Dalgona Coffee
I do this thing at family get-togethers that said family assures me is very pretentious. I’m unmoved by their judgment (a sign of the truly pretentious), but would prefer not to hear it. My offense? I bring my own bag of whole single-origin coffee beans, a hand grinder, and pour-over brewing equipment on every trip.
Before you take my family’s side, hear my logic: I really like coffee. I have been in specialty coffee since 2011, led business development and global marketing for a coffee equipment startup that won the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Best New Product in 2012, and am currently the owner of tmrw.coffee & Woodshed Tea in OKC. I have a very particular set of tastes acquired over a long career, and when I find myself traveling to Someplace, USA, I can’t trust someone else to pick the right bag of beans or meet the proper ratio of water to ground coffee in whatever drip coffee machine is found in the kitchenette. Until recently, I simply accepted the ridicule.
On the last two trips, I’ve reduced the annoyance my efforts engender. Each morning, I make a batch of Dalgona coffee for anyone remotely interested. This accomplishes two things: First, caffeine — a stimulant — makes the self-appointed jury more affable. Second, the tasty, beautiful beverage distracts from my semi-elaborate pour-over ritual.
Hold on. What is Dalgona Coffee, you ask? This whipped coffee drink, which got heavy traction during the early days of the pandemic, was first documented as a street snack served in Busan, South Korea, as far back as the 1960s. In 2020, a TikTok post by @imhannahcho introduced this whipped coffee drink to the world with a viral video garnering over 2.1 million likes, sparking a wildly popular #dalgonacoffeechallenge.
Quality of freeze-dried coffee is the pivotal factor here. You may recall past freeze-dried instant coffee from brands like Folgers and Nescafé made from dark roasted Robusta beans. These brands delivered on caffeine, but the astringent aftertaste dampened enjoyment. Science is awesome — in 2015, Sudden Coffee introduced high-quality, great-tasting, freeze-dried, single-origin, light roasted Arabica coffee to the world!
Today, some of the best craft coffee brands sell signature blends and single origin features as instant coffee. These run about $16 for a package of six, which is perfect for camping or traveling, but not so economical for Dalgona Coffee. Luckily, I’ve found a fantastic alternative. Coming in at $4.49 for 7½ tablespoons, Trader Joe’s 100% Colombian Instant Coffee delivers a well-balanced chocolate and hazelnut flavor profile with a hint of stone fruit acidity at the finish.
So, if your family or friends judge you for some completely reasonable thing you do, try my mix of bribery and distraction below.
