Recipe: Dalgona Coffee – The popular coffee drink from Korea

Sanne: Dalgona coffee is the trendy coffee beverage that gained popularity in 2020, particularly during the COVID-19 lockdowns when people sought creative ways to enjoy coffee at home. This South Korean-inspired coffee drink is made by whipping equal parts of instant coffee, sugar, and hot water into a frothy, creamy topping. The resulting velvety coffee froth is then spooned over a glass of milk, creating a striking two-layered effect. The flavor of the foam is similar to dalgona, which is a traditional Korean candy made from baking soda and sugar that you probably remember from Squid Game.

Notes

At my first attempts I struggled to get the foam as light and fluffy as I wanted it, which was probably because I didn’t have the patience to whip the mixture for long enough (10 minutes or more). The first time I made Dalgona Coffee, I also accidentally added too much water, but I managed to save the foam by adding more sugar and instant coffee.

If your foam is on the heavy side, as mine was, make sure you put lots of ice cubes in the cup to prevent the foam from sinking to the bottom too fast.

Tweaks: In Denmark we eat something called guf on top of ice cream, and I found out it’s super tasty together with the dalgona coffee foam. Guf is a meringue-like gooey mixture made with egg whites, corn syrup, sugar and strawberry jam.

..and a word of caution

The Dalgona coffee is really tasty and it is easy to slurp down several cups a day, but remember that the coffee foam has a lot of caffeine. I use Nescafé Gold (I think it is called something else in the US) instant coffee which has around 50-90mg of caffeine per teaspoon. When I made my first serving of Dalgona Coffee, I added a double portion of the foam to a single cup. It tasted so good, that I drank all of it, which is equivalent to drinking around 10 cups of regular black instant coffee, yikes! 

Recipe: Dalgona Coffee – The popular coffee drink from Korea

Recipe by 2 Hungry Birds – Sanne Course: DrinksCuisine: Korea

Servings

1

cup

Dalgona coffee is the trendy coffee beverage that gained popularity in 2020, particularly during the COVID-19 lockdowns when people sought creative ways to enjoy coffee at home. This South Korean-inspired coffee drink is made by whipping equal parts of instant coffee, sugar, and hot water into a frothy, creamy topping.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons 2 instant coffee

• 2 tablespoons 2 white sugar

• 2 tablespoons 2 boiling hot water

• 1 cup 1 milk

• Ice cubes

Directions

• In a mixing bowl, combine the instant coffee, sugar, and hot water.
• Use an electric hand mixer or a whisk to beat the mixture. Start at low speed and gradually increase to high. Continue to whip the mixture for about 5-10 minutes until it becomes thick and creamy. You can also do this by hand, but it will take longer and require more effort.
• Pour milk into the glass, leaving some space at the top.
• Spoon the whipped coffee mixture over the milk, creating a beautiful contrast with the different layers.
• Give it a good stir before sipping to combine the rich coffee foam with the milk.