Ready in 2 minutes or less, this authentic Greek Frappe Recipe is the taste of summer in Greece! Perfect for toasty hot days and the warmer months, coffee drinkers will love how refreshing this iced coffee frappe is. No special tools are needed!
❤️ Why you will love this recipe
- Easy: All you have to do is add instant coffee, sugar (optional), and cold water to a tall cup and whisk it with an electric frother. Optionally you can add everything to a jar and shake it. So easy!
- Quick: This tasty traditional greek frappe is ready in just 2 minutes.
- Refreshing: Icy cold, this really hits the spot on hot days!
- Wakes you up: It is coffee, after all! Heat tends to make me sluggish, but the combination of coffee and ice really perks me back up.
🇬🇷 What is a Greek frappé?
The best way to describe a Greek Frappe is dalgona coffee meets iced coffee. It is a coffee drink made with instant coffee and cold water. The coffee is then whisked with a greek frappe mixer so that soft foam-like bubbles settle on the top making a creamy kind of taste (even without creamer). You can add sugar, sweetener, or milk if desired, and it’s usually served with ice cubes.
The original recipe was created in Greece when Yannis Dritsas, a representative of the nestlé company, was showcasing a chocolate drink to children at an international trade fair. The drink he was showcasing was shaken to make it nice and foamy. His employee, Dimitris Vakondios, decided to try it with coffee so he added instant coffee and water to a jar and shook it. The result was the Nescafe frappe.
Perfect for hot summer days, we drink this iced coffee beverage every day when we’re in Greece (we go for about a month every summer). You can buy it at the beach, in a coffee shop or Greek cafe, and every house that I’ve been to over there had an electric milk frother standing proudly in their kitchen.
🗝️ Key Ingredients & Substitutions
- Coffee: For this frappe recipe you’ll need instant coffee. Regular coffee made with coffee beans doesn’t work quite as well as instant coffee because it still has oil in it which will weigh the light foamy bubbles down. Instant coffee has had the oils removed making it the perfect environment for the foam to form and stay.
- Water: Cold water is great for this recipe. I prefer refrigerated water, but tap water will work. Add ice after frothing to make it nice and cold.
- Sweetener (optional): This is optional depending on your personal preference, but you can add as much sugar or sweetener as desired. When I’m in Greece, I usually add stevia because you can find it everywhere in the grocery stores.
- Milk (optional): You can add a splash of milk to this homemade Greek frappe. Whole milk, heavy cream, skim, almond milk, oat milk, whatever you have on hand!
🥣 How to make Greek Frappe Coffee
1. Begin by adding 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee and your preferred amount of sugar or sweetener (if using) to a tall glass or tall cup.
2. Fill the glass up about halfway with cold water.
3. Use an electric frother to start whisking the coffee, water, and sugar mixture. I use a handheld milk frother. In Greece, they have appliances that stand on their kitchen counter to do the work for you hands-free (fancy!). If you don’t have a frother, you can add everything to a cocktail shaker or mason jar and shake it until the foam appears. An immersion blender could also work, just make sure it’s in a big enough container or it will spray everywhere.
4. When the creamy foam reaches the top of the glass, turn off the frother.
5. Add a few ice cubes and milk if desired, and enjoy your frothy iced coffee drink.
🫙 Storage Instructions
You can store this frappe coffee recipe in the fridge for up to two days. The foam may get quite thick as the coffee separates, but give it a little mix with a spoon or straw and it’ll taste great again.
🪄 Recipe Notes & Tips
- Water temperature: There is no need to use hot water or make hot instant coffee for this classic Greek frappe. Cold water is the best choice to make the perfect frappe.
- Electric frother: If you don’t have an electric frother, you can easily create the foam by shaking it in a jar (just like the nescafe classic!).
✨ What can I add to my frappe?
I’m a fan of a fancy cup of coffee so I enjoy experimenting with frappe flavors as well.
- Mocha Frappe: add 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder and 1-2 teaspoons of sugar/sweetener.
- Strawberry Frappe (“fraoula frappe” in Greek): 1-2 teaspoons of strawberry simple syrup or sugar-free strawberry syrup.
- Chocolate mint frappe: 1 teaspoon cocoa powder + 1-2 teaspoons peppermint syrup.
- Vanilla frappe: 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla syrup or 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract + 1-2 teaspoons of sugar.
😋 More drink recipes you will love
- French Press Espresso
- Iced Strawberry Latte
- Chocolate Milk
- Iced Butterfly Pea Tea Latte
- Apple Pie Smoothie
Have you made this recipe? I’d love to know <3 Tag me (@makehealthyrecipes) on Facebook and Instagram, Pin it on Pinterest, and please give it 5 stars with a review below! Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list (top right of this page) for sparkly new recipes in your inbox.
📖 Recipe
Easy Authentic Greek Frappe Recipe
Ingredients
- 1-2 teaspoons instant coffee
- 1-2 teaspoons sugar or sweetener of choice optional
- Cold water
- Ice cubes
- Splash of milk of choice optional
Instructions
- Begin by adding 1-2 teaspoons of instant coffee and your preferred amount of sugar or sweetener (if using) to a tall glass or tall cup.
- Fill the glass up about halfway with cold water.
- Use an electric frother to start whisking the coffee, water, and sugar mixture. I use a handheld milk frother. See note 1 for other options.
- When the creamy foam almost reaches the top of the glass, turn off the frother.
- Add a few ice cubes and milk if desired, and enjoy your frothy iced coffee drink.
Notes
- Electric frother: If you don't have an electric frother, you can easily create the foam by shaking it in a jar (just like the nescafe classic!) or a cocktail shaker.
- Water temperature: There is no need to use hot water or make hot instant coffee for this classic Greek frappe. Cold water is the best choice to make the perfect frappe.