Dalgona Iced Coffee
GLUTEN FREE · DAIRY FREE · VEGAN OPTION · PALEO OPTION
Behold the current coffee trend that is all over the internet! Now, I live in Cyprus, where frappé may well be classified as a national drink, and Dalgona coffee is basically a frappé in reverse. For an iced coffee frappé, you froth instant coffee with a little water (and sugar, if desired), and then add milk/water and ice cubes aplenty. For a Dalgona coffee, you reverse the process, frothing the coffee (and sugar, if using) and pouring it over the milk and ice instead. It’s certainly a nicer-looking version of my homeland’s favourite summer beverage, but the taste is much the same.
I decided to try ‘healthifying’ the Dalgona iced coffee I have been seeing everywhere, and was quite pleased with the result.
THE INGREDIENTS
Non-dairy milk
Choose your favourite non-dairy milk for this, keeping in mind that you will be able to taste it alongside the coffee taste. I used rice milk here, as it is the mildest in taste, so that it would not compete with the coffee flavour.
Paleo milk options: almond, cashew, coconut, hazelnut, hemp.
AIP milk options: coconut, tigernut (chufa).
Other: oat, rice, soy.
Instant Coffee/ Espresso Powder
I am generally not a fan of instant coffee and prefer the richness of espresso powder any day. However, having run out of the latter, I had to use the former for this recipe - and it turned out great!
It does need to be either instant coffee or espresso powder and not fresh coffee that you use, because otherwise it will simply not froth. It takes a little work to build up the froth, using a milk frother or small handheld mixer, and how long it takes to build up the volume of froth you desire will largely depend on how powerful your frother/mixer is. Expect to be frothing for at least a couple of minutes though.
Coconut Sugar (optional)
If you want to use sugar in this coffee, then this is a better alternative than regular white sugar.
A great substitute for refined sugar, coconut sugar, also sometimes called coconut palm sugar (not to be confused with palm sugar), is not as processed and even contains small amounts of certain nutrients.
Collagen Peptides Powder (optional)
I basically added this in just so I could attribute some nutritional benefit to this drink! Feel free to leave it out if you prefer, or if you want to make it vegan.
Collagen is a type of structural protein in the body, and as the tissue of the digestive tract is made up of the amino acids in collagen, it can be deduced that collagen is helpful when it comes to supporting the gut. Indeed, collagen has been found to help heal the lining of an inflamed gut, thus improving intestinal permeability (leaky gut), which in turn helps reduce autoimmune reactions.
On a non-gut-related note, collagen is also good for skin, hair, nails, bones and joints!
Ice Cubes
DALGONA ICED COFFEE
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 Tbsp instant coffee or espresso powder
- 1/2-1 Tbsp coconut sugar (depending on how sweet you want it, if at all)
- 1 scoop collagen peptides powder (optional)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp hot water
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- Ice cubes
Instructions
- Add coffee, sugar and collagen powder (if using) to a glass.
- Add in the hot water and froth for a couple of minutes to build up sufficient volume.
- Pour the milk into a glass with the ice cubes.
- Gentle pour the froth mixture over the milk.
- Mix well before drinking.
Notes:
· For a vegan coffee, leave out the collagen peptides.