Wander Eats: Dalgona Coffee

“I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.” ~ Steven Wright

Latest Coffee Trend

Another Monday. Another week in quarantine. And definitely not enough coffee! I feel like quarantine should have made me less dependent on the java, instead, it has been the exact opposite. There seems to not be enough of the caffeinated goodness to sustain me through!

Thankfully, things are beginning to open up, and that includes coffee shops with patios. Hopefully in a few weeks I can switch up my “Office” from WFH (Work From Home) to my “Second” home, The Coffee Shop, for some change of scenery and inspiration. Until then, I am trying my hand and creating all the caffeinated concoctions I can to fulfill my inner coffeeholic.

By now, most of us have heard about the latest coffee trend that was made famous by Tik-Tok and the ‘Gram. Stuck in quarantine, with not a lot to do and cut off from our caffeine dealers, why not experiment and try our hands at becoming amateur baristas? Widely known as whipped coffee on social media, Dalgona coffee as it is called, originated in South Korea and is a jolt, if not a knock out punch, of creamy cloudy caffeinated goodness.

Here for it

I admit I am completely and totally here for it! Not only is it super easy to make, and ridiculously yummy, but it is totally Instagram worthy, which let’s be honest, is WHY we drink coffee in the first place! Do it for the gram baby!

While I am kinda joking, it wouldn’t be trendy if it wasn’t so darn photogenic. As someone who is in marketing, humans are visual beings, especially when it comes to food, and our eyes love a beautiful aesthetic, whether it is latte art, or Pinterest perfect Dalgona Coffee.

The Recipe and Tips

As I mentioned, it is super easy to make. You need equal parts of just three ingredients: instant coffee, sugar, and boiling water. The recipe usually calls for two tablespoons of each, which serves one person, but using the 1:1 ratio, you can very easily make bigger batches. You combine all the ingredients and whip them until the mixture holds stiff peaks, almost like whipped meringue, minus the egg whites.

I use Juan Valdez Instant Coffee which is extremely strong. One sip and I feel the hair growing! I always pour the boiling water (I use the Kuerig machine to guarantee the water is hot) over the instant coffee to insure it dissolves before adding the sugar. You want to make sure the water is hot, so that the sugar and coffee are melted and don’t leave a gritty texture. While you can whisk it by hand, I use a mixer which takes maybe five minutes and I then pour it over milk which can be hot or iced.

New Addiction 

The whipped coffee melts into the milk creating an almost caramelized yummy taste, that is super addicting. I have been drinking it with iced milk, and it has been such a refreshingly, caffeinated, jolt, especially with the warmer months upon us. There are other variations from adding cocoa powder, to vanilla as well as doing away with the coffee completely (sacrilege!) and just using cocoa or Nutella. This isn’t just a trend, but a decadent drink that coffee aficionados will be sipping long after the pandemic is over.

Have you Had Dalgona Coffee? Have you made it? What quarantine trends have you tried?