Frappe

Frappe

15 min
A frappé is a frozen, blended coffee drink first introduced in the 1950s. The drink is made using coffee granulates, milk, brown sugar, and of course ice cubes. In Greece, where the drink was invented, the ice-cold drink is usually enjoyed with friends in the shade outside a roadside café on a hot afternoon, but with our recipe for frappé, you can recreate this feeling of summer anytime you feel like a refreshing iced coffee drink.
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Instructions

  • Put ice cubes and the rest of the ingredients into a blender.
  • Blend at highest setting for about 20 seconds or until the ice has been crushed.
  • Taste the drink to determine if it needs more of anything and pour it into a cold class. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Tips

If your blender happens to be out of commission, you need to get a little creative about how you 'blend' your homemade frappes if you just cannot wait to enjoy this delightful coffee drink. Combine milk, coffee granulates, and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat it with a hand or stand mixer until frothy. Crush ice cubes well wrapped in a tea towel using a rolling pin. Transfer crushed ice and coffee mixture to a shaker and shake well to combine. The texture of a frappe made this way may be a bit icier than one made using a blender.

Questions about frappe

With an easy recipe for frappe like ours, it is simple to make a refreshing ice-cold coffee drink. Read on to learn more about the iced coffee drink by reading our answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

What is a frappe?
A frappe is a sweet, iced coffee first invented in Greece, where it is still immensely popular. The drink is made by blending ice cubes with milk, instant coffee, and brown sugar. Traditionally, a regular kind of freeze-dried coffee is used but it is quite possible to use a flavoured kind as well. The frothy and creamy texture the drink is known for will be the same.
How to make a frappe with coffee?
A recipe for frappe is incredibly easy to follow and requires very few ingredients. Simply blend ice cubes, instant coffee granulates, milk, and brown sugar in your blender for around 20 seconds. Enjoy the chilled drink right away to be thoroughly refreshed and invigorated.
Does a frappe have caffeine?
While most of the frappes you can get while on holiday in Greece contains caffeine, your homemade one does not have to. You can easily swap out caffeinated instant coffee with a decaf, that is decaffeinated, one. This will not change the delightful flavour of the iced frappe. As such, the cold coffee drink may be enjoyed by anyone, at any time.
Is a frappe coffee?
In short, yes. It is a type of iced coffee drink originally from Greece. Since, it is made using instant coffee, it is coffee. A frappe without coffee is not strictly a frappe, and certainly not a traditional Greek one. Though you can sometimes order it under names like Frappuccino and frappe yogurt, the drink or dish you will receive is quite different from the one this recipe yields.
Is a frappe hot or cold?
A frappe is a cold coffee drink made with ice. The cold slushie-like drink is made by blending ice cubes, milk, instant coffee, and brown sugar until the ice is crushed. As such, frappes are always cold.
What is the difference between a frappe and a latte?
There are quite a few differences between frappes and lattes. Firstly, the former is a frozen coffee drink while the latter is usually served hot. Though a latte may be fashioned as an iced latte, it is still different from the Greek coffee drink as this one is made from coffee granulates and blended while an iced latte is made with an espresso shot and poured over ice. Frappes are, in part due to being blended, both colder, thicker, and sweeter than lattes, which are smoother in texture and usually more intense in their coffee flavour.
Can you make a frappe in a blender?
Using a blender is, in fact, by far the easiest way to make frappes. But in a pinch, you can use a shaker to mix the drink. Simply make sure to crush the ice cubes first using a rolling pin and a tea towel. To make sure the coffee drink still has its signature frothy texture beat milk, coffee granulates, and sugar with a hand or stand mixer until its it fluffy before mixing it with crushed ice in your cocktail shaker.

Ingredients

Ice cubes
3
Whole milk
1½ dl
Instant coffee
¾ tsp
Brown sugar
1 tbsp

Frappé – Greek sweetened iced coffee

A Greek frappé is a type of light-coloured, sweet, and frothy iced coffee made using a blender. The few ingredients, ice cubes, whole milk, instant coffee, and brown sugar, are blended to create an ice-cold drink with a rich and frothy texture and a distinct coffee flavour that is almost like a coffee slushie. Using brown sugar to sweeten the drink balances the natural bitterness of the coffee and gives the iced coffee hints of a deep, sweet flavour reminiscent of caramel or toffee. The frothiness of the drink gives it a great mouthfeel and a level of decadence that will keep you coming back for more.

If you want to explore Greek cuisine further, try a classic Greek salad with tomato, cucumber, feta cheese, and olives or a souvlaki for a quick and fresh Greek-inspired lunch.

Cool down with an iced frappé

An ice-cold frappé coffee is wonderfully refreshing on a hot summer day. Recreate the feeling of a holiday getaway in Greece by whipping up a homemade version and enjoying it in the shade somewhere. While pretending you are sitting under a plane tree at a quaint taverna is optional, deliciousness is guaranteed. Cool down with our iced frappé, or stay cool with even more cold coffee drinks like our classic iced coffee or a South Korean dalgona coffee – all of them are delicious and different enough that they deserve a spot in your iced coffee rotation.

Choose your favourite coffee

For a frappé, you will always want to use coffee granulates. But since most shops have a wealth of different kinds of instant coffee to choose from, there are a lot of different options in respect to how strong you would like your coffee to be and, of course, whether you would like it to taste sweeter or perhaps spicier. Check out different options for instant coffee with different notes and aromas and experiment with finding your favourite for frappés.

If you wish to do so, you can make your frappés using a decaffeinated instant coffee for a decaf option. This will not impact the drink's flavour profile at all but will simply make it possible to drink it at all times and still be able to sleep at night.

If you want to experiment further with using different kinds of coffee in your homemade food and drinks, check out or recipe for a deliciously moist and dense chocolate coffee cake too. If you cannot get enough coffee, you can even pair the rich cake with this Greek-inspired iced coffee to freshen it up.

Make it your own

While a traditional Greek frappé is made using 'regular' instant coffee and usually does not contain any kind of flavouring, you can certainly mix up this recipe for frappé. Add any sort of coffee syrup to the coffee drink to make it your own – try something like hazelnut, Irish cream, caramel, amaretto, or even a mix of different syrups and figure out what works for you.

If you enjoy a sweet coffee drink that is perhaps a bit more dessert-like, try using a bit of vanilla essence or mix in an indulgent homemade chocolate sauce for a rich chocolate taste to complement the coffee. You can also drizzle the chocolate sauce on top of the drink to create a beautiful contrast between the light colour of the coffee drink and the deep dark brown of the sauce. 

If you want to introduce a bit of alcohol into your iced coffee to give it a more adult taste and a bit of a kick, you cannot go wrong with either Baileys or Kahlua, both of which work wonderfully in the creamy coffee drink with the sweet and slightly bitter flavour.