dalgona coffee
/dalˈɡoʊnə ˈkɒfi/
CommonA whipped coffee drink made by beating instant coffee, sugar, and hot water into a thick foam, then spooning it over milk.
The name comes from a Korean sugar candy with a similar texture. Often used as a shorthand for lockdown food trends more broadly.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | made dalgona coffee for the 8th time this week, i need help | Obsessively making the drink, joking about being out of control. | tiktok, 2020 |
| 02 | my arm is dead from the dalgona coffee whipping method, get a hand mixer | Warning others that hand-whisking is physically exhausting. | reddit, 2020 |
| 03 | still think about dalgona coffee era and how we were all just trying so hard to stay sane | Reflecting on the pandemic coping behaviors with some tenderness. | x, 2022 |
| 04 | saw dalgona coffee on a cafe menu and it genuinely felt like finding a museum piece | The drink appearing in a real cafe felt like a relic from another era. | instagram, 2023 |
Use it when
- Referring to the specific whipped coffee drink recipe.
- Referencing the 2020 TikTok food trend as a cultural moment.
- Describing any whipped coffee preparation in this style.
Do not use it when
- You mean any coffee with foam on top.Use “latte” instead.
- You mean a Korean honeycomb candy specifically.Use “dalgona” instead.
Variations and related forms
Dalgona coffee vs whipped coffee
dalgona coffee
Dalgona coffee is the Korean-origin name that went viral and carries more cultural specificity.
VS
whipped-coffee
Whipped coffee is the generic English term for the same preparation.
Origin and context
Named after a Korean sugar candy called dalgona, which has a similar texture to the whipped foam. The drink went viral in South Korea in January 2020, then exploded globally on TikTok during COVID lockdowns. Became one of the defining food trends of the pandemic.
- First seen
- 2020
- Confidence
- high
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/dalgona-coffeeUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0