Suddenly, it’s there, the new trend! Dalgona coffee is becoming more and more popular, but what’s the story?

Refreshing milk under a creamy cap of sweet coffee foam: This is roughly how the new drink trend can be described. Cappuccino, latte macchiato and other coffee varieties are now joined by dalgona coffee, giving you another clever way to enjoy coffee. Here, you can learn its fascinating background and some valuable preparation tips. You’ll be well prepared for this coffee trend!

With the help of social media, dalgona coffee has made it from South Korea to us within a short time. The exact place of origin is Macau in southern China. There, an actor discovered this variation of coffee in early 2020 and presented it on a TV show. However, the new on-trend drink is not a completely new discovery.

Dalgona coffee’s ancestry and name

The recipe for dalgona coffee is based on “phenti hui coffee”. This also comes from Asia and means “whipped coffee”. In contrast to cappuccino, for example, it is not the milk that is frothed up here, but the coffee portion that is “whipped”. With dalgona coffee, the frothy coffee cream forms a cap on the milk. The sweet recipe is reminiscent of the South Korean coffee-flavoured sweet called “dalgona” and gives the on-trend drink its name.

Recipe and preparation of dalgona coffee

The unique thing about dalgona coffee is the mixture of coffee, water and sugar in three equal parts. However, only instant coffee is suitable to make the cream foamy and stable. The three ingredients can be easily frothed with a mixer or milk frother. Thanks to technology! If you only have a whisk or spoon at hand, you need a little patience as it takes about eight to ten minutes to make the frothy cream by hand.

The whipped, bittersweet coffee cream is then ready to decorate a glass of fresh milk. Whether summer or winter: Dalgona coffee tastes great with both ice-cold and warm milk. Fill two thirds of the glass with milk. This leaves enough space for the caramel-coloured coffee cap. Our new drink trend is a real eye-catcher. The following tips provide even more taste and refreshment.

Peppy refinement and pure refreshment

To make dalgona coffee even more special, you can sprinkle a little cocoa powder or cinnamon over it for the finishing touch. You could also consider a pinch of cardamom, which conjures up an exotic taste experience. Two or three ice cubes from your Liebherr freezer provide that extra bit of refreshment. This refinement to the drink is especially popular in summer and complements the variation with ice-cold milk to create a kind of “dalgona iced coffee”. Fantastically delicious!

The advantages of our on-trend drink are obvious: wonderfully creamy refreshment, variety, and quick and easy preparation. However, there is also a small disadvantage: By using instant coffee, something is lost in terms of the coffee taste. Instant coffee is not comparable to ground coffee beans. A little trick achieves the optimum taste with a similar dalgona consistency: Instead of the using the 1:1:1 mixture of instant coffee, water and sugar, you can also whip a cream from a strong, freshly brewed espresso and five tablespoons of sugar.

Alternatives: vegan or without coffee

Just as we can replace cow’s milk with plant-based milk in other coffee drinks, dalgona coffee tastes great as a vegan variation. Rice, coconut, cashew or almond milk, for example, can fill the glass under the coffee cap. The taste is slightly different depending on the plant-based milk used. It’s worth trying different milks to find out which combination with coffee best suits your own taste preferences.

Coffee without coffee? Not quite, but dalgona is still possible anyway! Wonderfully sweet dalgona cocoa is quickly prepared by mixing cocoa powder with water and sugar in a ratio of 1:1:1, rather than using instant coffee. However, this variation requires additional whipped cream for success. A good portion is made from a mixture of three tablespoons of each of the standard ingredients and 100 ml cream. Just whip everything up and the chocolaty alternative is ready. Have fun trying out your refreshing dalgona delicacies!