Title image above is copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos

First published 28th April 2026

Sacrilegious though this is to say, I don’t actually “get” coffee. I seem to lack many receptors for it. I can taste “coffee”, but an exquisite brew is completely wasted on me as I just don’t seem capable of tasting the notes (I guess?) that everyone else raves about. And the caffeine has zero effect on me too, in that I could have a cup immediately before bed and still be sound asleep in no time. But I unashamedly do enjoy an instant with cream!

And then the truly wonderful Alicia (hello Alicia if you are reading this!) introduced me to dalgona coffee, and I’m hooked! It’s been around for ages, so I’m very much late to the party, but hey, better late than never!

Dalgona coffee, for those even later than me, was first created in 1997 by Leong Kam Hon of Macau. He called it “hand-beaten coffee”. It is still called that there to this day.

“Dalgona coffee” gets its name via the South Korean actor Jung Il-woo, who in 2020 named it after a popular Korean honeycomb toffee street snack called “dalgona”. Execpt, as I understand it, this is our romanised version of the word which would sound something like “tai-go-naa” when spoken by a Korean.

So that is the history, but what is it exactly?

Dalgona coffee is equal parts instant coffee, sugar and boiling water whipped to a thick caramel-coloured foamy meringue-like consistency, which is then spooned over a cup of cold milk. (Some people further add ice cubes to the milk.)

Two tablespoons each of coffee, sugar and boiling water will do two people, and will take four or five minutes to hand-whisk to this — not quite foamy and meringue-like, but still light and beginning to hold peaks, and more than good enough for us:


copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos

The coffee must be instant coffee or instant espresso otherwise it won’t whip.

The sugar can be any sugar of choice — regular white sugar does the job, but brown or dark brown sugar will add a touch more depth with caramel notes.

Likewise the milk can be any milk of choice.

And the ratios must be 1:1:1 instant coffee:sugar:boiling water.

Spoon over a cup of milk (with or without ice) and enjoy however you like! I like to spoon the mixture to overflowing, then scoop up spoonfuls of the mixture to enjoy as is, until the level is low enough to stir into the milk to finish as a refreshing ice coffee.


copyright © Kristi Ellinopoullos