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What is the Difference Between a Frappe and an Iced Coffee?

There are varieties of summer drinks available, which makes it difficult to figure out their differences and specialty. Therefore, in this article, we’ll explain the difference between frappe coffee and iced coffee plus how to make each of these summer drinks. Let’s begin.

iced coffee vs frappe

 

 

What is a Frappe?

A frappe is a Greek iced coffee that’s been blended, beaten, or shaken to form a foamy, tasty, and refreshing coffee drink. Frappe is a French word that means to beat or shake, thus frappe coffee is named according to how it’s made. Frappe coffee is made of instant coffee, sugar, cold water or milk, and ice cubes. The ingredients are mixed together or shaken using a blender, shaker, mixer, or a frappe maker to form a foamy drink that is served over ice. The drink is also served with whipped cream and toppings.

 

Frappe Coffee History

The Greek version of frappe coffee was invented in 1957 by a Nestle representative known as Dimitris Vakondios. Just like most types of coffee, frappe was created by chance at the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair. During a break, Dimitris Vakondios was looking for how he could enjoy his usual instant coffee. However, he couldn’t find hot water to mix with his instant coffee. Therefore, he decided to mix it with cold water, inside a shaker and added some ice cubes and little sugar. And that’s how the frappe coffee was born.

Frappe coffee grew in popularity as a result of the intense marketing campaigns carried out by Nestle. Thus, the coffee is the most popular beverage in Greek and you’ll find it in all Greek cafes. Despite the drink being associated with Greek instant coffee, today the world has embraced the espresso version which is made by shaking double espresso with white sugar and some ice.

Generally, frappe coffee has been adopted with changes to the rest of the world. For example, in Denmark, they use cold milk instead of water. In Bulgaria, sometimes Coca-Cola is used instead of water, while in Serbia, milk or ice cream is used instead of water. However, here’s how to make the Greek frappe coffee.

 

How to Make a Frappe

Frappe is an easy-to-make beverage that doesn’t require any special equipment and the best part of everything is that you can modify it to suit your taste. Here’s a step-by-step guide on making frappe.

  1. Mix two teaspoons of instant coffee with two tablespoons of cold water and add two teaspoons of sugar. These measurements are suitable for a 12oz glass. You can adjust the amount of coffee depending on your taste preferences.
  2. Place the mixture into a blender, cocktail shaker, or mixer. Mix your ingredients until you achieve a foamy mixture. You can also use a handheld frother to mix your ingredients.
  3. Grab your 12oz glass and add some ice cubes then add the foamy mixture into your glass.
  4. Add cold water or milk until the glass is full. You can use evaporated milk or other milk alternatives depending on your tastes.
  5. Put in a straw and enjoy the drink.

 

What is Iced Coffee

Just like the name suggests, iced coffee is any coffee beverage served with ice. It doesn’t matter whether you serve your coffee over ice or you brew your coffee with ice. All these methods sum up to iced coffee. Generally, the brewing method and pouring method used don’t matter. You can serve iced coffee already chilled or you can pour hot coffee over ice. Iced coffee can be sweetened using syrups or taken black since sugar doesn’t dissolve easily in cold beverages.

 

How to Make Iced Coffee

Here is a step-by-step guide for making iced coffee.

  1. Add teaspoons of instant coffee to a cup
  2. Pour 200ml of boiling water into the cup and stir until the coffee is completely dissolved. Alternatively, you can use cold water to brew your coffee.
  3. Allow the coffee to cool at room temperature or chill it for an hour in the fridge
  4. Fill a glass with ice cubes and pour your chilled coffee over the ice. You can enjoy your iced coffee as black.
  5. Alternatively, you can add some vanilla syrup (optional) to sweeten your coffee and enjoy it.

Additionally, there are other methods to make iced coffee. They include:

  • Coffee Over Ice

Coffee over ice is an easy method to make iced coffee. All you need to do is brew your cup of coffee, pour it over ice, and enjoy your iced coffee. The downside of this method is that pouring the hot coffee over ice may dilute your coffee.

  • Flash Brew

This method is similar to the coffee over ice method, but rather than pouring a brewed cup of coffee over ice, you brew your coffee directly over your ice. With the flash brew method, the brewing coffee is poured in drops over the ice. The downside of this method is that you may dilute your coffee in case the ice cubes melt. However, you can reduce the brewing water amount to prevent this from happening.

 

Frappe Coffee Vs Iced Coffee

The few distinct differences between a frappe and iced coffee are that, while a frappe is served with sugar and milk on behalf of water, iced coffee is served black and over ice. Additionally, a frappe result from blending, frothing, or shaking instant coffee, sugar, water, or milk to form a frothy beverage, while iced coffee is made by simply mixing regular coffee with ice. There is no need to beat, shake, or blend your iced coffee.

Despite the differences between frappe coffee and iced coffee, the biggest similarity between the summer drinks is that you can customize them to suit your tastes and preferences. You can add your favorite creamers, flavored syrups, or the type of milk you like. Additionally, you can make the drinks in different ways. No matter how you make and customize your frappe and iced coffee, the goal is to enjoy your summer drinks.