Dalgona Coffee Trend: What It Is, How to Make It & Alternatives for Non-Coffee Drinkers

It’s only the second week of community quarantine and our household has already run out of milk. Why? Because of the countless times my cousin and I have attempted to recreate the viral Dalgona coffee! Funnily enough, I am not a fan of milk, and my cousin is not allowed to drink coffee. Yet, we hopped on the Dalgona coffee bandwagon like the regular quarantined folk.

What is Dalgona coffee, anyway?!

Like many things we love (or have grown to love during this quarantine period, at least), Dalgona coffee draws its roots from South Korea. This DIY coffee is basically a cup of milk (iced or hot) topped with frothed instant coffee. Dalgona coffee first made waves through TikTok, a video app where people from all over the world started capturing their very own process of whipping.

So what made Dalgona so popular in the Philippines? Well, we can only guess.

For one, many Filipinos have been bored out of their minds; by the third day of the quarantine, we’ve become marupok enough to succumb to every challenge on the Internet. Second, the Dalgona coffee is very aesthetically pleasing. And these days, it takes double effort to find objects to feature on our feeds.

Most probably, we can also blame it on the fact that many Filipinos can’t live without caffeine, and Dalgona coffee is an easy enough way to jazz up our cups of joe!

Also read: Coffee Culture in the Philippines & Where to Find the Best Brews

The original recipe for Dalgona coffee

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps. instant coffee
• 2 tbsps. sugar
• 2 tbsps. hot water
• Milk
• Ice (optional)

Instructions

1. Pour the milk into a glass.
2. Whisk the coffee, sugar, and hot water together until the mixture turns into a frothy golden brown.
3. Add the froth over the milk.

Dalgona coffee alternatives

As I previously mentioned, my cousin can’t drink coffee. I, on the other hand, don’t appreciate milk. It was inevitable for us to search for alternatives. For full disclosure, we’ve wasted many limited ingredients because of our attempts to search for the perfect recipe — and we haven’t really found the one yet. But for those of you who are curious, here are some alternative recipes you may try!

Dalgona chocolate

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps. chocolate powder
• 2 tbsps. sugar
• 2 tbsps. hot water
• Milk
• Ice (optional)

Instructions

1. Pour the milk into a glass.
2. Whisk the chocolate powder, sugar, and hot water together until the mixture turns into a frothy golden brown.
3. Add the froth over the milk.
4. Enjoy!

Comments

We discovered that chocolate powder (i.e. Milo, cocoa powder) doesn’t froth up like instant coffee would. On his YouTube channel, Erwan Heussaff recommends using two tablespoons of Milo powder, two tablespoons of hot water, and one tablespoon of sugar instead. He whipped this mixture with cream for better texture.

Dalgona matcha

Ingredients

• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup water
• 2 egg whites
• 3 tsps. matcha powder
• Ice (optional)

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, simmer sugar in hot water in medium-low heat for four minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy.
3. Pour the hot water and sugar mixture into the bowl of whisked egg whites.
4. Beat the mixture together.
5. Add in the matcha powder.
6. Whisk until the mixture is fluffy, smooth, and in a light green colour.
7. Pour mixture over a glass of milk.
8. Enjoy!

Dalgona milk tea

Ingredients

• 250ml water
• 1 black tea bag
• 350g sugar
• 15g baking soda
• Milk
• Ice (optional)

Instructions

1. In a saucepan, boil the black tea and 50g sugar in 100ml water until thick.
2. In a separate bowl, simmer 300g sugar in 150ml water.
3. Add in baking soda.
4. Mix over heat until thick and dark brown.
5. Pour mixture over milk.
6. Enjoy!

Dalgona coffee squared

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps. instant coffee
• 2 tbsps. sugar
• 2 tbsps. hot water
• Brewed coffee
• Ice (optional)

Instructions

1. Whisk the instant coffee, sugar, and hot water together until the mixture turns into a frothy golden brown.
2. Pour the froth over brewed coffee.
3. Palpitate!

Also read: 7 Comforting Things to Tell Yourself When You Miss Travelling

If you’re as bored as we are, you’ve probably experimented with your own versions of the Dalgona coffee, too. Share your recipes with us in the comments!