Dalgona coffee is having a moment. This whipped coffee is viral on TikTok, trending on Twitter, and blowing up my insta feed. Itâs pretty, it tastes good, and itâs probably the best way to to spend some time while youâre at home during the stay home covid campaign.
The best part about it is that you only need three ingredients, two of which you probably already have at home so that means no need to put in a delivery order or go to the grocery store. If you have instant coffee, sugar, and milk, youâre fluffy coffee ready. Itâs super simple: mix equal parts coffee, sugar, and hot water, then whip until it turns into a luxe and silky thick creamy foam. Spoon it on to some iced milk (which is literally just milk with ice in it) then enjoy, no Starbucks run needed.
Dalgona coffee, fluffy coffee, frothy coffee, whipped coffee – whatever you want to call it, here are all your questions answered right here!
What is dalgona coffee?
Dalgona coffee is a whipped frothy coffee thatâs made from instant coffee and sugar, then put on milk. Itâs called dalgona because the fluffy creamy coffee looks like dalgona candy, a candy from South Korea thatâs just like honeycomb toffee or sponge toffee. Youâve probably eaten honeycomb toffee before, covered in chocolate. I havenât had it in years but itâs good.
What about whipped coffee?
Whipped coffee is what they call dalgona coffee on Tiktok! They also call it Tiktok coffee, frappe coffee, beaten coffee, hand beaten coffee, and a myriad of other names.
Dalgona coffee’s origin:
The popularity of dalgona coffee mostly stems from South Korea where it started trending because of social distancing/isolation. Everyone was stuck at home and Instagramming their daily lives and dalgona coffee caught on, probably because you donât need much to make it and itâs really cute. Whipped coffee exists elsewhere in the world too – apparently it came to the Korea consciousness via a big Korean actor discovering it in Macau, but they also have it in India and Pakistan. Apparently it comes from Greece where a NescafĂ© guy figured out that instant NescafĂ© whips up nice. They call it frappe!
How to make dalgona coffee
- Boil. You need just off the boil hot water to instantly melt your coffee crystals. Just bring a small pot of water to a boil.
- Mix. In a bowl, stir together equal parts instant coffee and sugar.
- Fluff. When the water has come to a boil, immediately add the water to the bowl of coffee and sugar and start to whip. Use a whisk or hand mixer to whip until light, frothy, and thick.
- Pour. Fill a glass (or two) with ice and pour in cold milk.
- Top. Top the glasses of milk with the fluffy dalgona coffee. Stir and enjoy!
Whipped coffee ingredients
- Instant Coffee:Â You want granulated instant coffee crystals without any add-ins or flavors. Some people have reported a certain brand or another not working. I keep it simple and use Nescafe Clasico Instant Coffee.
- Sweetener: I use sugar here, but you can use any you want, including stevia in the raw, splenda, or something else. It’s really bitter without a sweetener though (duh) so you should definitely include this. The sugar also helps the fluffy coffee part stay fluffy.
- Milk: Any milk is good! I use 2% here. You can substitute your favorite milk: almond milk, soy milk, oat milk. It’s the biggest part of the drink so make sure it’s a milk you like!
Do I have to use instant coffee?
Yes, it has to be instant coffee. Thereâs something about instant coffee crystals that creates the right frothy texture to whip up. You can use decaf too if youâre sensitive to caffeine â Iâm pretty sure itâll froth up the same way but I canât guarantee it because we donât have any decaf instant coffee at home. I used NescafĂ© – apparently NescafĂ© are the ones who invented frappe coffee so itâll definitely work the best, but I have a friend who made it successfully with both Maxwell House and Starbucks instant espresso (although the espresso wasnât as frothy).
Can you make dalgona coffee without sugar?
Short answer, yes. Long answer, not really? The sugar really helps the instant coffee whip to a fluffy meringue-like texture that holds its shape for a while. But, Iâve also made it using stevia in the raw and that worked too (I assume other granulated sweeteners will as well), but it wasnât as fluffy. If youâre really sensitive to sugar, you can reduce it down, just know that your fluff wonât be as fluffy.
Do I have to use a hand mixer?
You can use your arm muscles and a whisk, like I did. It didnât take long at all, but maybe I have a lot of experience whipping cream and meringues. If you have a hand mixer, stand mixer, frother, or whisk you can make dalgona coffee. I use this milk frother and it works amazingly.
What kind of milk can I use in dalgona coffee?
You can use any kind of milk or milk substitute you like: almond milk, oat milk, soy milk, coconut milk, rice milk, cashew milk, macadamia milk, essentially any milk that has a creamy mouth feel.
Hot Milk vs Cold Milk Dalgona Coffee
You can use hot milk or iced/cold, itâs up to you! I went with iced because it makes the milk go farther and I need to stretch out my milk for as long as possible because Iâm literally frightened to go to the grocery store. You can also use evaporated milk (which comes in cans, perfect!), either watered down a bit or not.
What does dalgona coffee taste like?
Itâs velvety and creamy and full of sweet coffee flavor. Kind of a like a non-icy frappuccino. Itâs full of strong coffee flavors and pretty darn sweet. But if youâre not so concerned about getting that picture perfect fluffy cap, you can ease up on the amount of fluffy coffee you put on top of your milk.
Hope you guys give this a try. I absolutely loved it when I made it with just 1 teaspoon of coffee and 1 teaspoon of sugar. As long as you go with equal parts coffee, sugar, and water, you can make the fluffy coffee of your dreams. In the recipe below I kept it at 2 tablespoons of each and made 2 coffees, but feel free to adjust as needed.
Why wonât my whipped coffee whip?
Iâve been getting lots of comments asking why wonât the coffee fluff up. I have two tips for you guys:
- Make sure your have enough volume. Having a small amount of anything makes it more difficult to whip because you have to work that much harder to whip the air into a tiny amount of volume. If youâre having difficulty whipping, try doubling the recipe, which will most likely help. Also, donât use too big of a bowl.
- Use very hot water which will help dissolve the coffee and sugar instantly. Having the sugar fully dissolved will help the mixture froth up more.
Other Frequently Asked Questions:
What is the best equipment for whipped coffee?
- Hand Held Electric Mixer – This is probably the easiest way because you can press your whisks right up against the mixture and you donât need to use any arm strength.
- Stand Mixer – This is hands free but you need to make sure you have enough liquid in the bowl so that the whisks actually touch the mixture. Youâll probably need to do a triple or quadruple batch.
- Small Whisk or Matcha Whisk – This is the cheapest way to whip and what I personally do. It works and it works well and you donât have to get a machine out to do it. It takes some time but hey, itâs not like Iâm getting much exercise right now, so I think this is my number 1 choice even though I put it down as number 3.
- Hand Held Frother – You can use a hand held frother but it needs to be very very powerful and you need to do it for a LONG time and you will probably get frustrated. If you do use a frother, put the mixture in a jar or cup instead of a bowl, itâll make it a tiny bit easier.
- Jar – You can put everything in a jar and shake it up. This is actually how they make frappe coffee in Greece. It doesnât get as thick but it does get foamy.
Can I put other stuff in my whipped coffee? Yes, here are some variations:
- Mocha: whip up the dalgona, but then add 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder and you have a mocha!
- Matcha: Follow our Dalgona Matcha recipe!
- Maple: use maple syrup instead of sugar for a maple dalgona
- Pumpkin spice dalgona coffee:Â stir in 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree into your milk and whip 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice up with the dalgona fluff. This tastes best with hot milk but goes with cold milk too.
- Gingerbread dalgona coffee:Â add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon ginger when you add the sugar to the dalgona and whip up. Stir in 1 teaspoon of molasses into the milk.
- Honey: use honey for a honey dalgona
- Less sugar: you can adjust the sugar content to your preference, if you like it sweeter, add more sugar, if you think itâs too sweet, add less
- Keto: you can use zero calorie sweetner and drink it over watered down cream instead of milk
- Vegan: use alternative milks like almond, oat, soy, etc.
- Caffeine Free: Just use decaf coffee
- Hot: Yep, you can have this hot or iced, whichever you prefer!
Can I make it ahead of time?
Dalgona coffee can keep for a long time, especially if you whip it up well. I put a dollop in the fridge to experiment and itâs been there for four days, no joke and it looks exactly the same as the day I made it.
Can I make Keto Whipped Coffee?
Good news keto people! You can totally make keto dalgona coffee. Just use your favorite granulated sweetener, Iâve made it with stevia in the raw, monkfruit, and swerve. Instead of milk, use heavy cream watered down with water. Use 1 and a half tablespoons mixed with water for the milk portion.
What else can I use it on?
Itâs so fluffy you can put it on anything! I made a small batch of brownies recently (recipe here!) and topped one off with dalgona coffee. You can also put it on ice cream or baked goods like cakes, loaves, cookies, basically anything!
Let me know if you have any other questions! May your dalgona be fluffy and thicc!
Stay safe and healthy at home :)
Dalgona Coffee Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp instant coffee
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp very hot water
- 2 glasses milk with ice cubes
Instructions
- Bring small pot of water to a boil. While the waterâs coming to a boil, make the dalgona coffee fluff: In a bowl, mix together the instant coffee and sugar.
- Once the water comes to a boil, carefully add 2 tablespoons of the hot water to the coffee sugar mix and whisk or use a hand mixer to whip until light and frothy.
- Fill two glasses with ice and pour in the milk. Top the glasses with equal amounts of the fluffy coffee. Stir throughly before enjoying!
Notes
Estimated Nutrition
More drinks
135 Comments
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-Steph & Mike
Just because you only mention Korea, India and Pakistan – I believe this was invented by Nescafe in Greece in 1957. I know this as FrappĂ© coffee and it is very popular in Greece. See the Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frapp%C3%A9_coffee
thanks for the info!
Thank you
are you in the subtle asian cooking group on fb? they received so many dalgona coffee post submissions that they had to stop accepting them lol
lololol i donât facebook >_<
What instant coffee did you use?
it was nescafé!
i literally did everything the same but its just not getting fluffy at all!!! what could be my mistake? ugh
hi chloe,
did you use a hand mixer? what kind of instant coffee did you use? what kind of sugar? was your water boiling hot?
Mine didnât get very fluffy at all either! I was using a hand mixer, boiling water, and just regular granulated sugar. Any tips or ideas why you it didnât get fluffy??
was the hand mixer completely submerged in the coffee mix?
Make sure youre using instant coffee, other coffees donât work
Maybe you just got impatient?
I had the same problem. Using powdered sugar (instead of granulated) made mine much thicker and whipped up much quicker!
Mine wasnât getting fluffy and I was using NescafĂ©, I realized that I was using a type of instant coffee from NescafĂ© that has the sugar and creamer already in it. Make sure the type your using is just the coffee!
Can you use instant cappuccino cause i dont have any other instant coffee.
Or can i use cocoa, btw i love your recipes.
ooh i havenât tried with cocoa, that sounds amazing :)
thanks for the kind words!
The cocao won’t work by it’s self, you actually have to add some cream or egg whites for them to get somewhat the same affect as the coffee
yes i heard that too!
i havenât tried but i hear itâll foam up but maybe not as much.
Ok. Np.
can u substitute soymilk?
absolutely!
I did exactly as instructed and even used an electric hand mixer, but itâs still not whipped. I even mixed it for an additional 15 mins and I gave up đ
what kind of instant coffee was it?
Folgers Classic Medium Roast Instant Coffee
what did you whip it in?
Like the bowl? It was in my glass bowl
did you measure out the two tablespoons of boiling hot water or did you eyeball it?
I used a measuring spoon to measure all 3 ingredients
iâm not sure how to trouble shoot it with you! how old is your instant coffee?
I just bought it the day I tried to make it, I bought what I needed specifically to make it đ Iâll give it another go this time I will use the regular whisk not electric mixer and see if that makes a difference. Thank you!
please let me know if it works!
My daughter did this in a metal mixing bowl with espresso that is like 7 years old and cold water. It worked great. Now she is trying with cocoa
I wonder if it’s Folgers because mine don’t whip either?
Mine will not whip either! It must be folgers…
Hi. I used Folgers and it whipped up beautifully. I whisked by hand and to be honest, it did take extra effort and time but keep whisking an donât give up…just when you think it wonât fluff up anymore…it was incredibly FLUFFY!!! I used Starbucks Via Instant Coffee too and that worked as well. Good luck!
I did this and at first I didnt think it was whipping, but after 15 minutes it became nice and thick!
yay! happy that it worked for you :)
sometimes when thereâs a small amount of liquid it takes longer to whip :)
fun way to make coffee, thank you, even if I go with the less frothy stevia version, good to know that works too!
Do you think it would work with instant espresso powder?
i havenât tried but i think it might?
I just made it with espresso powder and it turned out perfectly
I will make one with the Nescafe Gold and Steviana. How much steviana should I use?
hi,
i would use as much as you use to regularly sweeten your coffee :)
I tried it twice and it won’t get frothy. Does the type or amount of sugar affect it? What do you think I should do?
the type of sugar definitely makes it more or less frothy. if you want it as frothy as the photo you need to use the full 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
I used a tablespoon to whip the coffee and I stirred the mixture one direction , then stirred the opposite direction and it got fluffy in no time hope this helps
IAM. In Brownsville texas. So bored. I can’t work can’t workout. So I’m going to try this coffee it looks so good
Hi Amy, why can’t you workout? You can use bottles of water as weights, books as a stepper or try hundreds of exercises which don’t require any tools at all. Good luck!
Ok so I used Maxwell house instant coffee and I mixed and put the exact ingredients as you said and Iâve been mixing for almost 30 min
hi emma,
hmm, not sure why it wonât fluff up. i had someone use maxwell house and it worked great. did it get frothy at all?
Made it as written. It was delicious.
glad you liked it!
i loved this! But it didnât whip for me for a long time :(. My instant coffee from starbucks so i gave up after a little while. Any tips?
how much instant coffee did you measure out? was it the full 2 tablespoons plus 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water?
Can u use Maxwell House French Vanilla Iced Latte??
hi ava,
i havenât tried, so iâm not sure. let me know how it goes!
Hi ! So I successfully made it but is it normal to still have large chunks of sugar in the foam? It didnât fully dissolve :( not sure if I did anything wrong :(
hi,
the sugar should have dissolved in the hot water at the beginning :)
I was wonderimg if the leftover could possibly be stored for use later? I mean if i us ethis recipe, 1 tbsp coffee is a lot for one cup of coffee so can i usevhalf and store the other half in the fridge for later? How long do you it’ll last?
hi, you can but it might not be as fluffy anymore. not too sure how long itâll last, maybe 1 hour?
This worked great! I’ve made it twice, first with 1:1 instant coffee to sugar ratio and then again with half the amount of sugar since it was too sweet for me at first. It was surprising how good instant coffee can be!
The second time I also attached a mini whisk to a drill to make it easier on my arms!
I don’t have instant coffee but I do have regular ground coffee. I know you said you ‘have’ to use instant, but how do you think the texture/consistency would turn out if I did decide to try this with ground coffee instead? Thanks :)
hi lee,
it definitely wonât work with regular ground coffee
This is awesome! I was skeptical because I usually think instant coffee is gross, but the sugar definitely balances it out. I used warm almond milk, and tried both regular sugar and a mix of erythritol and xylitol and both turned out pretty well. I liked the sugar flavor better but they weren’t too different in consistency. I did it by hand but I would try a hand mixer next time to see if I can get it fluffier. Thank you for sharing!
Do you think I could double the sugar? Would it affect the thickening?
hi sarah, you can definitely double it you might want to add a bit more water :)
I first encountered this frappé coffee in Cyprus. Nescafé and a bit of cold water whipped made with a milk shake stand or hand held whip. When you have all the foam you need, add cold milk. No need for sugar.
We just made that last week, too! đ
How Long can you keep the whipped dalgona coffee ?
i made some yesterday and it is still fluffy today! so i think itâs safe to say for a day :)
Ne d to add the water slowly to get it to thicken. Turned out great on third try.
thanks for the tip karri!
Hi!! I used Folgers instant coffee, it did not turn out well at all.. it tastes really bitter and weird.. is this right?! I feel like itâs supposed to be sweet :(
hi mandy,
it is A LOT of coffee so if youâre not a huge coffee drinker youâll probably find it too bitter. feel free to add more sugar :)
hi, i use nescafe’s instant coffee packets and im not getting it to become thicker and fluffier. i had to add another packet in to make it thick, but it wont become fluffy even after i mixed it for 20 min :(
i use an electric hand mixer, a normal bowl, two tablespoons of boiling hot water, and 2 tablespoons of normal sugar.
this is the best coffee I’ve ever had, however i put in a bit less sugar then coffee or else its really sweet
hi ruby,
itâs definitely on the sweeter side. iâm glad you were able to customize it :)
Can I make a big amount and then conserve it in the fridge? So I can use it for like 2-3days without having to do the whole process each time
yes, if you whip it up enough, itâll keep in the fridge. youâll just have to give it a slight stir before using!
I saw that someone used Folgers, I tried the same brand and it didnât turn out right either. Maybe Folgers instant coffee doesnât work for making Dalgona.
yeah, i’m having a hard time with it too
I made it and it was perfect!
I made this as the recipe states with Medaglia D’Oro instant espresso coffee, and it was delicious!! I spent about 12 minutes hand whipping it before I decided soft peaks were fine, haha. I will try it with my immersion blender next time and see what happens. Thanks!
an immersion blender will definitely make things faster. thanks for letting me know that the instant espresso coffee works! :)
Thanks for the cool recipe! Now I want to see if it works with hot chocolate!
I wish I understood why the coffee fluffs up like that.
tead the label. a starch thickener like #1440.
Glad to see I wasnât the only one who failed to get it fluffy, I seriously whipped it with my mixer for at least an hour and still it was like a thick syrup. I used Trader Joeâs instant coffee which may be why
I made this this morning and it turned out great! Folgers instant coffee, white granulated sugar & boiling water. I did crank my hand mixer to med-high speed. The mixture wasn’t doing much at the lower speeds.
Can i use instant cappuccino (Hills Bros.) instead if I measure 4 tablespoons and 2 tablespoons of hot water?
The mix already has sugar in it.
hi shauna,
i havenât tried but some other people have successfully used instant espresso so it might work? please let me know if you try it :)
oops! I meant for this to post as a comment on the original post, not specifically to your comment, Shauna. Sorry!
How did this work out. Iâve tried with this product and it just gets to a thick syrupy consistency.
Do I have to use only whole milk or will 1% or 2% work as well?
Thanks
hi,
the milk is just the base to mix the dalgona coffee into so it doesnât matter which milk, it should be the milk you prefer drinking :)
I tried this morning, too. It gets thick and silky, but no where near light and fluffy. I’ve used my frother, an immersion blender, and now hand whisking. I hope I can get it to work because it sounds yummy!
I really appreciated your clear instructions and mine turned out great! I didn’t want to pull out my hand mixer so I did it by hand and did feel like my arm was going to fall off…but I don’t whip stuff very often! I don’t know if it got AS fluffy as yours but it was still fluffy enough to be satisfying and the make the drink really thick and creamy and delicious! But one thing that surprised me was the taste of the actual coffee whip is not what I would call good, it’s really bitter so I was really surprised that just mixing it with milk made it all come together! I think the Greek frappe that someone mentioned above is definitely related but instead of being fluffy and whipped, it’s shaken and foamy (but also plays on the magical combo of instant coffee, sugar, water, and some kind of vigorous blending.)
my coffee colour didn’t become light nor frothy what should I do?
hi ajk,
how long did you beat it for? what kind of instant coffee was it?
How about freezing it? Do you think it would freeze well? I was thinking of putting it in a freezer bag and squeezing it out to make dalgona âblobbiesâ.
iâm not sure if itâll freeze well!
Just some info, after making a batch, I put it all in a bowl and chilled in the freezer, it became more custard-like which is exactly what I was hoping for. Next, I will squeeze small amounts on parchment paper, freeze and see how they defrost. Also, in case anyone is wondering, I used NescafĂ© ClĂĄsico Dark Roast and it frothed up perfectly! However, it has more of a bitter coffee taste which comes with dark roast. The reason I did not pick the medium roast is because that one had finer crystals whereas the dark roast was in the form of larger granules…not sure if that matters but I wanted it to work, so I made sure NOT TO pick Folgers for this recipe.
Can I use 3 in 1 coffee?
hi kayla,
i havenât tried it so iâm not sure if itâll work!
How would it be to top chocolate pudding or a hot chocolate drink?R R
Decaf instant coffee works great, by the way!
Can you use instant cappuccino mix such as Hills Brothers, instead of instant coffee?
What would be the ratios for ingredients?
Hi,
I donât drink tea or coffee but have been too tempted to try the Dalgona. Iâm originally from Pakistan and yes, weâve been making this forever. However, Iâd never tried it and wanted to experiment with the trending recipes on the Internet.
Sadly, it was an epic fail :( I especially bought Starbucks Medium Roast for it but got the ground coffee :( Whipped with a mixer for 15 minutes and didnât work. Instead of throwing the whole thing , Ended up adding some of the mixture to traditional Pakistani tea (boiled two glasses of whole milk, added two tea bags of Tapal tea, 2 tsp sugar, and added 1 tsp of the coffee mixture ) and it was good.
I guess what went wrong was that I didnât have instant coffee. Would you agree ? Iâll definitely try it again!
hi mariyah,
it doesnât work with regular coffee, it has to be instant coffee.
I love this stuff! It is very addictive! Instead of flavoring my coffee, I flavor my milk with either vanilla or Nesquick. It is so yummy.
I used brand new Starbucks Veranda instant coffee, raw cane sugar approximately the same granular size as regular white table sugar, boiling water. I measured each w a measuring spoon for cooking. I used a mixer which I had literally just made whipped egg whites in for merengues earlier today. I never got anything like peaks of froth. I got slightly frothy coffee colored water. Nothing close to the beautiful picture. However, still tasted pretty good. I only really like coffee with cream, no sugar, so it wasnât exactly my thing anyway. But kind of fun to try.
hi meredith,
it might not have whipped up because there wasnât enough volume in your mixing bowl!
This is wonderful information. Thank you! I wonder if instead of using sugar, a sweet syrup (vanilla, caramel, chocolate, etc.) like Torani or Da Vinci would work (especially interested in using sugar free)? Anyone tried that yet?
I can tell you it also works with salt instead of sugar, donât try it though. Doesn’t taste nice and we now label our storage boxes.
oh my gosh, this made me LOL
Made this with the whisk attachment for a stick blender in a ball jar, and it came out great! We added Bailey’s and a touch of chocolate sauce in the milk to make this into a decedent dessert đ
hi! if i make this ahead of time, how much do you think you’d scoop out per serving? like a tablespoon?
hi,
if you want that frothy instagram look, iâd say about 1/4 cup but it is a very strong coffee flavor :) for regular tasting coffee 1-2 tablespoons!
I am excited to try this!! Just got some instant coffee in the mail. Iâm wondering, can I use an immersion blender to do this? Thanks!!
hi,
i think an immersion blender would work great :)
I got this to work a couple times then suddenly I canât get the coffee grounds to dissolve. Using the same coffee I was before. Have tried multiple times. Any ideas what is going on?!
it worked previously but not anymore? maybe the water isnât hot enough?!
What instant coffee did you use.
nescafé!
5 star flavor, but it DEFINITELY takes longer than 5 minutes. Measured everything, water was boiling, 2% milk, and even bought the exact instant coffee recommended. I started with a whisk and after 20 minutes had nothing to show for it. Tried a milk frother to no avail, followed by an immersion blender, and finally settled on a whisk extension for my immersion blender. So if youâre doing it by hand, be VERY patient.
use the golden looking kind of instant coffee its not as bitter it has a great taste. tried lots of brands and I believe that the way they process them is different. I use coconut sugar or date syrup. the dark looking kind of instant coffee never worked for me taste wise and Im used to drinking black coffee.
I’m off coffee including decap so tried this with a grain beverage (chicory, barley) and it worked well! Added a sip of whiskey for an Irish version!
Is it only work with instant coffee!!!