How to Make Dalgona Coffee – Instagram’s Latest Trend –달고나커피 쉽게 만들기

Dalgona Coffee Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Instant Coffee
• 2 tbsp Sugar (I used “Swerve” sugar-free sweetener)
• 2 tbsp Hot Water (Make sure it’s actually hot!)
• 1/2 Cup Milk (I used Unsweetened Almond Milk)

How to Make Dalgona Coffee:

Combine Instant Coffee, Sugar, and Hot Water and whip until frothy and golden brown. An electric whisk will take about 4 minutes, regular whisk or fork/ spoon will take about 20 minutes. I gave up and used a blender on low and it worked just dandy. Top 1/2 Cup of Milk with whipped coffee topping, take a bunch of Instagram pictures, then stir and enjoy. Do as I say, not as I do: Don’t bother with regular coffee. The topping won’t get frothy no matter how many recipes online say it can be done. The coffee has to disintegrate fully so it can whip up with the sugar and water.

@thatgirlcartierFinally crushed the ##keto ##dalgonacoffeechallenge. Definitely would not drink this daily. ##달고나커피 ##달고나 ##makingdalgonacoffee♬ Can’t stop eating – Tik Tok

Where Did Dalgona Coffee Originate?

“The drink itself has origin in South Korea. Its viral status on social media came as a result of Jung Il-woo, a South Korean actor who visited an eatery in Macau where he was served a similar beverage reminding him of “dalgona“, a type of Korean honeycomb toffee, and later presented on a South Korean TV show called Stars’ Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant (“신상출시 편스토랑”).” – Lifestyle.INQ

Why is Dalgona Coffee Popular Now?

Being cooped up at home (due to Covid-19, we’re staying safe at home –think positively!) people are turning to Instagram and Tiktok for creative survival methods. There’s a calming effect watching videos which stimulate an autonomous sensory meridian response (“ASMR”) from which we can all benefit right now. It’s also tough for content creators (I mean, isn’t everyone an “influencer” nowadays?) to be innovative while confined to their homes. I’m seeing tons of people making sourdough bread right now. Props to y’all. Dalgona coffee is a gazillion times easier!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZ7PWH_nWKd/

We’re all going a little loopy staying home, but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be buying (or enjoying) instant coffee. When I arrived in South Korea, I lived in Busan. – the second largest city. I like to compare Busan to Seoul as Vancouver is to Toronto. It’s got mountains and beaches which you can visit all in the same day, but what it didn’t exactly have was good coffee.

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I may be a little late to the #latteart and cute #cafe party, but discovering @c.through with @darescovertheglobe felt like discovering a hidden gem so close to my place! The atmosphere was chill, the music was on point, and the sips were small and sweet. Can you believe these were iced bevvies? // #travel . . . . . . . . . . . #ig_travel #travelphotography #travelpics #travelsnaps #travelphotos #instapassport #passportready #travelingram #travelblog #travelblogger #solotravel #globalnomad #travellife #traveltheworld #globetrotter #traveladdict #traveldiaries #travelguide #goexplore #lovetotravel #aroundtheworld #travelgram #travelawesome #gsm #visitseoul #globalseoulmate

A post shared by Kate Carter Hickey (@thatgirlcartier) on Jun 19, 2017 at 6:57am PDT

When I moved from Busan to Seoul there were TONS of adorable cafés with interesting lattes, but barely passable coffee. By the time I left (March 2018), there were espresso and drip coffee laboratories sprawled throughout Gangnam. The idea of getting  a less than exceptional brewed bean – or worse, instant, was unconscionable.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXIbAICHcTv/

When I was thinking about this new instagram trend, it seemed so ludicrous that people in countries like mine where there’s access to phenomenal coffee would opt for instant. Hallie of The Soul of Seoul reminded me just how common it is to have instant coffee in Korea. Just like SPAM, the popularity of some Old World necessities remains steadfast. The Directors at the first school at which I worked would provide little dixie cups of instant coffee for teachers and parents alike even in important meetings.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-rs-iPlZ8y/

At that school, we foreign teachers were free leave if we weren’t teaching a class. Sometimes we’d get canned coffee (always a little too sweet) from a local convenience store like GS24. When “The Venti” or “Paik’s” (take-out coffee windows) started popping up, we switched to giant iced americani. It was frowned upon for the Korean teachers to leave during work hours.

When I moved to Seoul, that was my reality, too, for 9 hours a day. We were not allowed to leave the office all day to grab lunch, a coffee, go to the bank, or even just get some fresh air. Having an elevated caffeine fix at your desk sounds pretty good, eh? Hallie got it right, “What a treat to whip it up into something that looks fancier.”

Why is it Called “Dalgona Coffee”?

Have you been wondering about the origin of the name, Dalgona? Apparently it was named after the honeycomb toffee treats in the image above. They’re supposedly sold as a street food, but I can’t recall having ever seen them, even at the oldest markets. The name itself does make sense. “Dalgo” translates to “sweet”. “Dalgona” translates roughly to “honeycomb”. The coffee is reminiscent of this sickly sweet candy (imagine the inside of a “Crunchie” bar). Remember – it has equal parts sugar to coffee – so you’ll be spiked and wired!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-sqej3JLrm/

Have you gotten bored enough during isolation to make your own version of this South Korean-inspired treat? Let us know in the comments below!

The post How to Make Dalgona Coffee – Instagram’s Latest Trend – 달고나커피 쉽게 만들기 appeared first on The Toronto Seoulcialite.