How Just 3 Ingredients Turn Into Fluffy Dalgona Coffee

While coffee is an everyday staple, it nevertheless carries a mystical appeal. It's complex in flavor, offers an energizing effect, and shines in a range of forms, from a perfectly made cold brew, to varying milk drinks and coffee cocktails. Typically, it only requires an additional component or two — along with deft technique — to transform into a creation that's greater than the sum of its parts.

Perhaps one of the most wondrous showcases of such beverage-making is the Dalgona coffee. A preparation that took the internet by storm during the pandemic, the drink employs only water, sugar, and instant coffee to create a thick foam. By vigorously whipping the grounds with hot water and sugar for several minutes, a surprisingly stable and thick froth comes together — a composition unique to this combination of ingredients. The concentrated blend deftly integrates small air bubbles, emulsifying a polymer compound found in the coffee with a syrupy sugar mix. Although Dalgona coffee seems to foam up with ease, it's a delicate creation.

The beautiful meringue-like result is then traditionally spooned onto chilled milk, contrasting thickness with creaminess. So, with only three ingredients (not counting the milk), a tasty drink emerges. The creation is perfectly poised for internet virality, but it also evinces one of coffee's captivating qualities. Even the most staple ingredients can be reimagined with an expert technique.

In today's specialty-focused scene, the quality and small-scale nature of coffee is typically the barista's focus. With consumers even looking for the highest quality ingredients in flavored coffee beans, it may seem like there's not much interest in instant coffee-based drinks. However, the Dalgona coffee pushes against such a trend, and showcases there's a unique niche for mass-produced coffees, too.

For starters, those extra-bitter tasting notes of instant coffee lend the drink its characteristic flavor. While such an excessively dark roast makes for a less complex taste in a standalone cup, it shines when foamed alongside all the sugar. The result is palatably burnt and toffee-like, intentionally reminiscent of Dalgona candy, the brittle circular sweets you may recognize from "Squid Game." With a more acidic or floral powdered coffee, the flavors won't offer the same balance.

Furthermore, instant coffee lends an even more essential quality; without it, the drink isn't stable. It won't work with liquid coffees like espresso, and even fancier artisan instant coffee packets — which are freeze dried — can't foam well. Whipping the creation with milk is possible, but it'll take more effort, and won't yield the same thickness. So, for the most aesthetic foaminess, settle on the tried formulation with instant coffee, sugar, and water. 

Dalgona coffee is a young addition to American cafes; it only started making its way to North America in 2020. The creation became trendy by way of a Korean actor live streaming from a coffee shop in Macau. The café owner whipped up the relatively obscure drink, and the movie star loved it, remarking on the drink's nostalgic link to the candy of the same name. TikTok users noted the preparation, and soon after promoted Dalgona coffee into worldwide virality.

However, relying upon a trio of easily attainable components, it's no surprise that the drink's history traces back further. It was prepared in India and Pakistan for decades prior, called Desi coffee, phenti hui coffee, or simply hand-beaten coffee. These versions follow the same process but mix in warm rather than cold milk. A similar creation is prepared in Libya, and the beloved Greek frappé also relies on such a nifty foaming technique. While Dalgona coffee newly captivates the U.S., for many worldwide, it's a coffee beverage with far-reaching roots. So, take a pause from popular store-bought iced coffee brands, and whip up a rendition of this delightful drink.