Frappé & Frappé Cold Coffee Variations

Are you experiencing a heat wave right now? If you are spending money twice a day on cold, iced coffees check out this post. You might learn how to make perfect frothy, iced coffees at home! Let me tell you that I’m a coffee addict, like most moms. I drink my fair share of store bought coffees, espressos, machiatos, iced coffees and some seasonal lattes. Don’t forget the famous Cuban coffee, either cortadito or cafe con leche. Add to the mix Turkish coffee that my mom brings from Albania anytime she visits and Nespresso pods for my coffee maker at home. You’d think I wouldn’t need more coffee right? Actually I routinely alternate between these 4 cold coffees at home. They all stem from the traditional Frappé and then I make my own modifications according to what I feel like that day. Hope you enjoy it too because these coffees are inexpensive, delicious and take no time or complicated machines to prepare.

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Please note that recipe card below has a summary of everything but I’ll walk you through step by step how to prepare each coffee throughout the post.

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What is Frappé?

Frappé is a cold coffee served over ice and usually made with instant coffee, sugar and water. The drink was invented by a Nescafe representative in Greece in mid 1900 and has become a staple in all coffee places during summer time not only in Greece but in most Mediterranean countries. Frappés are the perfect cold coffee drinks for hot summer days. They have become famous for their simplicity and signature frothy top that is difficult to replicate.

Anytime I think of Frappés , I can’t help but think of my sister too. We used to make Frappés or similar cold coffee variations at home with instant coffee. We spent long summer days talking over anything and everything, our dreams about growing up and what we wanted to do with our lives and we made coffee together:). This is another example of how food and drinks entwine in one’s life in the Mediterranean.

How Do You Prepare Frappés?

I personally prepare frappés and its variations in a very simple way. If I’m preparing only one or two drinks, I’ll whip the coffee by hand. You just need a bowl and a spoon. If I’m preparing coffee for more than 2 people, I’ll mix with a hand held mixer in a bowl. It’ll whip it up for you in just a minute or two. You use only 1 of the mixing blades and don’t insert the other one since the quantity is still not big enough to use both.

What Coffee Do You Use at Home to Make Frappés?

I personally use Nescafe to make Frappés & other Cold Coffee Variations. It’s important for you to use instant coffee. Feel free to experiment with other brands and choose whichever you like the most. I grew up using Nescafe and that’s the original coffee Frappés are made with, so I definitely can’t change now:).

How Do You Whip Up Coffee For Frappé?

As I mentioned earlier, I use 2 methods to whip up the coffee cream. 1-2 coffees I whip up by hand using a spoon and coffee cup. While if I’m making a batch for several people, then I use a hand held mixer like the one below and a breakfast bowl. I insert only one of the blades.

When mixing manually, you have to do it really fast until you get the right consistency and color. Don’t stop until you do, you have to whip really fast.

See below 2 examples on how the initial instant coffee mix looks like and how it looks after whipping. It’s a distinct change in color, volume and consistency. It’s not difficult to get, but it does take some practice.

Then whip manually or with an electrical mixer for 1-2 minutes to get the below form.

Frappé Cold Coffee Variations

I usually prepare Frappé and 3 other variations at home but there are a lot more cold coffee recipes that have stemmed from Frappé! Here are the ones that I prepared at home and are featured in this order in the first picture of this post:

1. Traditional Frappé – whip coffee (with sugar and water), place in a tall glass, add ice and cold water. Mix and drink with a straw. The frothy top with rise slowly to the top after the drink has been mixed.
   • Ingredients for 1 serving – 2 tbsps Nescafe, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp water to whip the mix. Add ice & cold water once whipped!
2. Frappé with Milk – prepare whipped instant coffee same way. Place in a tall glass, add ice and cold milk. Mix well. Enjoy:)
   • Ingredients for 1 serving – 2 tbsps Nescafe, 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp water to whip the mix. Add ice and milk to fill the glass!
3. Frappé with Vanilla Ice Cream – This is coffee & Dessert all in one glass. Just perfection if you ask me. Prepare coffee same way. Add to a glass, add ice and then cold water. Mix well and top with a scoop of ice cream. Use a straw to drink from it while chipping away at the ice cream. Or use a spoon to take few bites of ice cream, either way it’s delicious!!!
   • Ingredients for 1 serving – 2tbps Nescafe, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp water. Whip well until mix gets the light brown color. Add ice, cold water but leave about 1 inch space from the glass rim. Add a scoop of ice cream or two.
4. Frappuccino – now you can prepare all kinds of frappuccinos, using espressos or other coffee types. The frappuccino I make from Frappé is as follows. Make the whipped Nescafe mix as always. Place it in a blender with ice and cold water or milk (or any variations of it), blend well until you get a perfect frozen mix. Serve in your favorite cup!!
   • Ingredients for 1 serving – 2 tbsp Nescafe, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp water. Blend with ice/water or ice/milk.

Frappé & Cold Coffee Variations Recipe

Please note that these variations of Frappé are not the only ones, these are just the ones I make at home as personal preference. You can experiment with mocha, caramel, chai, macha, and other flavors.

Notes about the recipe:

• Make sure to whip the mix until the color has changed to a lighter brown and the volume has increased. The mix is supposed to be a cream after whipping.
• Add very little water for whipping. Too much water and it will be difficult to whip the instant coffee.
• It’s all about the frothy top!! Anyone who has had the original Frappé can tell a good frappe from just looking at it. The froth on top makes all the difference!
• Tip: if you like the flavor of Frappe but would like to enjoy a hot coffee, you can still whip it up like you are going to make Frappe and then scoop it over hot milk!!! It’s really amazing!! I’m not sure if my sister and I are the only people who do this, but we really whipped this coffee both in summer and winter:))

If you would like to save this post for later, please save below image in Pinterest. I really appreciate it:)

Also, if you wonder if you can mix Frappe with any alcoholic drink, of course you can. Few weeks ago I saw a post in Instagram about Frappe with Baileys!! I mean, just the thought of it made me salivate. There are 2 Greek sisters I follow on IG with handle @miakouppa that post amazing food pictures and they have a recipe for Frappe with Baileys. Yumm!!

Other Drink Recipes:

For additional recipes, please check out below links:

• Mediterranean Mountain Tea
• Raki Cocktail
• Bolivian Chuflay
• Dragon Fruit Smoothie