# Dalgona Coffee

Source: https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/dalgona/
Last updated: 2026-10-21

> Dalgona coffee is equal parts instant coffee, sugar and hot water whipped into a thick, toffee- coloured foam and spooned over cold or hot milk. It went viral in early 2020 after Korean actor Jung Il-woo tried a whipped coffee in Macau and said it tasted like dalgona, a Korean honeycomb toffee. India's beaten coffee is a close cousin.

## At a glance

- Chapter: Iced and blended
- Served: Hot or cold
- Glass: Tall glass
- Also known as: whipped coffee, hand beaten coffee, quarantine coffee

## Ingredients

- 1 tbsp instant coffee
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp hot water
- half a glass or more milk, cold or hot

## Steps

1. **Combine**: Put the instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a bowl. A bigger bowl lets more air in.
2. **Whip**: Whip with a hand or stand mixer, or by hand if you have the stamina, until thick, pale and holding its shape.
3. **Pour the milk**: Fill a glass at least half full with milk, cold over ice or hot.
4. **Top and serve**: Spoon the whipped coffee on top of the milk, and stir it in as you drink.

**Dalgona coffee** is instant coffee, sugar and hot water, in **equal parts**, whipped into a thick, glossy, toffee-coloured foam and spooned over a glass of **milk**. It became a worldwide craze in **early 2020**, when people stuck at home during the pandemic filmed themselves making it. The name is Korean, the café that inspired it is in Macau, and its closest relative is Indian. Here's how to make it, and the tangled story of where it comes from.

## The short version

- **1:1:1**: a tablespoon each of instant coffee, sugar and hot water.
- **Whipped** until thick, then **spooned over milk**, cold or hot.
- **Named after dalgona**, a Korean honeycomb toffee.
- **From a café in Macau**, made famous by Korean actor Jung Il-woo.
- **Related to India's beaten coffee**, or phenti hui.



## How do you make dalgona coffee?

Sporked's recipe:

| Ingredient | Amount |
| --- | --- |
| Instant coffee | 1 tablespoon |
| Sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| Hot water | 1 tablespoon |
| Milk | A glass, cold or hot |

1. **Combine** the instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a bowl. Gwangju News says a bigger bowl whips in more air, for a fluffier foam.
2. **Whip** until it's thick and holds its shape. Sporked recommends a hand or stand mixer: whisking by hand is "super time consuming and tedious". It adds that basic instant coffee works fine.
3. **Fill a glass** at least half full with milk; Gwangju News says to add more milk if you find it too strong.
4. **Spoon the foam on top**, and stir it in as you drink. Wikipedia mentions toppings such as coffee powder, cocoa, crumbled biscuits or honey.

## Where does dalgona coffee come from?

Three places, depending on how far back you go.

**Macau.** The drink is credited to **Leong Kam Hon**, owner of a café in Macau. Sporked says he learned it from a visiting couple in **1997**, then served it to actor **Chow Yun-fat** in **2004**, who loved it, so it became a regular on the menu. Wikipedia notes he's a former shipwright who opened the café, later named Hon Kee, after an accident to his arm.

**Korea.** In January 2020, Korean actor **Jung Il-woo** visited the café for the TV show *Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant*. The coffee was whipped by hand about **400 times**, BuzzFeed News reports, and Jung said it tasted like a melted version of **dalgona**, a Korean honeycomb toffee that Gwangju News says first appeared in 1960s Busan. Koreans started making it at home, and the #dalgonacoffeechallenge spread from Korean YouTube to TikTok in March 2020, Wikipedia says, earning the nickname "quarantine coffee".

**India.** Gwangju News argues that what the internet named dalgona coffee is really India's **beaten coffee**, made by beating instant coffee and sugar; the difference is that the paste usually goes in the glass first and warm milk is poured over it. Wikipedia notes the same similarity to Indian **phenti hui** coffee.

| Question | What the sources say |
| --- | --- |
| Who first made it? | Leong Kam Hon in Macau, from 1997 (Sporked; Wikipedia) |
| Is it really new? | No: India's beaten coffee is the same idea (Gwangju News; Wikipedia) |
| Who named it? | Jung Il-woo, comparing it to dalgona candy (Sporked; BuzzFeed News) |

The credit matters to people. A US company, Whipped Drinks, sold a whipped coffee kit while claiming to have created the drink, BuzzFeed News reported; after a backlash it apologised and acknowledged the drink's Korean roots.

## Dalgona vs other iced coffees

- **[Greek frappé](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/greek-frappe/):** instant coffee shaken, not whipped, and poured over ice.
- **[Iced latte](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/iced-latte/):** espresso and cold milk over ice.
- **[Vietnamese iced coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/vietnamese-iced-coffee/):** phin coffee with condensed milk over ice.
- **[Café cubano](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-cubano/):** coffee whipped with sugar into a sweet foam.

Explore every drink in the [iced and blended chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/iced-coffees/).

## FAQs

### Why is it called dalgona coffee?

After dalgona, a Korean honeycomb toffee. When actor Jung Il-woo tried the whipped coffee in Macau on a Korean TV show, he said it tasted like a melted version of dalgona candy, Sporked reports. Gwangju News says the candy dates from 1960s Busan.

### What is the ratio for dalgona coffee?

1:1:1: equal tablespoons of instant coffee, sugar and hot water, Sporked says. Wikipedia also describes equal parts. Whip it, then spoon it over milk.

### Can you make it without a mixer?

Yes, but it takes a while. The Macau original was whipped by hand about 400 times, BuzzFeed News reports. Sporked recommends a hand or stand mixer, warning that whisking by hand is tedious.

### Is dalgona coffee Korean or Indian?

Both claims exist. The name and the 2020 craze are Korean, but Gwangju News says the drink is really India's beaten coffee, and Wikipedia notes its similarity to phenti hui coffee, where milk is poured over the whipped mix instead.

### Do you need instant coffee?

Every recipe in our sources uses instant coffee, which dissolves in a single tablespoon of hot water. Sporked says basic instant works fine; there's no need for anything fancy.

## Sources

- [What is dalgona coffee?](https://sporked.com/article/what-is-dalgona-coffee/)
- [A US company apologized after taking credit for the viral Korean dalgona coffee trend](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ikrd/company-apologizes-for-dolgana-coffee-credit)
- [Dalgona coffee](https://gwangjunewsgic.com/food-drink/recipe/dalgona-coffee/)
- [Dalgona coffee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalgona_coffee)