Frappe coffee was invented in Thessaloniki in 1957 at an international trade fair and became a Greek national icon, as documented in coverage of Greek coffee culture.
A cap of dense, mousse-like foam crowns a deeply chilled, bittersweet coffee that you sip slowly through a straw. It is refreshing and bracing, with sweetness and dilution dialed to taste. Nursed for an hour in the shade, it is summer in a glass.
Vigorous agitation whips air into the dissolved instant coffee, and the coffee's proteins act as surfactants, forming an elastic film at the liquid surface that traps air and stabilizes a long-lasting foam. Pouring over ice and diluting with cold water keeps it bracingly cold while the foam preserves aroma at the surface.
Variations
Sketos (no sugar), metrios (medium sweet), glykos (sweet), with or without milk, made with espresso (freddo style)
On the Palate
Where Frappe Greek sits in the Greek flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 1How it's made
8 steps · 5 min
- 11 min
Add instant coffee, sugar and a small splash of cold water to a shaker or tall glass.
- 22 min
Shake hard, or beat with a hand frother, until a thick light-brown foam forms.
Watch outShake or froth hard until you get a thick, pale coffee-colored foam that holds its shape — a thin froth collapses in seconds.
- 31 min
Fill a tall glass with ice cubes.
- 41 min
Pour the coffee foam over the ice.
Watch outPour the foam gently over the ice so the head stays intact — dump it fast and you knock all the air back out.
- 51 min
Top up with cold water to taste.
- 61 min
Add cold milk if a creamier frappe is desired.
- 71 min
Stir gently to combine without losing the foam.
- 81 min
Serve immediately with a straw.
