Dalgona Coffee

During the stay-at-home orders of the coronavirus pandemic, people are spending a lot of time on social media and trying to figure out what to make with the ingredients already in their pantries. This created the perfect situation for Dalgona Coffee to go viral. This whipped coffee drink arose in South Korea and quickly spread all over the globe. The delicious coffee drink is made with only a few simple pantry ingredients and tastes as good as it looks.

Dalgona coffee gets its name from a type of candy. Dalgona candy (also known as ppopgi) is honeycomb toffee that is a popular street food snack in Korea. Honeycomb toffee/sponge candy is actually made in a lot of countries because it is such an easy treat to make, just adding baking soda to boilling sugar to aerate it before allowing it to set up. The coffee shares the name because of its color and whipped consistency, which is remarkably similar to that of the toffee, although it is less sticky and less sweet.

Dalgona coffee is made by combining instant coffee with sugar and a small amount of water, then beating the mixture together until it has more than quadrupled in volume and formed soft peaks. You can whip it by hand, but it goes much faster (about 4 minutes) with a hand mixer. Once it reaches soft peaks, set it aside and fill a glass with ice and the milk of your choice. I used whole milk for this one, but feel free to use any nondairy milk you like. Next, spoon the coffee on top of the milk and serve!

The whipped coffee has a great coffee flavor and is not very sweet at all. If you want to bump up the coffee even more, feel free to use instant espresso or a combination of instant espresso and instant coffee. Coffee grounds shouldn’t be used, as they won’t dissolve like instant coffee will. The whipped coffee is incredibly smooth and fluffy. It will hold its shape on top of the milk and should be stirred in (or the drink should be served with a straw) to serve it.

This is a fun drink to make and delicious to drink. I prefer to bump up the coffee in mind by adding a shot of espresso on top of the milk before spooning on the whipped coffee, but the whipped coffee and milk combination is outstanding on its own. It’s not hard to see why this drink went viral or why it is a fun DIY coffee drink to tackle when you’re stuck at home.

Dalgona Coffee
2 tbsp instant coffee
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
2 1/2 tbsp water
ice
milk
espresso (optional)

In a small mixing bowl, combine instant coffee, sugar and water. Beat with a hand mixer on low speed to combine, then beat on high speed until mixture is very thick, light and fluffy – about 4 minutes.
Fill a tall glass with ice and milk. Top with shot of espresso, if desired. Spoon whipped coffee on top and serve.