Royalty Fast Food

Creation and naming

The drink named after Leong Kam Hon. A former Macanese shipwright who opened his ‘Wai Ting Coffee’ store in Coloane. After a fluke accident to his left arm rendered him unable to work. In 1997, Leong recalls concocting the cocktail after a tourist couple ordered it. The cocktail didn’t pique his interest until 2004.

He decided to make it a specialty for Chow Yun-fat and his entourage. When they visited the Hon Kee café. When new customers came in to beg for ‘Chow Yun-fat coffee,’ Chow’s admiration for the drink drew the first wave of international fame. The drink on his menu is referred to as “hand-battered coffee” by the manufacturer himself.

Jung Il-woo, a South Korean actor credited with coining the name “dalgona coffee”. Which he ordered at the same diner in January 2020 during his appearance on KBS2’s Stars’ Top Recipe at Fun-Restaurant. He compared it to the flavor of dalgona, a Korean honeycomb toffee.

Dalgona Coffee Spread from Korea

Dalgona coffee became famous among Koreans. Who sought to prepare it for themselves amid the social distancing measures in South Korea. After the broadcast of that TV show. As a result, it became known as “quarantine coffee” or “quarantine drink”. Homemade variations of dalgona coffee began to spread on South Korean YouTube channels under the hashtag #dalgonacoffeechallenge.

Before going viral on TikTok in early March of the same year. The relaxing, ASMR-like benefits of viewing online DIY videos are ascribed to the rise in interest during the quarantine time. Despite its popularity as a homemade version of whipped coffee, the drink has since become a menu item in many coffee shops in South Korea and even the United States.

While most dalgona coffee has no dalgona, one South Korean coffeehouse does. Dalgona coffee can not be made using ground coffee beans; instant coffee produces dense and frothy topping. Which has a lot to do with the drying process of the coffee granules.