Greek frappé
Instant coffee, sugar, and a little water shaken into a thick foam, then topped with ice and cold water.
Greece · Jar · Iced · Mild
- Coffee
- 2 g
- Water
- 140 ml
- Milk
- 30 ml
- Ratio
- 2 g instant coffee to 40 ml water for the foam
- Temperature
- Cold
- Time
- 3 min
- Caffeine
- About 60 mg
2 g instant coffee to 40 ml water for the foam, then topped up.
Made with instant coffee
- Foam 80 ml
- Coffee, water, and milk 130 ml
- Ice 100 ml
Ingredients
- 2 gInstant coffeespray-dried
- 8 gSugarmetrios, medium sweet; leave out for sketos
- 40 mlCold water, for the foam
- 100 gIce
- 100 mlCold water, to top up
- 30 mlMilkoptional; evaporated milk is traditional
Method
Put the instant coffee, sugar, and 40 ml of cold water in a shaker or a jar with a lid.
Shake hard for about 30 seconds, or whisk with a hand frother, until you have a thick, light brown foam.
Shake0:30Pour the foam into a tall glass and add the ice.
Top up slowly with cold water, and milk if using, so the foam rises to the rim. Serve with a straw.
Tips
- Sugar is ordered by name in Greece: sketos is without, metrios is medium with about 2 teaspoons, and glykos is sweet with 3 to 4.
- For a stronger frappé, use 2 level teaspoons of instant coffee, about 4 g.
- The thick foam needs spray-dried instant coffee; brewed coffee will not foam like this. With Askespresso beans, shake a double espresso hard with ice and a little sugar for a freddo espresso instead.
About this drink
The Greek frappé was invented by accident at the 1957 Thessaloniki International Fair, when a Nestlé representative, Dimitris Vakondios, shook instant coffee with cold water because he had no hot water for his break. Instant coffee, sugar, and a little water are shaken into a thick foam, then topped with ice, cold water, and milk if wanted. It was the summer coffee of Greece for decades, drunk slowly through a straw.
