Assembled · Milk
How to make dalgona coffee
Dalgona coffee is instant coffee, sugar and hot water whipped into a thick, glossy foam, then spooned over cold or hot milk.
- Coffee
- 8 g
- Cup
- 370 ml
- Temp
- 90 °C
- Time
- 7:00
It needs no espresso machine. It does need instant coffee, because ground coffee will not whip. This page gives one glass, in grams, and a seven-minute sequence mostly spent whisking. The name is widely linked to a Korean honeycomb candy called dalgona, and the drink became a widely shared home trend. We did not trace its history to a primary source, and similar whipped instant coffees exist in other places, so this page makes no claim about who made it first. Nothing here applies to brewed coffee. For a milky drink made from real espresso, see the iced latte.
The spec
| Part | Amount |
|---|---|
| Instant coffee | 8 g (about 2 tablespoons of granules) |
| Sugar | 25 g, white granulated |
| Hot water | 30 g at 90 °C |
| Whipped foam made | about 70 ml |
| Cold milk | 200 ml |
| Ice | 100 g |
| Cup | 450 ml tall glass |
| Total time | 7 minutes |
With milk, ice and foam the glass ends up at 370 ml of its 450 ml, around four fifths full.
You need
- Instant coffee granules or powder.
- A mixing bowl or tall mug, and a handheld electric whisk or frother. A hand whisk works but takes much longer.
- A scale and a kettle.
- Cold milk and ice.
Steps
- 0:00, Weigh 8 g coffee, 25 g sugar, 30 g water.
Weigh 8 g of instant coffee, 25 g of sugar and 30 g of hot water into the bowl.
- 0:30, Whip to a thick, glossy foam.
Whisk on high speed until the mixture goes pale, thick and holds a soft peak. Expect around three to five minutes with an electric tool.
- 5:30, Ice and 200 ml cold milk in glass.
While you finish, fill the glass with 100 g of ice and 200 ml of cold milk.
- 6:30, Spoon the foam over the milk.
Top the milk with the whipped coffee. Stir it in as you drink.
My notes for this recipe
Why these numbers
Roughly equal parts. The popular recipe uses equal spoonfuls of instant coffee, sugar and hot water. We converted it to mass: 2 tablespoons of granules is about 8 g, and 2 tablespoons of sugar is about 25 g. The conversion is authored, and instant brands vary in density, so weigh when you can.
Why sugar matters. The dissolved sugar makes a thick syrup, and the whipped air is held in the syrup. Cut the sugar and the foam collapses. This is a common explanation from home cooking and we have not tested it against a controlled study.
Why hot water, and only 30 g. Enough hot water to dissolve the coffee and sugar. More water makes a thin foam that will not hold a peak. The 90 °C temperature is authored. Water that is just off the boil works.
Why an electric whisk. You are whipping air into syrup, which is stubborn work, and by hand it takes far longer. We assume an electric tool in the timings.
Foam of about 70 ml. The foam volume is an authored estimate, since it depends on how long you whip. It leaves room in the glass for milk and ice.
If it looks or tastes wrong
- Foam stays runny. Not whipped long enough, or too much water. Keep going another minute and add 1 g more coffee if needed.
- Foam collapses within a minute. Too little sugar or the milk was warm. Check the 25 g, and use cold milk.
- Gritty bits. Sugar or coffee not dissolved. Use hotter water and start whisking more slowly for the first 30 seconds.
- Too bitter. Instant coffee is strong. Add a little more milk or a spoon of sugar to the milk.
- Foam sinks into the milk. The milk is too thin or you poured too fast. Spoon it gently over the back of the spoon.
Each fix is CupTune's judgement from how the foam is built, not a tested result.
Evidence and limits
No cited source supports any measurement. The gram conversions, the 90 °C water, timings and foam volume are authored. The explanation of why sugar stabilises the foam is common knowledge that we did not verify. Origin details are widely repeated but not traced here. Whip times differ with the tool, so judge by the look of the foam and not the clock.
Questions
Can I use ground coffee or espresso?
No. Ground coffee does not whip, and espresso is too thin. Instant coffee is what makes the foam.
Can I make it with hot milk?
Yes. Spoon the foam over steaming milk in a mug. The foam melts a little faster.
Can I use less sugar?
You can try, but the foam will be weaker. Try 20 g first.