Dalgona Coffee: How to Make the Whipped Coffee That Went Viral
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Spring 2020: kitchens everywhere were closed off from cafés, and millions of people were whisking a bowl of instant coffee, sugar and hot water until their arms ached. The result, dalgona coffee, is a thick, caramel-colored cloud spooned over cold milk. It looks like a café drink and costs a few cents to make.
Here is how to make dalgona coffee that actually holds its peaks, why it only works with instant coffee, and how to make a version with less sugar.
Key takeaways
- The classic ratio is 1:1:1: equal spoons of instant coffee, sugar and hot water, whipped until thick, then spooned over milk.
- The name comes from dalgona, a Korean sugar candy, after actor Jung Il-woo compared the drink’s taste to it on TV in January 2020.
- Instant coffee whips because it is already-brewed, dried coffee extract; sugar thickens the liquid so the bubbles last.
- Two tablespoons of instant coffee is a lot of caffeine for one person; splitting the foam between two glasses is sensible.
Where dalgona coffee came from
The drink did not start in Korea. In January 2020, South Korean actor Jung Il-woo visited a café in Macau for the cooking show Stars’ Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant and tried its hand-beaten coffee. The café’s owner, Leong Kam Hon, is credited with serving the drink there since the late 1990s. Jung said it tasted like dalgona, a crunchy Korean street candy made by melting sugar and stirring in a pinch of baking soda until it puffs into a honeycomb-like toffee. The comparison stuck, and so did the name.
Search interest started climbing in late January. By late February a Korean YouTube video had gone viral, and in early March 2020, with much of the world in lockdown, the drink exploded on TikTok. It was cheap, used pantry ingredients and gave people something to do with their hands.
Beaten coffee itself is much older than the trend. In parts of India, people have long whisked instant coffee and sugar into a paste before adding hot milk, and Greece has its own shaken, foamy instant-coffee tradition. Dalgona simply gave the idea a new name, an iced presentation and a global audience.
Why instant coffee whips (and ground coffee does not)
Try whipping ground coffee with sugar and water and you will get muddy, gritty water. The difference is in what instant coffee is.
- Instant coffee is brewed coffee, dried. Manufacturers brew a concentrated coffee extract and then spray-dry or freeze-dry it into crystals or powder. When you add water, you are rehydrating a very strong coffee extract, with all its dissolved solids ready to work.
- Some of those solids help bubbles form. Food scientists point to compounds such as melanoidins, brown molecules created during roasting, which can sit at the boundary between air and liquid and lower the tension there. Lower tension makes it easier to trap air.
- Sugar makes the foam last. Dissolved sugar thickens the liquid. Thicker liquid drains out of the bubble walls more slowly, so the bubbles stay intact longer. That is why the sugar matters for texture, not just sweetness.
- Very little water. Using only as much water as coffee keeps the mixture concentrated and syrupy. Too much water and the bubbles have nothing to hold them up.
Researchers interested in coffee foams have also tested food-grade surfactants (bubble-stabilizing molecules) in instant coffee. A 2021 study in Applied Food Research found that adding sucrose stearate, a sugar-based emulsifier, gave a foam that lasted for more than 20 minutes in their test. You do not need lab additives at home, but the study shows how much foam stability depends on what sits at the surface of each bubble.
Dalgona coffee recipe (serves 2)
| Ingredient | US | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Instant coffee | 2 tablespoons | 30 ml |
| Granulated sugar | 2 tablespoons | about 25 g |
| Hot water (just off the boil) | 2 tablespoons | 30 ml |
| Cold milk or plant milk | 1 1/2 cups | 360 ml |
| Ice | 1 cup | about 8 cubes |
- Combine. Put the instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a medium bowl with tall sides. A narrow bowl works better than a wide plate because the whisk can catch more air.
- Whip. Use an electric hand mixer or milk frother on high, or a balloon whisk. With a mixer, the mixture goes from dark and bubbly to pale and thick in a few minutes. By hand it takes much longer, so take turns with someone.
- Check the texture. It is ready when it is light caramel in color and forms peaks that hold their shape when you lift the whisk, like soft meringue.
- Prepare the glasses. Fill two glasses about two-thirds with ice and cold milk (3/4 cup or 180 ml each).
- Top and serve. Spoon half the foam onto each glass. Stir it in before drinking, or sip through the foam for the full effect.
Hot dalgona
Warm the milk instead and spoon the foam on top. It melts faster, so drink it right away.
Troubleshooting your whipped coffee
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Stays runny and dark | Not whipped long enough, or too much water | Keep whipping; next time measure the water level, not heaped |
| Gritty texture | Ground coffee or undissolved sugar | Use instant coffee only; use hot water so the sugar dissolves |
| Foam collapses quickly | Too little sugar or a sugar substitute | Use the full sugar amount, or accept a looser foam (see below) |
| Too bitter | Strong instant coffee, little milk | Use more milk or spoon only part of the foam onto each glass |
| Too sweet | Full 1:1:1 on a small glass | Use a bigger glass of milk to dilute it |
Lower-sugar dalgona
Because sugar is what stabilizes the foam, cutting it changes the result. You have three honest options:
- Half the sugar (2:1:2). Use 2 tablespoons coffee, 1 tablespoon sugar and 2 tablespoons water. It still whips, takes a little longer and holds well enough to serve straight away.
- No sugar. Instant coffee and water alone will foam, but the result is looser, more bitter and collapses faster. Serve immediately and sweeten the milk lightly if you like.
- Zero-calorie sweeteners. Sweeteners that do not add body behave like the no-sugar version: they add sweetness, but not the thickness that holds the bubbles.
For a dairy-free drink, oat milk is the creamiest base and almond milk is the lightest. Both work hot or iced.
A quick caffeine note
Dalgona uses a lot of instant coffee. Many brands suggest about 1 teaspoon per 8 oz (240 ml) cup, and the Mayo Clinic lists roughly 62 mg of caffeine in an 8 oz cup of instant coffee. Two tablespoons is six teaspoons, which could be close to six cups’ worth of instant coffee depending on the brand. That is why this recipe serves two. For reference, EFSA considers single doses up to 200 mg safe for healthy adults, and up to 400 mg across the day; caffeine is not recommended for children.
Which coffee to use
Any instant coffee will whip, but a better-tasting instant gives a better-tasting foam. Our Instant Coffee gives about 30 servings in a resealable pouch and dissolves quickly in a splash of hot water, which is exactly what dalgona needs. If you prefer real brewed coffee in your glass, use the whipped foam as a topping on cold milk mixed with a shot of espresso or cold brew; find more ideas in our best sellers.
Dalgona coffee FAQ
Can I make dalgona coffee with ground coffee or espresso?
Not in the classic way. Ground coffee will not dissolve, and espresso has too much water and too little dissolved coffee to hold peaks. Instant coffee is what makes it work.
Can I store whipped coffee?
It holds in a sealed container in the fridge for a short while, but it slowly deflates and weeps liquid. Re-whip briefly before using, and enjoy it within a day.
What does dalgona coffee taste like?
Sweet and intense on top, creamy underneath. Once stirred, it tastes like a strong, sweet iced latte with a hint of toffee.
Is dalgona the same as frappé?
They are cousins. Both use instant coffee whipped into foam, but a frappé is shaken with water and ice, while dalgona is a thick, spoonable topping served on milk.
Sources
- “Dalgona coffee,” Wikipedia (origin, naming and 2020 spread, with linked press sources). en.wikipedia.org
- Alex Pierce-Feldmeyer and Abbey Thiel, “The Science Behind Dalgona Coffee,” Science Meets Food. sciencemeetsfood.org
- Deotale S.M. et al., “Comparative study of stabilization of coffee bubbles at the air-water interface through different surfactants,” Applied Food Research, 2021. doaj.org
- “Caffeine content for coffee, tea, soda and more,” Mayo Clinic. mayoclinic.org
- “Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine,” EFSA Journal, 2015. efsa.europa.eu
Facts checked in October 2026.
This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication, ask your doctor before changing your caffeine intake.
Keep reading: Benefits of caffeine · The history of coffee · Best selling coffees