink recipes

• Iced Vanilla Latte
• London Fog Drink
• Masala Chai
• Iced Matcha Latte
• Golden Milk Latte

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