If you've been marginally online during the past few weeks, chances are you've seen the whipped peaks of dalgona coffee somewhere on your timeline.
From TikTok videos to Instagram posts, its two-toned look and sugary taste has made it an at-home favorite for people around the world who are unable to get their usual coffee fix while social distancing. Its simplicity — combine equal parts instant coffee, sugar, hot water, and whip — also arguably makes it the perfect specialty coffee alternative.
While dalgona coffee, which earned its name from a popular South Korean street toffee, is a new social-media phenomenon, the drink itself isn't quite as new
India Today notes that the drink is essentially Phenti Hui coffee (or beaten coffee), stating that the only difference is that when making Phenti Hui, you pour milk on top of the whipped mix rather than spooning the whipped mix on top of the milk. The current trend, however, did gain early traction in South Korea, spreading across the world as more countries hunkered down in the face of the pandemic.
Vice's Bettina Makalintal reported that the term "Dalgona Coffee" was virtually nonexistent on Google until January 26, where a "small blip" emerged. From there, the concept began to pick up steam, with YouTubers making videos showing how to make the drink.
Korean YouTuber 자도르J'adore currently has the most popular video of the "quarantine coffee challenge" to date with 8.2 million views at the time of writing.
The popularity of dalgona coffee has exploded lately
Interest in the drink has grown as more countries around the world have hunkered down, with people self-isolating and having slightly more time (and less specialty coffee) on their hands.
The coffee started getting plenty of attention in the US in March. Vice noted that the #dalgonacoffee hashtag on TikTok had 3.4 million views on March 20. The tag has over 100 million views at the time of writing, and is full of different attempts to make the drink, with results ranging from comedic to aesthetically pleasing.
@jasmine.michh ⊹ had to try this :p 🌿##whippedcoffee##fyp##foryou##coffee##trending##viral##food
♬ ricoco bicc aesthetic - biccpizza
On Instagram, the content is relatively similar, and the #dalgonacoffee tag currently has approximately 118,000 posts at the time of writing. People post pictures of the foam serenely dripping from whisks, a cup of dalgona coffee resting on a plate full of coffee beans, or even cute drawings based off of the drink. Some are even taking the technique to other similar drinks, with a matcha variant of the whipped drink popping up on Instagram and TikTok as well.
Now, dalgona coffee has become one of the cultural fixtures of the quarantine era
Aside from the fact that it fills the specialty coffee void, dalgona coffee's other strength is that it thrives online.
With a two-toned appearance and the texture of the coffee foam, it's pleasing to look at, and the calming quality of its how-to videos is a welcome distraction.
