*Alternative* measure 15 grams of sugar add just enough of a ristretto shot of a good quality dark roast to dissolve the sugar (about half by volume) whip till light brown (the color of a latte with slightly too much milk) ~ 5-7 minutes Serve with about the same amount of milk by volume.
While growing up, instant coffee is the more expensive more tasty coffee. "Bru" was the brand that did it. Even now, good coffee, even when it's not made by instant coffee, is still referred to as Bru coffee. Just yesterday in train and the coffee seller came to cabins and started selling his "Bru coffee" it was pre made decoction, but still pretty good. So good coffee = instant coffee here
As a Korean living in Seoul I just wanted to mention three things. 1. Pronunciation of the Korean word dalgona was surprisingly perfect!! 2. The burnt, bitter taste of the instant coffee foam is close to what actual dalgona tastes like. I assume a lot more people would know due to Squid Game. 3. Nowadays there are many places that serve dalgona crushes on top of cafe lattes in Korea. Though I have never tried either the foam or crushed bit version.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge + experience!! I appreciate Hoffman and his expertise AND sometimes he is just inherently limited by his perspective as a white British man. Hearing from someone who lives in and is culturally Seoul Korean is important and adds to everyone’s knowledge
I made it last week, with Lidl instant coffee, and it was good. I often made instant with cold water and sugar, and discovered that Lidl coffee is better in cold drinks than the more expensive espresso instant of Nescafé.
Can the Dalgona be done with fresh brew espresso? I failed at making it. I think there's something in the instant coffee to make it very sticky/viscous .
I might propose a third alternative to concentrating coffee: Place it in the freezer in an insulated container and once it begins to freeze, peel off the top layer of ice. The first ice that forms will be pure water. You can repeat that process to remove water out of the liquid. This is what instant coffee makers do as well.
This is a common method in homebrewing if you want to take a fairly weak brew and make the alcohol content much higher without fucking up the flavours too much. I do it with a lot of the meads I make and it's delicious
@@jameshoffmann This would be a great opportunity to do an exhaustive test of ALL of the plant milks and plant creamers!!! I meant, oat milk "minor figures' bran in particular is the most popular right now, but maybe a more elusive plant milk works better. Things that come to mind: Macadamia milk, tiger nut milk, rice milk, pumpkin seed...There are also many different brands and type of creamers. Some better for foaming than others. I think what I would be most interested in hearing from you and your advanced coffee palette is just how the various flavours of milks compliment coffee. In my own experience I find the plant milk options at Starbucks to be extremely disappointing. Soy, Almond, Coconut. I chose soy because it is the most neutral in flavour, and I personally don't have any problems digesting it, however I know many do. On one occasion I ordered to coconut milk for my drink--now I'm not sure if the person just pulled a bad shot, or overheated the milk but the flavours just did not meld well. The coconut made it taste burnt (I have tried it on a few occasions and this flavour is consistent). Almond on the other hand I just never cared for. The flavour is too nutty for my coffee. Many small coffee shops do provide better plant milk options like oat, so that is what I will go for if available. But it would be interesting to hear the science behind how these different plant milks might interact with coffee, and I think you could probably offer a lot of insight! And as always, thank you for the great and informative videos!
James during quarantine “I could get down with that” x2 “it’s very sweet” “it’s a lot of sugar” lots of repeating today and it gave the video an interesting feeling like he’s talking directly to you
When I was a kid, about 40 years ago, and living in Siberia, we used the whipped by hand sugar-instant coffee- drop of water mixture as a base to add hot water to. It made instant coffee less awful and created a simulation of a créma. Kind of a reverse of a dalgona. Things you do with limited resources. Cheers! ⬛️
@@gumorenos 😀I was stoked to have any sort of coffee. I lived with my grandfather, and he drank lots of coffee that he ground and prepared in a Turkish style. I wanted be be just like him but he would not let me have my own cup, only a sip. The instant sort he let me have once in a while, must have not thought of it as coffee 🤣
@Crime_Lab, in the late 70,s I was serving in Berlin and met a Russian girl who used to wake me up with instant made that way, I thought it was brilliant because we didn't have much filtered coffee ln England back then, but maybe it was just her..
James, it's really interesting: when this whole Dalgona fad came to light, I couldn't help but think of something I had seen many years ago. I was once dating a Cuban girl, and she prepared what she simply called "Cafe Cubano", which is basically Cafe Bustelo (extremely strong, pre-ground, vacuum-sealed coffee bricks) in a Moka pot, then you add a few drops from the initial coffee to come out of the moka spout to a LOT of sugar, and whip it into a foam. That foam is added back to the finished coffee from the moka pot. Check it out, I think this could make an interesting video for your channel.
I was just thinking about that. The "coffee frosting". Actually I just made some today! It is really good. I'm Norwegian-American, but it's one of my favorite ways to make coffee. It's a nice treat every so often, but it's far too sweet for daily consumption! Strangely enough it's even a little complicated to get it just perfect. I still like Cafe Bustelo in my Moka pot as is. I can find it in a canister in the store at home. I'm glad someone else had that thought! I think it would be interesting to see James attempt the recipe.
When I worked at a shop that employed primarily Cubans a cup of Cafe Cubano after lunch was practically religion. One person took a break and made enough for everyone and then everyone took a few moments to enjoy the drink before going back to work. Was a very nice pick-me-up to get you through the afternoon. It is very important to get some of the first drops out of the pot, for whatever reason that may be.
@@replaymc1233 YES, that's what was relayed to me too! I guess it's the first bit of bubbling you get... Maybe the extremely concentrated liquid is that important part?
Reminds me of the dutch chicken farmer who laughs like a chicken (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-xjbB1_dCto8.html). Makes perfect sense that a coffee professional sounds like coffee. Choose your profession wisely!
You can make a Dalgona Coffee with espresso instead of instant coffee by adding a pinch of good quality xanthan gum before whisking. The great thing about using xanthan gum is it thickens the coffee topping well with both hot and cold drinks. It's actually a stabilizer that's present in many instant coffees so the silky texture achieved with espresso/ristretto+xanthan is similar to what you made here, but the whisking time a little longer, so a small handheld electric whisk is definitely useful.
@@tim36332I will look for Xanthan, but if ever you have another idea as well I'm super interested.. my vegetable milk does not want to foam anymore.. 😭😭😭 they must have changed the recipe but it's the only one I like (rice and hazelnut) Thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️
@@Zwiesel66 - i would recommend trying it. it's actually pretty tasty. you just can't approach it as a coffee connoisseur. it's a tasty, sweet coffee-ish drink. oh, and i would mix the foam with the milk before you drink it; unlike the way james drank it.
The irony is that the French are not known for having great coffee lol They love to drink it, but it ain't always good (unlike Australia, Italy, Africa, etc)
@@arcybarrios idk. their beans probably aren't as great since they need to import them but the coffee turns out very good. I agree that Italian coffee is superior lol
@@gio-ve7vn I can't speak for all of France but i did live out there for a few years. I love coffee and can tell you that very few places have good coffee. I called them my little hidden gems lol (at a higher cost of course). Unlike Italy where i have travelled extensively or currently in Australia, you more often than not will get a really good cup of coffee anywhere you go.
Put the coffee creme first and then pour hot milk over it to produce a “poor mans cappuccino”. WAY better than drinking it this way! I learned this from my Libyan husband. They do it all the time.
@@evilhutdug4665 I'm not who you asked to but I like it iced, even tho the cream dilutes unevenly and it looks ugly but pouring it first allows the cream to slowly incorporate to the milk so you don't get little bits of cream slipping in your mouth giving you a weird sensations, but you gotta stir it at first, otherwise you are just tasting milk and ice.
You hit the nail on the head. I have tried a few different methods and mixing is almost always the best solution. (Putting the foam on the bottom with hot or cold milk makes this MUCH easier to do. I enjoy it even when I have to use cheaper instant coffee.
I can't believe I know this since forever. I am from Argentina and my grandmother used to do this every Sunday after home made pasta lunch, we used to use a spoon which made the task more misery. We call it shaked Dolca "Dolca batido" because we made it with Nestle Dolca instant coffee but instead of putting on top of milk we poured over some hot water on top of it. You make my day with this video =)
Shit my grandmother showed me the exact same it’s pretty much a coffee but you start off with that foamy stuff from whipping it with a spoon and then add more boiling water and milk
I live in Rio Grande do Sul, the brazilian state that borders Argentina and Uruguay, and I also drink it here since I was a kid. But we make it with hot milk and call it café batido (shaked coffee).
The first part (instant coffee+sugar+water => coffee foam) is classic in Greek coffee recipes. It's the basis of the warm "nes" coffee, where you add milk or milk cream, hot water and stir, resulting into a coffee with a thin foam layer looking like Espresso's. It's also the basis of "Frappe" coffee, the classic recipe of Greek instant coffee. You poor it over ice cubes, add water and optionally milk and/or Irish cream liquor, stir a little; plenty of thick coffee foam stays on top (2-4cm high).
"Is it good? Let's find out!" "No? Not really." I was waiting for that response ever since I heard how painfully he uttered the words "instant coffee."
My wife is Korean. When this craze came out and she showed me it, I just threw the ingredients (including a better instant coffee) in a stand mixer and came back 5-10 minutes later. Super tasty.
@@jrmint2 it was popularized by a Korean, and given the name Dalgona (달고나) which is a popular children’s dessert more recently made famous by Squid games.
@@jrmint2 he just wanted to tell everyone he has a korean wife. dalgona coffee has nothing to do with korea. it was made popular by a cafe named Hon Kee in macau. the barista/owner got the recipe 20 years ago from a tourist couple. the only thing korean about it is that it was made popular by a korean travel show
In Asia, the instant coffee typically comes with the sugar, and often the milk(ish stuff) mixed in the packets already. I don't drink the 3-1 but the 2-1 in Vietnam is pretty addictive.
"I guess this is the interesting bit...the bit that captures everyone's attention.....the texture." His face during this is priceless. Its the perfect embodiment of "I have ceased to understand the human race."
Thank you for continuing to make these wonderful videos! I’m a nurse in the US and it helps ease my anxiety and take my mind off what’s going on at work!
Crema from a Mocha pot: Two teaspoons of sugar in your glass, then once the very first drops of coffee appear in the mocha pot, add them to the glass (the first drops of coffee which come out are more oily than the stuff later). Mix extremely vigorously. The objective is a peanut butter like consistency. Once achieved, add the rest of coffee and stir a little. Voila, fake sugar crema
This is the way we used to drink instant coffee as teenagers back in the 80s in Greece , the hot version we called it nes (from nescafe ) and frappe is made with ice . Both versions with or without milk. It is still around for people of my generation, I guess though people in Greece prefer cold espresso beaten with ice.
Youre right. Frappe is made by putting ice and cold water to the foam , It is upside down this way. Then you stir and the half the foam dilutes so the coffee is really strong and the foam is for you to stir and play with the straw, just for relaxing, lol.
@@thelittletyrant5539 It was about time, to stop drinking instant coffee, specially as stong as frappe is. It ruined the stomachs of a hole generation..
Oh boy do I have a story to share that relates to that PSA of yours. I once decided to use this foam as an egg replacement in a brownie recipe so I could make it vegan. I used about half the pot I had which should be about 100 grams of instant coffee. I managed to make 2 brownie batches but this should give you a decent idea of how much was in a piece. The brownies came out quite tasty but as I was eating it, at no point did I actually bother to consider just how much coffee I was ingesting. I would just randomly eat pieces here and there during the days after, at some point at night I decided to eat a pretty big chunk and I essentially ingested about 20 cups of coffee worth of cafffeine in about 5 minutes worth of time on top of the pieces I had already had earlier that day. For the next few hours it felt like I was an agressive level of awake and having a heart attack at the same time. It was fun trying to fall asleep that night.
Hi, James! At my Japanese coffee shop, we chill a ~40g shot of espresso in a narrow container surrounded by ice (in an ice bucket for champagne). Standard recipe called for 10g simple sugar syrup, but this is possible to leave out, if you prefer. When it had chilled for about 20-30 seconds, we would add a little bit of ice (about 20g) and use a stick blender to create a very velvety, thick, pourable foam and serve it in a martini glass, garnished with a tiny bit of Turkish-ground coffee. The foam would collapse in about 3-5 minutes, but people were in the middle of drinking it by then. My chief barista and I experimented quite a lot with trying to emulate Greek cold cream/foam and this same coffee foam, but we could never get the consistency of the milk/cream portion right.
@@bebee9011 Unfortunately, I don't have my exact setup from work at home, but I can probably approximate it with some things, just so you get the idea. I do not have an espresso machine, so hopefully I can figure out a way to make a concentrated coffee that will work.
There is a greek coffee, called Frapé. You just need a teaspoon of instant coffee, as many teaspoons of sugar (if you want it sweet that is) and just e little water at first. You mix it with a hand mixer, pour it in a tall glass with ice (add milk if you want) and more water to fill the glass. It is a classic. Everyone drinks it in Greece.
I sort of wanted to try when I went to Greece because I heard it was a big thing, and then I discovered whatever the hell you guys do to make amazing cold espresso and I never even got round to it. What is it that Greeks do with espresso and ice that turns out so good??
When I was a kid, this was the way I drank coffee with my grandma. Only we made just sugared espresso with instant coffee, but first we'd whisk it with just a teaspoon of water to get that "mousse", that later becomes something like espresso crema. Good memories
@@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat oh really? As a southern European, you don't need to add that info, we know that coffee is espresso. No one drinks american style coffee nor beverages like lattes or whatnot. I used the term espresso to convey the image of a small cup with a bit of coffee in it,instead of the big cup with watered down coffee
@Diogo Jordan umm then you should have said so. You dont have to be racist or hostile. It's ok. Thank you for admitting you were wrong. Have a great time with your Nana. Lol, so you are a European coffee expert who drinks instant? You're too funny.
@@kg-Whatthehelliseventhat oh, it's racist to drink espresso and not american style coffee outside of america. Good to know that you follow the narrative without critical thought. What a dweeb
@Justin Green Lantern Golf he regularly does these tests where someone helps him out by switching cups after he's brewed them. Wouldn't be a problem unless he already knows what each coffee tastes like very well, at which point maybe we should just take his word for it
I find that stirring the drink a little is the way to go. The harshness of the sweet and strong top is softened when mixed into the milk and a lot of the foamy, glossy texture is still left over because the a good amount of the bubbles haven’t popped yet
Here in North India, we've been drinking what the world calls "Dalgona Coffee" since forever. Till today when we offer coffee as a beverage to our guest, the process is the same. Two things that we (in my family) did differently were: 1. We used milk instead of water. 2. We used half the sugar 3. We used good quality coffee(as you did later in the video) 4. We put the coffee first and top with milk, rather than topping coffee over milk. So if we needed stronger coffee, use less milk and vice versa.
Yeah, I feel you. I've grown up to this drink too, and while I know this whipped coffee has been around the world and in households for decades now. It only irritates me that the Korean's are the ones being credited with it because they themselves JUST came across it. If they had it around for generations like India (and Greece, and some parts of South America, etc...) I wouldn't be annoyed. But even that Korean RU-vidrs are uploading this technique around the same time! It's new to them as well. Ugh, it really gets to me. People need to just call it whipped coffee instead of Dalgona or Korean coffee. Cause it ain't that.
Just tried Dalgona coffee, and you're absolutely right. The quality of the instant coffee makes a world of difference. Tried it with Italian Roast and with Veranda (sorry, I'm a Starbucks barista and we get Starbucks coffee for free soooooo) and knew I wouldn't like the Italian, but the Veranda was just... I mean... I generally do NOT like iced coffee in pretty much any dignified medium, but I would strongly consider casually having Veranda in a Dalgona, truly remarkable
Veranda is True North up here in Canada, and it's probably my favorite Starbucks coffee by far. It's genuinely pretty good, at least to me. I'm poor, so maybe things twice as expensive taste better. :P
@@daand.1042 Yeah, that is kinda lot for 'single dose'. I'm the opposite, I have a teeny tiny cup, but I down many of them during a day - especially if I'm at home most of the day.
I used to live with an Italian (Roman) fellow during my student times. He pulled the first drops of the espresso and whipped them with sugar. Then poured the foam onto the rest of the espresso. He called it "Cremina" and was delicious.
This is classic in Argentina. Weve done it since the 80s. Is known as cafe batido or whipped coffe translated. I dont know why this wasnt famous on europe or the us
Thank you for this! I love learning more about coffee, so I'm glad I found this! I usually made whipped coffee like this but didn't serve it on top like Dalgona Coffee usually was, so I was trying to think of a better name that fit it more accurately. I was basically on the lines of "Cafe Batil" which is whipped coffee in Filipino, but this is even better!
Because it's not quite the same... We do whip the coffee but not to that level of viscosity, and we will dilute it with hot water. It's a foamier version of a regular instant coffee but not to this extreme sugary/syrupish level
@@bethanyday3471 Yup. I've cut sugar completely from my life, including in coffee (Bulletproof Coffee all the way) and this drink honestly looks like sugary untastiness. Glad I know to not bother with it.
Dominic Saavedra I hate sugar in my coffee, but when I made this it tasted good to me because of the foam texture. The mouthfeel was like a milkshake, so I didn’t mind the sweetness/juvenile flavour all that much.
I would enjoy seeing James come up with a way to make your own instant coffee at home. It'd undoubtedly be highly impractical but it would be great to watch.
Easy, just brew strong drip coffee and boil it down. I've seen drip pots sitting on the warmer plate overnight where all the water evaporated leaving a hard crust of instant coffee in the bottom
Just make it with espresso and mix in some half decent instant coffee and the sugar in order to get it 'concentrated' enough. Also, use a battery powered milk frother to foam it, they cost like $5. Maybe chill the bowl and other ingredients so when you slap the espresso in it won't be too hot to foam.
I like mixing it in a steel milk steaming cup. I start with hot kettle water to ensure everything evenly dissolves (agave is an excellent sugar substitute) then throw it in freezer for just a min or 2 before i whip it with a lil electric whip. Works great the only dow side is the instant coffee sucks unless you buy specialty
Has anyone tried dehydrated espresso? I usually keep some around for making chocolate desserts but used to make a strong cup and mix in whole milk at a 1:1 ratio. I made a cup several months ago in a bout of nostalgia but it didn’t taste as good as I remembered it. It was my favorite drink once upon a time but apparently my tastes have evolved.
Same here. Saw it one time almost two months ago after watching a korean pork dish, started doing it because it was simple, then a month later i realized i unintentionally followed a trend 😂
I have recently started to make some of Dalgonas, with the upgrade that I do the black ice cubes - out of chilled Moka-pot coffee made a day before. That makes it a bit stronger of course, but it also nice and slowly dissolve into milk, making the milky base a bit more bitter-ish and tasty.
In Serbia we have something similar, called Ness Caffe, made from instant coffe. 2 dcl cup, 1 tea spoon of instant coffe (it can go up to 2), sugar (per taste), small amount of hot water, use electric mixer (special for those type of coffe making) mix sit till you get same foam, and then add water (hot or cold) and or milk, depending what you like. Did not know, up until today, that it has fancy name :)
I'm so glad James finally pointed out how MUCH coffee is in this. I saw a recipe calling for two tablespoons instant coffee, and my instant coffee calls for one rounded TEASPOON per 6 oz. water.
I had the impression frappe it without milk, no? Only instant coffee with a lot of sugar you whip until you get a foamy drink. Fun fact I clearly remember seeing some small electric whips, for foam, in pretty much every Greek kitchen I’ve been to.
Recipes I get are usually volumetric so I will weigh things out and add them to the recipe. It's so much more convenient especially for things like molasses and honey.
Several thoughts: First, this reminds my of a shakerato - espresso and simple syrup, shaken with ice to make a foam, then strained. The foam is less stable than this. If your wanted to use espresso, and didn't mind reduced strength, you could use a foaming agent like versawhip. You could reduce the sugar as well. This might be a good option for not overdoing things. Finally, getting into the gadgetry: it would be quite interesting to attempt concentration via freeze or nanofiltration methods.
@@MrCorrectify I had the same idea, and the condensed milk completely killed the foam. Not entirely sure why that is, but I reason it might be similar to how beaten egg whites break when you add fat.
knickly here in México we have a drink which has become very popular, the “Carajillo shaked” which contains a liqueur similar to cointreau, espresso and ice, and it actually forms a very rich foam after shaking it... but never as the dalgona foam, that I think is more like a cream texture.
I'm stunned he looked this up and doesn't realize you mix it, it's just presentation at first, then before drinking it's mixed and it really does taste weirdly of honey and the whip thickens the milk substantially. I very much doubt he'd enjoy it still, it's a very Starbucks style kind of coffee drink.
30ml espresso 40g fine sugar and a pinchy pinch of baking soda. Beat it with a nano mixer and I promise u it will taste just like the Korean candy and the foam stability just fantastic
Probably mentioned already but for whoever isn't familiar with Greek instant coffee beverages it's quite similar. So, after you finshed whisking or shaking or mixing the foam you can go 2 ways 1. You pour hot water through the foam and you have a hot Nescafe (as it was made at home in Greece) 2. You put ice and pour(slowly) cold water through foam and then you get a cold Greek Frappe. The above maybe known, but interestingly it's possible to make something quite similar with espresso, at least visually It is a cold coffee beverage called Freddo Flat White where you put cold milk in a glass and then you top it with a very well shaken espress shot, which is practically mostly foam, and because of that it stands above the milk creating 2 or better 3 visible layers.
James Hoffmann I feel happy that you put effort ! Not to gossip, but it irks me when people just mispronounce word they could’ve looked up and goes ‘idk how to pronounce it lol’
Hi James. My grandma used to make a foam like this using the first drops of a moka coffee and lots of sugar and mixing it very fast in a small cup for few minutes. It becomes almost white. She would then add it to the rest of the moka coffee to sweeten it and also to get the foam on top of the coffe and make it look like an espresso (just “look” of course). That foam would last A LOT but it was way too sweet to drink/eat on its own.
I was able to make Dalgona coffee at home after some trial and error with actual espresso. I added 40g of sugar to 40g of espresso and added Xanthan gum. Blended it with my bamix hand blender and it became quite thick. Not exactly the same as the instant coffee, but quite similar. Maybe more airy than this version. Tasted pretty damn good as well.
@@StarSprinkled I made this with just a teaspoon of xanthan gum when i tried it the first time. I have now tried it quite a few more times and i'm pleased to say that you can actually make it without xanthan gum! Just blend a double shot of espresso with equal amounts of sugar (by volume) and whip with a small hand mixer, handheld milk frother or a bamix. Voila!
It works with espresso. I pulled a double today (16g in, 34g out in 31 seconds) and immediately poured it along with 2 tbsp of sugar into a bowl. I then used an automatic hand whisk for a couple of minutes. It works, but is faaaaar too sweet for my taste. My wife loved it though!
I love how the whole video is like trying to solve an engineering dilemma. It got me asking "what the hell even IS instant coffee and how did it get here?? it seems impossible" and I'm arriving at the conclusion we should just get some whipped cream and mix some espresso over it to get the best version of this experience.
James! The way you said "DALGONA" was so PERFECT! I know this coffee's not come from Korea, but it is so funny people call this coffee using the word "DALGONA" cuz it perfectly fits its taste! DALGONA sounds so sweet and it reminds me of my childhood.
I was literally just searching for a video of Mr. James Hoffman doing this himself. Literally searched, "james hoffman dalgona" and got nothing. He must have seen my search, because now he made the video. Kinda strange how this occurred, but I love it. No one does it better.
❤ Drink with a straw from bottom as the 'foam' drizzles down....really tastes the bitterness out. Also I sometimes add Vanilla or Caramel coffee syrup (Amazon) to the iced milk. I use Almond milk.
For Koreans, it’s the taste of nostalgia that always makes it good. Dalgona is a candy usually sold on the streets that was very popular in Korea since it was relatively cheap to make and additionally it was cut into shapes of stars or cute animals which was populr among children. It’s been around since the 60’s and its been a past time dessert for Koreans in general.
EREBUS Is it also called bokki? I'm going by my memory and the description of the treat from the beginning of video. I might have the word wrong but I remember a candy with a two syllable name.
In central italy you can find a similar foam made with sugar and espresso, and it's often used to sweeten espresso or moka instead of sugar (it provides additional texture and body)
A point to note: (I believe) you're meant to stir it into the milk, which would dilute the flavor. It is still sickly sweet and shot my blood sugar up. There are recipes for drip coffee online tho