How to Make Cold Coffee at Home (Café Style)

A tall glass of iced coffee with milk

Café-style cold coffee is instant coffee blended with cold milk, sugar and ice until it's thick and frothy. At home it takes about 5 minutes.

It's one of the types of coffee you can make with only instant coffee and a mixer. Below are the base recipe, a version without a blender, a café-style version with ice cream, and quick methods for iced coffee and frappé.

Cold coffee recipe: what you need

For 2 glasses:

  • 4 tsp instant coffee
  • 3 tbsp sugar (anywhere from 2 to 4 tbsp, to taste)
  • 3 tbsp hot water
  • 480 ml cold milk
  • 8–10 ice cubes

You'll also need a blender or mixer jar. If you don't have one, a jar with a tight lid works too.

Use full-fat milk if you can. Full-fat (full cream) milk has at least 6% fat, against 3% for toned milk, so it makes a creamier cold coffee.

How to make cold coffee

Dissolve the instant coffee and sugar in a little hot water and whisk it until frothy. Then blend it with cold milk and ice for 30–60 seconds, just until the top is foamy. Pour it into glasses and serve straight away, while the froth is still thick.

  1. Put the instant coffee, sugar and hot water in a bowl and stir until the coffee and sugar dissolve.

  2. Whisk the coffee mix for a minute or two, until it turns light brown and frothy. It gives the finished drink more froth.

  3. Add the cold milk, the ice cubes and the coffee mix to the blender.

  4. Blend for 30–60 seconds, until the top is frothy. Stop there, because blending too long or too fast knocks the foam down.

  5. Pour into glasses and serve straight away. The froth settles as it sits, though the coffee still tastes good.

How to make cold coffee without a blender

This is how to make cold coffee at home without a blender, using a jar with a tight lid.

  1. Make the coffee mix the same way, with instant coffee, sugar and hot water.
  2. Pour it into the jar with the cold milk and ice, then close the lid tightly.
  3. Shake hard until it's frothy, then pour into glasses over fresh ice.

Café-style cold coffee with ice cream

Cold coffee with ice cream is the thick, sweet version cafés serve. It's closer to a dessert than a drink, so keep it for a treat.

  • Blend 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream per glass in with the milk.
  • Drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside of the glass before you pour.
  • Top each glass with another small scoop of ice cream.

How to make iced coffee

Iced coffee is lighter than cold coffee. It's coffee poured over ice, black or with milk, with no blending.

  1. Dissolve 2 tsp instant coffee, and sugar if you like, in 2 tbsp hot water.
  2. Fill a glass with ice.
  3. Add 150 ml cold water for black iced coffee, or 150 ml cold milk for a milky one.
  4. Pour the coffee over and stir.

What is a frappé?

A frappé is instant coffee shaken with a little water, sugar and ice until it's covered in thick foam, then topped up with cold water or milk. It was first made in Greece in 1957, according to The Takeout.

To make one, use the jar method above with only a splash of water at first. Once the foam forms, top it up with cold water or milk.

Types of cold coffee

Most cold coffees fall into one of these:

  • Classic cold coffee: instant coffee blended with cold milk, sugar and ice.
  • Cold coffee with ice cream: the same, with vanilla ice cream blended in.
  • Iced coffee: coffee poured over ice, black or with milk.
  • Frappé: instant coffee shaken to a thick foam, then topped up with water or milk.
  • Iced latte: espresso or strong coffee poured over cold milk and ice. Here's how to make an iced latte at home.
  • Cold brew: coffee steeped in cold water for 12–24 hours, smooth and less acidic. Find the full method in our cold brew coffee guide.
  • Dalgona coffee: instant coffee, sugar and hot water whipped thick and spooned over cold milk. Try our dalgona coffee recipe.
  • Chocolate or hazelnut cold coffee: cocoa, chocolate syrup or a hazelnut syrup blended in with the milk.

Tips for thick, frothy cold coffee

  • Use chilled full-fat milk. It gives the creamiest drink.
  • Dissolve the coffee and sugar in hot water first. Neither dissolves well in cold milk.
  • Don't over-blend. Long blending knocks the froth down.
  • Make the coffee mix ahead. Mix a bigger batch of coffee, sugar and hot water, and it keeps for a few days in the fridge.

Cold coffee FAQs

Is it good to drink cold coffee?

The coffee itself is fine for most adults in moderate amounts. India's ICMR-NIN guidelines advise keeping caffeine from all sources under 300 mg a day. What makes café-style cold coffee heavy is the sugar and ice cream, so go easy on those.

Which cold coffee is lightest?

Black iced coffee or cold brew without sugar is the lightest, since a cup of plain black coffee has only about 2 calories. A milky cold coffee without ice cream comes next. The ice-cream version is the heaviest.

How many calories are in cold coffee?

Most of the calories come from the milk, sugar and ice cream. Cow's milk has about 67 kcal per 100 ml and buffalo milk about 117, according to ICMR-NIN figures. So the 240 ml of milk in one glass is roughly 160 kcal with cow's milk, before sugar and ice cream.

Make it your way

Start with the base recipe, then adjust the coffee and sugar until it tastes right to you. On days you want something lighter, make iced coffee instead.