Dalgona Coffee: The viral drink exploding the internet during Covid quarantine
Made of only four ingredients easy to find at home and processed within a few minutes, Dalgona Coffee, with its brown frothy coffee layer that stands out on top of fragrant fresh milk, has become a homemade concoction trend sweeping various social media sites during the Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s how you decipher it and how to make yourself a cup of this attractive two-layer drink.
The concept of Dalgona Coffee
Dalgona Coffee, aka whipped coffee or fluffy coffee, is a beverage made by whisking instant coffee with sugar and hot water in equal proportions until the mixture becomes creamy, then adding it to cold or hot milk. The foam layer has a beautiful brown color. Normally, it is topped with coffee powder, cocoa, biscuit crumbs, or honey.
A special feature of this drink is that it is not possible to use ground coffee beans as fresh coffee grounds cannot form thick foam as the instant type.
The flavor? Dalgona Coffee basically tastes a bit sweet like caramel yet comes up with a bitter aftertaste. Some say it’s just like the combination between Starbucks Frappuccino and Starbucks iced cloud Macchiatos, but the melty foamy coffee layer makes Dalgona special.
Its origin
In January 2020, on the show, Convenience Store Restaurant, Korean actor Jung Il Woo said that he had the opportunity to enjoy a special coffee in Macau, with a delicious taste exactly like Korean sponge candy, Dalgona, which is made with sugar, oil, and baking soda. As a result, through the above program, the beverage has a new name, Dalgona Coffee.
Still, before becoming a hot trend, the coffee was actually present in Macau and India under the name Phenti Hui Coffee, Indian Cappuccino, or Beaten Coffee. Compared to Dalgona Coffee, which has been known for its attractive two-layer effect, the original Phenti Hui Coffee is made by whisking coffee, sugar, and hot water in a bowl until the mixture is dissolved, creating light foam. Following that, baristas will add water gradually until a suitable amount of foam is reached. The foam is then placed in a cup and rinsed with hot water and milk, before being adjusted to taste.
How to make Dalgona coffee
Dalgona coffee, simply enough, is a blend of instant coffee, sugar, and hot water, which is stirred until turning into a thick, creamy foam with a nice brown color. Next, the foam will be poured over a glass of hot or cold milk – that’s how we make perfect Dalgona coffee!
Step 1: Put 3 tablespoons of instant black coffee (without sugar and milk) in a bowl, then add 3 tablespoons of sugar and 3 tablespoons of boiling water. Remember you can adjust the quantity as long as you stick to the ratio of 1:1:1.
Step 2: Use an electric mixer or whisk to beat the mixture until it turns light brown, thick, and smooth as if you can create a peak when pulling up.
Step 3: Put ice cubes in a glass, pour in 200 ml of fresh milk (or hot milk as you want), scoop the whipped coffee on top. Ingenious decoration to make the cup of coffee look more appealing.
*Note:
- You need to choose the right type of coffee; the most suitable is instant black coffee. Do not use milk coffee or 3-in-1 instant coffee.
- If you have used the right type of coffee, but when beaten, it still doesn’t reach the desired consistency, it may be because the ratio of sugar and water is not correct. Too little sugar will make your coffee difficult to get thick and easy to melt.
- Fresh milk can be with or without sugar, depending on your taste. If afraid of the coffee’s bitterness, go ahead for sweetened fresh milk.
- If you use a whisk, it will take a little longer to reach the desired foaminess, but don’t give up.
