The main recipe for creating Dalgona coffee foam is simple: Mix an equal amount of instant coffee, sugar, and water. Once it is ready, we can use it in different recipes, limited only by our imagination.

We can change the taste of the foam by adding flavour modifiers (vanilla or spices) or serving it with alcohol (Baileys, Kahlua, brandy, etc.). One ingredient we can not substitute is instant coffee; no other form can reproduce the same foam and texture due to its specific chemical composition.

What is so special about it? Before we explain why and look at some recipes, let’s see where the Dalgona style of coffee might originate.

Whipped Coffee

Dalgona coffee is nothing new; it has been known for many years under different names in places like Greece, known as Frappe (Yannis Dritas for Nestle,1957). In Bulgaria, it is made with Coke instead of water; in India and Pakistan, it is known as Whipped/Hand beaten coffee. However, what made it famous was a Korean TV show and social media.

Here is the video that triggered many people’s interest and caused numerous how-to videos on various social platforms.

In Korea, Dalgona is associated with an old-school honeycomb sugar confectionery known to Koreans not as a drink but as candy since the 1960s. Its taste is similar to the ‘newly’ discovered whipped coffee, hence the name Dalgona.

Dalgona candy is made by mixing sugar, water, and baking soda, boiling it until it turns slightly yellow, and the final result is hardened sugar with a light and crunchy taste¹.

Dalgona is not like caramel, which is just sweet, instead, it tastes sweet at first then has a bitter finish, making it a perfect match for milk tea.

Kenny Hong Kyoung-soo, co-founder of Cafe Cha in Seoul

Kenny Hong Kyoung-soo, the co-founder of Cafe Chain in Seoul, wanted to incorporate this old traditional street candy into its milk teas and lattes as a sweetener and a visually pleasant decoration, which indirectly became a part of social interaction. Usually, it takes between 5-10 minutes for Dalgona sweets to melt and sweeten the drink.

The difference between Dalgona coffee, Frappe, and Whipped coffee.

Looking at the main ingredients, one might say that Dalgona coffee is the same as Frappe and an Indian whipped coffee, and that is precisely what it is, but with a couple of differences. Whipped coffee also refers to the process of making the coffee foam.

The differences are relative; with so many recipes and variations, I’m sure these two coffees will become complex to differentiate at some point.

Why use an instant coffee and not any other one?

The answer lies in the chemical composition of the instant coffee granules and the absence of oils.

Not all instant coffees are suitable and able to achieve long-lasting and smooth foam; the reasons for that are the methods used in coffee production.

Two particular steps influence the number of oils present in the final product.

• Spray drying
• Freeze drying

Due to the lack of oils, only coffee made by spray drying is suitable for making whipped coffees. Think of making a meringue foam out of egg whites or egg yolks.

To achieve stiff peaks, the egg whites should be free of any yolk fats that can interfere with this process by bonding with the proteins (preventing the proteins from sticking with each other). Fat interference can make it difficult for a stable foam to form.

This post explains these methods and how they affect the final result.

• In freeze-drying, the coffee extract is frozen to about -40 °C and cut into granules. The frozen granules are then dried at low temperatures and under a vacuum. The very low temperature and gentle drying conditions protect the quality of the aroma and flavour ².
  • Freeze-drying might better preserve the coffee aromatics, but that also means that oils are part of the coffee’s chemical composition.
    
  • The presence of coffee oil, which is a hydrophobic (water-hating) agent at this stage, can quickly stimulate and speed up the collapse of the foaming process by breaking down the holding forces between air, liquid, and solid in the foam, leading to a much lighter and less stable foam.

• In spray-drying, the coffee extract is sprayed into a stream of hot air at the top of a tall cylindrical tower. As the droplets fall, they dry, becoming a fine powder when they reach the bottom. The powder may then be agglomerated into granules to facilitate dosage and dissolution. Most of the aroma and flavour quality is preserved thanks to the fast drying occurring during this process³.
  • Spray-dried instant coffee powder is virtually oil-free and made up solely of tiny particles of coffee solids.
    
  • In appearance, the foam made with this type of instant coffee looks very much like the crema foam on espresso. Still, it is much thicker, more stable and completely different in composition.
    
  • Frappe foam can be described as tiny bubbles of air held together by the coffee solids. The virtual absence of coffee oil adds stability to the system so that the bubble form does not collapse with the same ease as in the crema on espresso coffee.

Dalgona Coffee Recipes

The main ingredients for Dalgona coffee recipes are pretty much the same: an equal amount of instant coffee, sugar, and water. The amount of sugar is up to a personal taste, and once the foam is ready, only the imagination is the limit.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp instant coffee
2 tsp sugar
1 oz hot water

Preparation Methods:

Classic Dalgona Recipe

1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee
Two teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 tbsp hot water
Add ingredients to a bowl and whip with a mixer until you see soft peaks forming.
Add a few ice cubes in a glass and fill it to 3/4 full with milk. Top with coffee foam, and enjoy.

Matcha Dalgona Recipe

It is not coffee foam; the preparation method is the same, and different foam flavours can be created.

1/4 cup whipping cream
Two teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Two teaspoons of matcha powder
Whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla. Add the matcha powder and whip again before you see soft peaks forming.
Add a few ice cubes to a glass, and pour hot or cold milk up to 2/3 of the glass. Top with Matcha foam.

Colada Matcha Dalgona (CMD)

1 1/2 oz white rum
2 1/2 oz coconut milk
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons refined powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons matcha in a bowl

Whip the cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Before you see soft peaks forming, add the matcha powder (Sift the matcha powder) and whip again.
Shake the rum and coconut milk with ice. Strain into a chilled glass filled with a few ice cubes. Top with Matcha foam.

Frappe

Frappe (frappé) comes from the French word for a drink prepared with ice. Coffee frappe is defined as a drink made with coffee and ice. Some frappes are similar in texture to iced coffees, and some to slashes. It all depends on which country you are in.

The Frappe, which I enjoy having, especially in the summer, is the Greek variation, which is extremely popular in Greece, Cyprus, and worldwide.

Greek Frappe

To make Greek-style Frappe, we need the same ingredients as Dalgona coffee.

• Instant coffee
• Sugar has three different styles/names based on the amount of sugar.
  • Sketos – no sugar
  • Metrios (medium) – 1-2 teaspoons sugar
  • Glykos (sweet) – 2-4 teaspoons sugar
  • Me gala” (with milk) refers to using milk in the recipes—1 or 2 tbsp evaporated milk.
• Cold water

The goal is to create a coffee foam that is not as thick as in Dalgona; time and effort are much shorter. The easier way is to use a shaker, a milk frother, or a frappe mixer.

In a tall cold glass, add:

• 2 teaspoons of instant coffee
• 2 teaspoons of sugar – if desired
• 1 oz cold water

Shake or mix until you get a nice foam, about 15-30 seconds, depending on the foam you are after or the equipment used.

• Add 2-3 ice cubes.
• Pour the mixture into the serving glass.
• Add a little bit of milk, which is optional.
• Fill the glass with cold water and serve with a drinking straw – the foam will stay longer.

The best Frappe coffees have the smallest bubbles and a foam thickness of about 1.5 to 2 inches (30 to 50 mm).

Hand Beaten Coffee

Whip coffee is known under different names: Indian cappuccino, Pakistani latte, Phitti Hui Coffee, Desi coffee, and Soft coffee. It uses the same method: whisking instant coffee, sugar, and water to create coffee foam.

Making it begins with Dalgona by whipping the coffee to a thick foam; once you have it ready, the following steps involve steaming the milk, pouring it into a cup, and topping it with the beaten coffee.

If you prefer a more robust coffee, add a shot of espresso in a cup, pour over the steamed milk, and top with coffee foam.

These are the common recipe ingredients used to make beaten coffee.

• 2 tbsp instant coffee
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 oz cold water
• 2 cups of milk

Preparation:

• Make coffee foam by whisking or using an electric coffee, sugar, and water mixer.
• Steam the milk.
• Place one scoop of the coffee foam on the bottom of a heatproof glass.
• Pour over slowly the steamed milk up to about 2/3 of the glass.
• Scoop some of the coffee foam and place it on top.
• Sprinkle with chocolate powder or instant coffee.

Like Dalgona coffee and Frappe, Indian cappuccino can also be served cold and used in many other recipes.
I view the technique of how the whipped coffee is made as a tool available to bartenders for creating drinks, similar to the purpose of foams in Molecular Mixology.

Image credit – Image by Joseph Mucira from Pixabay

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