This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission.
If you’re on social media, you have seen the viral trend that’s taken over every single platform from TikTok to Facebook and beyond: whipped coffee also known as cloud coffee or Dalgona coffee! Today, we’re making it together and I’ve included a video on the step by step process so you can make this at home.
As a coffee lover, when I saw this whipped coffee trend – which really isn’t anything new but we will get to that in a minute – I knew I had to make it. The first time I saw it was on TikTok. Video after video of people whisking furiously in a bowl until this foamy, sweet mixture developed. I was intrigued and had quite literally just the amount of instant coffee in my pantry. I always have a bit of it to add to chocolate desserts, as coffee notes always elevate anything chocolate. But I digress – let’s talk about how to make this coffee so you can all enjoy it as soon as possible.
How to Make Whipped Coffee
- In a small bowl, add the instant coffee, sugar, and water.
- Whisk for about three to five minutes, until the mixture is foamy and airy.
- Serve over iced milk of your choice for a cold drink or steamed milk as a hot beverage.
Simple enough, but after making this daily for the past week, I have some tips and tricks to make the best, most delicious whipped coffee, so keep reading until the end.



History of Whipped Coffee
So like everything, there’s a history to it. As soon as I posted on Instagram, friends from Europe replied, snickering that this was a new trend, but a way people in Greece (Greek Style Frappe), India (Beaten Coffee), and South Korea (Dalgona Coffee) have been drinking their coffees. Traced to the Indian subcontinent, where it’s called “beaten coffee”, it’s been popular for ages. The coffee froth effect is achieved after the drink mix of instant coffee powder sugar and water is whipped 400 times, giving it the moniker “400 coffee.”
From the Internets, comes this source: “Its viral status on social media came as a result of Jung Il-woo, a South Korean actor who visited an eatery in Macau where he was served a similar beverage reminding him of “dalgona,” a type of nostalgic Korean honeycomb, and later presented on a South Korean TV show called Stars’ Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant. Under the hashtag #dalgonacoffeechallenge, homemade versions of dalgona coffee began spreading on South Korean YouTube channels before going viral on TikTok.”
Tips & Tricks for Whipped Coffee
You MUST use instant coffee – do not try to use finely ground coffee beans or espresso, it will not work. If you want to make this with your kids, you can find decaf instant coffee, which would also work.
The basic recipe calls for granulated sugar, but you can use a variety of sweeteners and obtain the same results. Try brown sugar, coconut sugar, maple sugar, or monk fruit sweetener. Whatever you have in your pantry. I haven’t tried with powdered sugar yet.
Recipes online for whipped coffee call for hot water, but this does not make a difference in the results. I’ve used hot water, tap water, and cold water, and it all results in a foamy dalgona coffee.
Do you want to add spices? You sure can! Cinnamon and cardamom are two of my favorite ways to flavor this recipe.
You can make this a few ways: by hand using a spoon, fork, or whisk; with an immersion blender stick; and with a hand or stand mixer. Know that the larger your appliance, the more initial ingredients you’ll need so the appliances actually can whip it up.
What to serve it over? Mostly likely you’ve seen people serve whipped coffee over iced milk, but you can also use steamed or warm milk. Obviously, use your favorite milk: cow, almond, coconut, soy, oat – whatever you’d like. Coconut milk whipped coffee is delightful in my opinion.
You can double this batch and save for a day on two on the counter – you will have to slightly rewhip it for about a minute or two to make it as foamy. I do not recommend making this in larger batches to store. Only make larger batches if you are serving a large crowd at the same time.
Whipped Coffee Recipe

Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- milk
Instructions
- In a bowl, measure out the instant coffee, sugar, and water.
- Whisk until it becomes a fluffy, thick, and foamy, this will take about five minutes.
- Pour over your choice of milk.
- Notes: Do NOT use finely ground coffee beans - this will NOT work; You can use any sweetener you'd like: brown sugar, mock fruit sweetener, coconut sugar, etc; The water does NOT have to be hot - just use regular tap water; You can serve over any type of milk: cow, almond, coconut, soy - your choice!
This was a hit during lockdown! Great content, thank you!
Any idea if Stevia blends can be used? The volume of sweetener would be less; the amount would depend on the brand used. But is the amount of sugar in the recipe providing the structure for the foam, like a meringue? This sounds like something I want to try, but not with all that sugar (carb restricted for A1C levels). Thanks!
I have not tried stevia, please give it a try and report back!