Thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns, 2020 saw more than its share of DIY culinary sensations on social media. Sourdough bread was the flashy starlet that hogged all the paparazzi attention at first, until we learned that acquiring, feeding, and keeping a sourdough starter alive was best left to professional bakers and MIT grads. Thankfully, in waltzed dalgona whipped coffee, a frothy beauty with just a few ingredients. And are you ready for the best news? It’s nearly impossible to screw up. Kelsey Speigner, co-founder of local roaster Circadian Coffee, offers this boozy take on the unofficial coffee drink of the year.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons instant coffee or espresso
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- 2 tablespoons white sugar (or granulated sweetener of choice)*
- 1 ½ ounce bourbon (Speigner uses Indy favorite Hotel Tango)
- 1 ounce cream liqueur (Speigner recommends the locally produced Almond Bite, but you can sub Baileys Irish Cream if not available)
- Dash of Angostura Bitters
- ½ ounce heavy cream (or non-dairy creamer of choice)
- Cinnamon stick
- Ground cinnamon
Instructions:
- Combine instant coffee or espresso, water, and sugar in a bowl and mix until fluffy. (Using a stand or hand mixer will give you the fluffiest, most photo-ready results. If you don’t have either available, Speigner suggests shaking these ingredients up inside a glass jar or using a frother.) Set aside.
- In a cocktail shaker, combine bourbon, cream liqueur, heavy dream, and dash of Angostura Bitters. Add ice and shake well. Strain into into glass and add ice.
- Spoon whipped coffee on top of cocktail mixture. Dust with ground cinnamon, and garnish with cinnamon stick.
- For a fun variation, substitute Aztec Chocolate Bitters for the Angostura and chocolate sugar for the white sugar. Dust finished drink with cocoa powder.
*Recipe note: Feel free to play around with the sweetener, but the ratio of coffee, water, and sugar must be equal (1:1:1) to get the whipped results.
