Dalgona coffee is a beverage made by whipping equal proportions (by volume) of instant coffee, sugar, and hot water until it becomes creamy and then adding it to cold or hot milk. Occasionally, it is topped with coffee powder, cocoa, crumbled biscuits, or honey.

Dalgona coffee recently became popular in South Korea when a celebrity (Jung Il-woo) on a travel food show tried it. It’s disputed whether it originated in South Korea or in India, based on Phenti Hui coffee (beaten coffee). The only difference between Phenti Hui coffee and Dalgona is the milk is poured on top of the whipped mix, instead of the milk at the bottom.

Here at Cork and Java, we were not very impressed with the flavor. Not a surprise since it features instant coffee. The texture and temperature contrasts were pretty cool, though. Research shows that better quality instant coffee is harder to get to foam the right texture, but it should increase the quality of the taste. Do you have any recommendations on how to get dalgona coffee to taste better?