I remember everyone getting into Dalgona coffee during COVID, but I never gave it a try. It went on to my list of things I wanted to try, though. Well, I’m finally getting to it! Mostly because I wanted to follow up those Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Glaze from earlier this week with a breakfast drink. Coffee seemed like a great idea, so why not Dalgona coffee? This recipe stood out because it also incorporates boba, which I love and have never made myself. This is going to be fun!
Take dalgona coffee to the next level and make Dalgona Coffee with Boba! This whipped coffee drink has layers of sweet tapioca pearls, icy cold milk, and dalgona coffee whip for the ultimate pick me up!
The Ingredients
There aren’t a lot of ingredients in Dalgona Coffee with Boba, and I had a few. I used instant espresso since I keep it around. It’s granulated just like instant coffee, but I prefer the taste. I also had sugar, maple syrup, and, of course, ice and water.
That left me with a dual-item grocery list for milk and boba pearls. Milk was easy to find, and I chose whole dairy milk because I use it to bake.
The international section of my favorite grocery store is pretty diverse, but boba pearls were nowhere to be found. And while it is possible to make them, I decided to order them instead. An 8.8-ounce bag was around $5. I used Hungry Huy’s post How to Cook Tapioca Pearls to choose the brand I used, WuFuYuan black sugar flavor.
The Process
This Dalgona Coffee with Boba recipe looked simple enough when I read through it, but it wasn’t successful the first time I made it. That was due to an equipment choice I made, not the instructions or the ingredients.
I decided to start on the Dalgona part of things while the water for the boba boiled. I had been planning on using my immersion blender since this was such a small recipe. But at the last minute, I swapped out a small mixing bowl for a large coffee mug.
The coffee seemed to be whipping up, and I paused it periodically to make the boba. It cooks fast and took 4 minutes to cook once the water was boiling. Tip: Keep a colander and bowl of cold water ready in the kitchen sink so you can strain and stop the boba from cooking immediately when the timer goes off.
With the boba cooked and the maple syrup stirred in, I thought I was ready to assemble my drink. I used a pint glass and poured in most of the boba, 1 cup of milk, a few ice cubes (there wasn’t much room, TBH), and the whipped coffee. As you can see, the Dalgona floated on top but was flat.
As I enjoyed my flat but delicious beverage, I went online to troubleshoot and discovered my error: the coffee mug. The mug was too small to allow air to be whipped into the coffee and create a fluffy texture.
I gave this recipe another try the next day using a hand mixer and a small mixing bowl. The results were much better though not quite as fluffy as the recipe’s photo.
Timing
This recipe lists 5 minutes to prep, 5 minutes to cook, and 10 minutes total time. I came in way over that both times I made it at 17 and 21 minutes respectively. The slowdown both times was me fussing over the Dalgona. I wanted to make sure it was whipped enough, especially on the second try.
But I have to say flat Dalgona isn’t the worst thing in the world. The under-whipped stuff was easier to mix into the milk while the fluffier version floated on top much longer. A boba straw was enough for the first try while I had to grab a spoon to mix it for the second.
