Greek Frappé: How to Make It at Home, Step by Step

A Greek frappé is iced instant coffee whipped into a thick, pale-brown foam, poured over ice and topped up with cold water. You can make one in about two minutes with a jar, a spoon of instant coffee and a little sugar. This guide gives you the method, the sweetness levels Greeks order by, the fixes for foam that will not form, and the difference between a frappé and a freddo.

TL;DR

• A frappé needs instant coffee. Brewed coffee will not hold the foam.
• The base is 1 to 2 teaspoons of coffee, optional sugar and about 2 tablespoons of cold water, shaken hard for around 30 seconds.
• Pour over ice, top up with cold water, and add milk if you like.
• Frappé is foamed instant coffee. Freddo is chilled espresso. They are different drinks.
• If the foam is weak, check the type of instant coffee, the water temperature and how long you shake.

Table of Contents

• What a Greek frappé actually is
• Why it has to be instant coffee
• What you need
• How to make a Greek frappé, step by step
• Sketos, metrios or glykos: choosing your sweetness
• Frappé with milk, without milk, or hot
• Fixing a frappé that will not foam
• Choosing instant coffee for a better frappé
• Frappé or freddo: what is the difference?
• Making it your own
• Perspective: why we think the coffee comes first
• Get the coffee for your frappé
• FAQ
• Sources

What a Greek frappé actually is

The frappé is a Greek café staple, a tall glass of iced coffee with a thick foam cap and a straw. The story most often told places its invention at the 1957 Thessaloniki International Fair, where a representative is said to have mixed instant coffee with cold water because no hot water was available. Whether or not every detail of that tale is exact, the drink stuck, and it is still how many Greeks cool down in summer.

The Official Athens Guide describes it simply: coffee, sugar and a little water blended until frothy, then ice, more water and milk to taste. There is no espresso machine, no syrup and no whipped cream. That simplicity is why it suits a British kitchen so well, including on a grey November afternoon when you want something cold and bright.

Why it has to be instant coffee

This is the question people ask most: can you really make a frappé with instant coffee? Not only can you, you should. Serious Eats explains that dissolved instant coffee forms a viscous solution that traps air far better than ordinary brewed coffee. That trapped air is the foam. Brew a cafetière, shake it with ice, and you get a cold coffee with a few bubbles that vanish in seconds.

So the quality of the instant coffee matters. A good instant gives you a rounder flavour and a more stable foam, and it is the one ingredient where it pays to choose carefully. We come back to this below.

What you need

The equipment list is short:

• Instant coffee
• Cold water
• Sugar, if you take it
• Ice cubes
• Milk, optional
• A shaker, a jar with a tight lid, or a handheld frother
• A tall glass and a straw

You do not need a dedicated frappé shaker. One Greek recipe writer points out that a 250 to 500 ml container, mason jar or salad-dressing shaker works, and that an electric frother tends to give a thicker layer of foam. A clean jam jar with a firm lid is fine. A small battery milk frother is a cheap upgrade if you make frappés often.

How to make a Greek frappé, step by step

This follows the tested method from Serious Eats, adjusted for a home kitchen.

1. Add the base. Put 1 to 2 teaspoons of instant coffee into your jar or shaker. Add sugar if you want it, then about 2 tablespoons of cold water. Keep the water shallow: too much at this stage stops it from whipping.
2. Shake hard. Close the lid tightly and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds, until a thick, light-brown foam fills a good part of the jar. With a frother, start at the bottom so the coffee and sugar dissolve, then move it up gradually.
3. Add ice. Serious Eats shakes the foam with a cup of ice for a further 30 seconds, which chills the drink and builds more texture. You can also simply pour the foam over ice in your glass.
4. Pour into a tall glass. Add the foam and ice, keeping the foam on top.
5. Top up gently. Pour cold water down the side of the glass, or onto a spoon, rather than straight through the foam. Add a splash of cold milk if you like.
6. Stir once and serve. Stir gently with the straw and drink while the foam is at its best.

A stronger frappé uses 2 teaspoons of coffee; a gentler one, 1 teaspoon. Most home cooks settle on 2 teaspoons, a glass of about 250 ml and three or four ice cubes.

Sketos, metrios or glykos: choosing your sweetness

In Greek cafés you order a frappé by sweetness. The three standard levels are:

The ratios come from My Greek Dish, which also describes a “me gala” version made with about 1 tablespoon of evaporated milk. So for 2 teaspoons of coffee, a metrios frappé uses 2 teaspoons of sugar and a glykos uses 4.

Sugar is not only about taste. A bar manager quoted in Food & Wine says sugar can help the foam, and that foam is a defining feature of a good frappé. If you drink it sketos and find the foam thin, adding a little sugar is worth a try, even just half a teaspoon.

Frappé with milk, without milk, or hot

Milk is optional and changes the drink in a pleasant way. A splash of cold whole milk softens the bitterness and turns the foam slightly paler. Evaporated milk gives a richer, slightly caramel note. If you prefer no milk, top up with cold water only, which is the classic café version.

People also ask whether a frappé can be hot. Not really: the foam is built with cold water and the drink is defined by the ice. If you want a hot Greek coffee, that is a different tradition, made in a small pot and served unfiltered. Our Greek coffee collection covers those traditional blends.

If you avoid caffeine, a decaf instant coffee will do the job. Expect the foam to need a little more sugar and a slightly longer shake.

Fixing a frappé that will not foam

Weak foam is the most common complaint, and it almost always comes down to a few things.

The type of instant coffee. Serious Eats distinguishes two kinds. Spray-dried coffee is stripped of fat and froths readily, while freeze-dried coffee keeps its oils and benefits from sugar to stabilise foam. If you use freeze-dried, add at least 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Too much water at the start. Keep the first splash to around 2 tablespoons in a jar, or a depth of 1 to 2 cm in a glass if you use a frother.

Not enough shaking. Thirty seconds is a minimum. Longer, more energetic shaking gives thicker and more plentiful froth.

Warm water. Use cold water, as the drink is built cold from the start.

Pouring through the foam. Put the foam over the ice first, then add the rest of the water carefully.

Over-frothing with a frother. It is possible to go too far. Souvlakination warns that over-frothing creates large bubbles that do not hold. You want a smooth, stable foam, so froth in a controlled way rather than just maximising agitation.

Choosing instant coffee for a better frappé

Because the foam depends on the coffee, it is worth thinking about what you buy. Look for an instant coffee that dissolves quickly in a small amount of cold water, tastes good on its own and suits the strength you like. A guide to choosing a good instant coffee is a useful starting point if you want to see how the range varies by roast and origin.

We stock Nektar, an instant coffee sold specifically as ideal for Greek frappé, 100% Arabica, in a 480 g pack of two 240 g jars. It is the sort of jar Greek households keep for exactly this drink.

Frappé or freddo: what is the difference?

Both are Greek iced coffees, and both arrive in a tall glass with a straw, so they are easy to mix up. The difference is the coffee.

The Official Athens Guide describes the key visual cue: brown foam means frappé, white milk foam means freddo cappuccino. On the practical side, Souvlakination notes that a freddo needs espresso and therefore normally an espresso machine, while a frappé works anywhere, even without one.

Which should you choose? If you want a quick, foamy, sweet-or-not drink using a pantry staple, make a frappé. If you own an espresso machine and prefer a smoother, more coffee-forward drink, a freddo is the better fit. Plenty of Greeks drink both depending on the time of day.

Making it your own

Once the base method is steady, small changes make it yours:

• Stronger: use 2 teaspoons of coffee and shake for a full minute.
• Lighter: use 1 teaspoon and top up with extra water.
• Creamier: add cold milk or a tablespoon of evaporated milk.
• Less ice-diluted: freeze a few cubes of leftover frappé and use them next time.
• Dessert style: a little cold milk and an extra half teaspoon of sugar makes it closer to a milkshake.

Serve it with something simple and Greek: a slice of halva, a few olives and some bread make a perfectly good afternoon table.

Perspective: why we think the coffee comes first

We grew up with the frappé as the drink of long, slow afternoons, and the thing we have learned is that the technique is the easy part. Anyone can shake a jar. What separates a frappé you finish from one you leave half-drunk is the coffee itself.

That is why we choose Greek coffee products from respected Greek producers, picked for authenticity and for how they taste in the cup. A frappé has only three or four ingredients, so there is nowhere for a poor one to hide. A good instant coffee made with Greek households in mind gives you a flavour that holds up against ice, water and milk.

Our advice is simple: start with a coffee made for the job, keep the first splash of water small, shake for longer than feels necessary, and sweeten to your own taste using the sketos, metrios and glykos levels as a guide. Do that, and you will have a café-quality frappé at your own kitchen counter.

Ioannis

Get the coffee for your frappé

If you would like to make frappés the Greek way at home, we ship Greek coffee and other Mediterranean staples directly from Greece to the UK. Our Nektar instant coffee is made for frappé, and new customers get 15% off their first order, with free shipping on orders over £59.95.

You can browse the full range of Greek foods, including olive oil, honey, olives, halva and Greek coffee, or go straight to the Greek coffee blend with a traditional brass briki if you want to try the hot, traditional style as well.

FAQ

Can I make a frappé with instant coffee?

Yes, and instant coffee is what a traditional frappé is made from. Dissolved instant coffee creates a thick solution that traps air, which gives the stable foam. Brewed coffee will not produce the same result.

How much coffee and water do I use?

Use 1 to 2 teaspoons of instant coffee with about 2 tablespoons of cold water, shaken for around 30 seconds. Then pour over ice and top up with cold water. Most people find 2 teaspoons gives a full-flavoured 250 ml glass.

What is the difference between a frappé and a freddo?

A frappé is foamed instant coffee with brown foam, while a freddo is made with espresso and served over ice. A freddo cappuccino adds thick white milk foam. Frappé needs only a jar or frother, whereas freddo normally needs an espresso machine.

How do I get more foam?

Use spray-dried instant coffee if you can, or add at least 1 teaspoon of sugar if yours is freeze-dried. Keep the starting water to about 2 tablespoons and use cold water. Shake for at least 30 seconds, then pour the foam over the ice before adding more water.

How sweet should a Greek frappé be?

It is up to you. Sketos is unsweetened, metrios uses equal sugar and coffee, and glykos uses twice as much sugar as coffee. Start with metrios and adjust from there.

Sources

• Greek Coffee: The Briki, the Frappe, and the Freddo, Coffee Studies
• The Lowdown on Athens Coffee Culture, The Official Athens Guide
• Frappé (Foamy Iced Coffee) Recipe, Serious Eats
• How to make Frappé, Greek cold coffee, Mia Kouppa
• How to make the Best Greek Frappe coffee, My Greek Dish
• How to Make a Perfect Shaken Coffee Drink, Food & Wine
• How to make Greek Frappé: instant iced coffee recipe, Souvlakination

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