Dalgona coffee, also known as hand beaten coffee, is a beverage originating from Macau made by whipping equal parts instant coffee powder, sugar, and hot water until it becomes creamy and then adding it to cold or hot milk.[3] Occasionally, it is topped with coffee powder, cocoa, crumbled biscuits, or honey.[4] It was popularized on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people refraining from going out started making videos of whipping the coffee at home, by hand without using electrical mixers.[5] After the drink spread to South Korea, it was renamed "dalgona coffee" which is derived from dalgona, a Korean sugar candy, due to the resemblance in taste and appearance, though most dalgona coffee does not actually contain dalgona.

Dalgona coffee
Homemade dalgona coffee
TypeCoffee
Country of origin China[1][2]
Introduced1997
IngredientsCoffee, sugar, water and milk
Dalgona coffee
Chinese name
Chinese椪糖咖啡
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinPèng Táng Kāfēi
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingpung3 tong4 gaa3 fe1
Hand-beaten coffee
Chinese手打咖啡
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShǒu Dǎ Kāfēi
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingsau2 daa2 gaa3 fe1
Portuguese name
PortugueseCafé dalgona
Korean name
Hangul
달고나 커피
Revised Romanizationdalgona keopi
McCune–Reischauertalgona k'ŏp'i
External videos
video icon Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant episode featuring Jung Il-woo presenting whipped coffee (in Korean)

History

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Creation and naming

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The drink is credited to Leong Kam Hon, a former Macanese shipwright who started his 'Wai Ting Coffee' (later renamed 'Hon Kee', 漢記) shop in Coloane after a freak accident to his left arm left him incapacitated from continuing work. Leong recalls concocting the drink as requested by a tourist couple in 1997. The drink did not yield much interest to him until 2004 when he took on the idea to serve it as a specialty to Chow Yun-fat and his entourage who visited the Hon Kee café that year. Chow's praise for the drink gathered the first wave of international attention when new visitors came in to ask for 'Chow Yun-fat coffee'.[6][1] The maker himself dubs the drink made in his menu as 手打咖啡 or "hand beaten coffee".

The name "dalgona coffee" is credited to the South Korean actor Jung Il-woo, who ordered this drink at the same eatery in January 2020 during his appearance on TV show called Stars' Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant (신상출시 편스토랑). He likened the taste to that of dalgona, a type of Korean honeycomb toffee.[7][8][9]

Spread from South Korea

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Following the broadcast of that TV programme, dalgona coffee became popular among Koreans who attempted to make this drink for themselves during the social distancing orders in South Korea. As a result, it was dubbed the "quarantine drink" or "quarantine coffee".[5][10] Under the hashtag #dalgonacoffeechallenge, homemade versions of dalgona coffee began spreading on South Korean YouTube channels before going viral on TikTok especially in early March of the same year.[11][12][9] The spike in interest during the quarantine period has been attributed to the calming, ASMR-like effects of watching online DIY videos.[13][14] Although the beverage was popularized as a homemade version of whipped coffee, it became a menu item at many coffee shops in South Korea.[15] and even in the U.S.[16]

While most dalgona coffee does not actually contain dalgona, one South Korean cafe does combine dalgona with milk tea or coffee.[17] It is not possible to make dalgona coffee using ground coffee beans; instant coffee creates the dense and foamy topping and the reason for this has much to do with the drying process of the coffee granules.[18]

Similar drinks

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The drink is also similar to the Italian dessert drink "Crema di Caffe" except with the omission of dairy product. Several media outlets have noted the drink's similarity to the Indian coffee beverage known as phenti hui coffee, phitti hui coffee, or beaten coffee. The main difference is that when making phenti hui coffee, milk is poured on top of the whipped mix rather than spooning the whipped mix on top of the milk.[19][20][21] The coffee beverage is similar to the Frappé coffee (or Greek Frappe or φραπέ) originating in Greece in 1957, which is either hand shaken or whipped with a frothing mixer and is traditionally served cold but also may be prepared hot.[22][23][24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Ex-shipwright tells bittersweet story behind viral TikTok 'Dalgona' coffee". Macau Post Daily. 19 August 2021. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  2. ^ "400번을 저어 만든★수타 달고나 커피! 일우 눈이 번쩍! [신상출시 편스토랑/Stars Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant] 20200103". Youtube. 3 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Dalgona coffee". Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  4. ^ Baes, Patricia (27 March 2020). "What is dalgona coffee & why is it on everyone's instagram now?". MSN. Retrieved 4 April 2020. The drink itself has origins from Rajasthan(India) where it is also known as whipped coffee or beaten coffee
  5. ^ a b "S Korea's Dalgona coffee is the new quarantine fad". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  6. ^ Hiufu Wong (15 November 2013). "Macau's kung fu coffee master". CNN Travel. CNN. Archived from the original on 7 December 2013.
  7. ^ "400번을 저어 만든★수타 달고나 커피! 일우 눈이 번쩍! [신상출시 편스토랑/Stars Top Recipe at Fun-Staurant] 20200103". Youtube. 3 January 2020.
  8. ^ Navarra, Ruth L. (22 March 2020). "How to make the South Korean trend Dalgona Coffee". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 1 April 2020. The trend is credited to actor Jung Il-woo after appearing on the show "Pyunstorang." He went to Macau where he was served with a handmade drink. Jung said it was delicious and reminded him of dalgona candy. He called it Macau Dalgona coffee.
  9. ^ a b Vreeland, Vaughn (16 April 2020). "How to Make Whipped Coffee". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  10. ^ Singer, Jenny. "Dalgona Coffee Is the Internet's Favorite, Fluffiest Quarantine Drink. Here's How to Make It". Glamour. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  11. ^ Frishberg, Hannah (26 March 2020). "How to make whipped Dalgona coffee, TikTok's latest viral trend". New York Post. Retrieved 30 March 2020. The craze started percolating in late January, according to Google Trends, then gained traction near the end of February when a Korean YouTuber posted a now viral, ASMR-style video of how to make the creamy drink.
  12. ^ "Dalgona coffee: does the internet's new favourite drink actually work?". BBC Food. Retrieved 30 March 2020. That's why, over the last few days, people have been sharing their attempts (especially on TikTok) at making Dalgona coffee.
  13. ^ Makalintal, Bettina (20 March 2020). "People All Over the World Are Making Frothy 'Dalgona' Coffee, Thanks to Quarantine". Vice. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  14. ^ Haasch, Palmer (3 April 2020). "Dalgona coffee is the whipped coffee drink that's everywhere on TikTok". Insider. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  15. ^ Vreeland, Vaughn (14 April 2020). "How to Make Whipped Coffee". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  16. ^ Gubbins, Teresa (22 April 2020). "Internet sensation dalgona coffee froths up at these Dallas restaurants". CultureMap Dallas. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  17. ^ "띵~ 할만큼 달아서… 코로나 두통이 날아가네". The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 10 March 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Dalgona Coffee: The Latest Instant Coffee Trend From South Korea". Waka Coffee. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  19. ^ Gupta, Arunima (5 April 2020). "Why S. Korea's Dalgona coffee trend should remind India of its food-diplomacy potential". ThePrint. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  20. ^ Makalintal, Bettina (15 April 2020). "A Dive Into the Disputed History of 'Dalgona Coffee'". Vice. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  21. ^ "Dalgona Coffee is viral on TikTok in the West. India has been making it for years". India Today. 31 March 2020. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  22. ^ "Dalgona Coffee (Greek Frappé) Tops India's Top Google Searches In 2020". 11 December 2020. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  23. ^ "NESCAFÉ Frappe | Home". www.nescafe.com. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
  24. ^ "Πώς ανακαλύφθηκε ο φραπές τυχαία, το 1957 στη Θεσσαλονίκη κατά τη διάρκεια της Διεθνούς Έκθεσης. Η ελληνική πατέντα δεν σερβίρεται σε κανένα άλλο μέρος του κόσμου". ΜΗΧΑΝΗ ΤΟΥ ΧΡΟΝΟΥ (in Greek). 7 September 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
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