Whipped Coffee

Whipped Coffee
Vaughn Vreeland
Rating
4(869)
Notes
Read community notes

This Instagram-famous drink, known as whipped coffee or dalgona coffee, is made by whipping instant coffee with sugar and water, resulting in a butterscotch-hued foam that’s spooned over milk. While it seems like a trend, many have been making whipped coffee for years. In India and Pakistan, whipped coffee has long been a popular home brew, known as phenti hui. In Greece, the frappé is dalgona’s older, frothier sibling. And, more generally, there are versions that are shaken with egg whites and served with condensed milk.

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Ingredients

Yield:1 drink
  • 2tablespoons granulated instant coffee (regular or decaffeinated)
  • teaspoons granulated sugar, plus more to taste
  • 2tablespoons hot water
  • Ice, as needed
  • Milk, as needed
Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Combine granulated instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a medium bowl.

  2. Step 2

    Whip by hand using a whisk or with a mixer until the mixture turns from foamy to frothy to creamy.

  3. Step 3

    Spoon the fluffy mixture over milk in a glass filled with ice. (You could also spoon it over warm milk for a hot drink.) Gently combine and serve.

Ratings

4 out of 5
869 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

I highly recommend Mount Hagen organic instant coffee for this recipe. It has fruit and chocolate notes and is very smooth and non-bitter. I used 2 TB coffee and one TB sugar and it got thick and creamy, maybe not as foamy as it’s supposed to be but it was absolutely delicious, albeit more caffeine than I would usually drink. Perhaps I will try with just one TB of coffee next time as my face is tingling as I type this.

It is VERY strong. You could easily half the coffee amount. That said, mix with ice and milk and you’d have a Tim Horton’s Ice Cap.

This was fun to make & drink. My 13-year old and I shared it. The recipe is STRONG, but it seems you could make it with 1/2 the coffee and sugar and all of the water without a problem. I used Cafe Listo - a Salvadoran instant coffee that, to my taste, is the best on the market. I poured it over a 1/2 milk and 1/2 hot water in a 12 oz glass. I used an aerolatte - best 15 bucks I spent 8 years ago - to froth it up. Next time, I may pour it over ice cream: affogato hack.

I studied in England during college. After a long night of studying a student asked if he could make me coffee. I jumped on the offer. The student was an exchange student from Greece. I was anticipating a great cup of coffee. I could not help but cringe when I saw him take out the instant coffee crystals. My mistake! It was the Greece version of whipped coffee- and absolutely delicious.

It’s South Korean but yes it is quite sweet!

Just the antidote to groundhog days! Delicious treat. I found it necessary to whip this using a whisk attachment on a hand mixer. Wasn’t able to do it by hand.

I topped mine off with some cold brew and regretted nothing.

For reviewers complaining about the taste - the key is to *combine* with the milk before drinking. It will take on a frappe effect and be far less bitter.

Love this - my summer drink. It's imperative to use the instant coffee - I tried a other methods, it's just...no. As someone mentioned, I have halved the recipe and it works well. I have tried on flax, almond, and oat milk. All worked great. My current choice is chocolate oat milk! (I do about 1/2 tbsp less sugar if I use sugared milk). I've read other reviews which stated the bowl material is important, I use a stainless steel bowl & hand whisk, not as frothy but works (hate washing beaters!).

We used to make this growing up in India! Of course now it’s a trendy drink in the US just like turmeric ghee “lattes” and the like which our moms used to force us to drink...Glad Americans are finally “discovering” what we’ve been doing in India for ages. Because of course it doesn’t exist as a thing unless Americans are commercializing it.

1tbsp coffee, 1tbsp + 1tsp sugar - for two coffees.

I also felt that there was too much coffee in here, and I’m generally a strong black coffee only kinda guy - except when I want to make something pretty to impress my wife ;-). After playing around a bit, I landed on 1tbs coffee, 1tbs sugar, and 2tbs water. Simple, easy, and tastes and looks great!

An immersion blender works great in place of a hand mixer or (gasp!) trying to whip this by hand. This coffee drink is very strong as is; I typically will divide the drink in half and add milk to the half I’m drinking at the moment. But if you are a fan of very strong coffee, leave it as is! Happy caffeination, friends.

Tasty, fast and fun to make. I had some very dark instant espresso powder so I upped the sugar slightly. I generally get my coffee drinks in 8-10 oz. sizes as opposed to the 16-32 oz. you might find in a typical coffee chain. There was a good 1 cup of whipped coffee and that divides nicely into two drinks.

My daughter made this with PERO, an instant caffeine-free beverage powder made from grains. It’s dark brown and tastes vaguely similar to coffee. We didn’t have any instant coffee. It was really delicious! The next day her arm was sore from 7 minutes of vigorous whisking. But hey, the gyms are all closed, so why not get your workout in the kitchen?

I learned how to make this when I spent 24 hours or so in jail. It was delicious!

I use the Starbuck's instant Christmas blend, which has this wonderful spiciness, along with Nutpods cookie butter flavor, and Truvia or stevia instead of sugar. The Vietnamese make this drink with sweetened condensed milk. I'd always thought that was the original version.

I’ve made this with a few types of different instant coffees and it always turns out. I’ve done it with equal parts sugar. Great spooned over warm frothed milk of any type. Prefer hand mixer bc whipping by hand is an exercise. It’s a very special treat.

Blend 1 tsp instant coffee, 1 tsp sugar and 3/4 cup of cold milk per serving. Pour into a glass with a scoop or two of ice cream. Very refreshing

I’ve made “pheti hui” coffee all my life. I suggest 1 slightly rounded tsp of instant coffee and less than 1 tsp of sugar per 8 oz cup. Whip with small amt of water or milk until very LIGHT IN COLOR. Divide equally into desired number cups. Add approx 2-3 Tbsp of v hot milk into each cup and mix well. Add rest of the very hot milk slowly in each cup, while stirring v gently. This makes well-mixed & heavenly coffee with foam intact on top. At least 2 servings are needed to make it frothy.

My instinct would be to pour over nice black coffee, not milk... Anyone done that?

I couldn't get the right consistency with the proportions as listed. I had better luck with equal parts sugar, hot water, and instant coffee. 1 tablespoon of each did the trick

This looked amazing but when I made it, I took two sips and threw the rest away. Way, way too strong. If made with much less instant coffee, it might be a great beverage, but not with the recipe as written.

I use Medaglia d’Oro instant espresso, and I use two tablespoons each of sugar, coffee and hot water. With an immersion blender, it’s so easy and amazing

I used Mount Hagen coffee as well. I also cheated and used a tiny handheld milk frother to mix it up. This was my go-to post-run/pre-teach-French-2-over-Zoom drink during the past year. Highly recommend!

Save the calories; I used granulated Stevia. 1 Tbsp granulated Stevia = 1 Tbsp of sugar. It's potent and delicious.

Amazing recipe for a hot summer day. I sometimes add whipped cream, a spoon of vanilla ice cream, and/or a dash of salted caramel liquor.

Needs more than 1/2 tsp sugar

Question: is the sugar necessary?

I didn’t check the notes before making it. Hopefully you did :D It was TOO STRONG for our tastes!

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