Top your iced coffee and tea with decadent, creamy cold foam instead of adding creamer or milk. Get step-by-step instructions and see how surprisingly easy it is to make it at home in 2 minutes!
CONTENTS
Recipe Highlights
- Cold foam is cold, frothed milk, made without heat or steam, for iced drinks. It’s a creamy, velvety, and fluffy milk foam that is poured on top of an iced beverage. The cold foam will slowly make its way down the cup.
- It’s sweetened with sugar or simple syrup and can be made flavored by adding flavored simple syrups.
- This quick and easy cold foam recipe uses just 2 ingredients to make perfectly delicious cold foam at home using a French press or a handheld milk frother.
RELATED: Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Foam
Cold Foam at Starbucks
At Starbucks, cold foam is made with heavy cream, 2% milk, and vanilla syrup. A special blender is used to create perfectly smooth, textured foam that’s made up of tiny bubbles.
Cold foam can be customized!
Try topping your drink with matcha cold foam (matcha blended with cold foam), strawberry cold foam (strawberry puree sauce blended with cold foam) or pumpkin cream cold foam (pumpkin spice sauce blended with cold foam).
Any iced drink at Starbuck can be ordered with cold foam, although there is an extra charge.
RELATED: 8 Easy Cold Foam Recipes
Cold Foam at Dunkin’
The cold foam at Dunkin’ comes from a can, a Reddi-wip! It’s sweeter than the cold foam at Starbucks and the main ingredients are nonfat milk, sugar, and cream.
The sweet cold foam tops cold brews including “The Charli Cold Foam” drink. It can be added to any iced drink but there is an extra charge.
RELATED: Chocolate Cold Foam
Ingredient Notes
- Half & Half
Half cream and half milk, the cream half is the key to getting perfect cold foam. Milk can be made into cold foam but it’ll be thin and not very fluffy or rich. - Sugar or Simple Syrup
White, granulated sugar or simple syrup can be used.
Step-by-Step Instructions
For full ingredients and instructions, scroll down to the recipe.
French Press Method
This method creates perfect cold foam with tiny, uniform bubbles.
- Put cold half & half and sweetener into a French press.
- Place lid and move the plunger up and down.
The half & half will more than double in volume. - Pour cold foam on top of an iced beverage.
Handheld Milk Frother Method
This is the second best way to make cold foam since you do get bigger, uneven bubbles but a handheld milk frother is easier to clean than a French press.
- Whisk half & half and sweetener using a handheld milk frother.
It should take about 20 seconds to get fluffy cold foam. - Pour cold foam on top of an iced beverage.
Serving Suggestions
- Cold foam can be used instead of milk or cream in an iced drink or in addition to.
- It’s up to you if you want to stir in the cold foam into the drink, or drink it as is, sipping the cold foam first as it works its way down the cup.
- Turn any iced coffee drink like iced latte or cold brew, into a coffee shop quality beverage by topping it with cold foam.
- Instead of using plain sugar or simple syrup, make flavored cold brew for a tasty treat.
Flavored Cold Foam
- Caramel cold foam
Caramel adds a sweet touch. - Salted caramel cold foam
Sweet and salty caramel is perfect on cold brews. - Chocolate cold foam
For chocolate lovers, chocolate cold foam is delicious on mochas. - Pumpkin cream cold foam
Flavor cold foam with fall’s signature pumpkin spice by using pumpkin spice syrup. - Matcha cold foam
A green tea twist to cold foam.
Expert Tips
- The goal is to get tiny, uniform bubbles that won’t even look like bubbles since that’s what creates the smooth texture. The French press does a better job of doing this than the handheld milk frother.
- The French press makes better cold foam but it’s a bit of a chore to clean. The handheld milk frother is much easier to clean than a French press but the cold foam isn’t as smooth since there are bigger bubbles. But they both taste great and adds velvety foam to your iced drink.
- Don’t overfill the French press. The cold foam will double or triple in volume as air is pumped in, so keep that in mind when you pour the half & half into the French press.
- Don’t underfill the French press. The strainer needs to be submerged in the half & half so that the air can be pumped into it.
RELATED: Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
Questions You May Have
Any iced drink where you would normally add milk or cream, you can add cold foam instead. Iced coffee, cold brew, or iced tea like chai.
You can, but It’s more work to clean than handheld milk frother and doesn’t create tiny, uniform bubbles the way that a French press can.
You can but it’ll take some work. Put half & half and sweetener into a large jar with a tight lid. Shake vigorously until it doubles in volume.
Related
- Caramel Cold Foam
- How to Froth Milk for Lattes
- 14 Refreshing Iced Coffee Recipes
- Iced Coffee with Cream Froth
- Simple Homemade Syrups for Coffee and Tea
- How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
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How to Make Cold Foam
INGREDIENTS
- ⅓ cup half & half
- 2 teaspoons sugar (or 1 tablespoon simple syrup)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put cold half & half and sweetener into a French press.
- Place lid and move the plunger up and down 30 times.The half & half will more than double in volume.
- Pour cold foam on top of an iced beverage.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
How to Make Cold Foam Using a Handheld Milk Frother
- Whisk half & half and sweetener using a handheld milk frother.
It should take about 20 seconds to get fluffy cold foam. - Pour cold foam on top of an iced beverage.
How to Make Cold Foam Using a Jar
- Pour half & half and sweetener into a large jar with a tight lid.
- Shake vigorously until it doubles in volume.
- The goal is to get tiny, uniform bubbles that won’t even look like bubbles since that’s what creates the smooth texture. The French press does a better job of doing this than the handheld milk frother.
- The French press makes better cold foam but it’s a bit of a chore to clean. The handheld milk frother is much easier to clean than a French press but the cold foam isn’t as smooth since there are bigger bubbles. But they both taste great and adds velvety foam to your iced drink.
- Don’t overfill the French press. The cold foam will double or triple in volume as air is pumped in, so keep that in mind when you pour the half & half into the French press.
- Don’t underfill the French press. The strainer needs to be submerged in the half & half so that the air can be pumped into it.
Flavored Cold Foam Variations:
- Vanilla Cold Foam
Combine vanilla syrup and half & half to make Vanilla sweet cream cold foam, just like at Starbucks. - Brown Sugar Cold Foam
Make homemade brown sugar syrup to make a deliciously sweet cold foam. - Pumpkin Spice Cold Foam
Flavor cold foam with fall’s signature pumpkin spice by using pumpkin spice syrup. - Honey Cold Foam
Use honey syrup to top your iced coffee with honey cold foam. - Lavender Cold Foam
Add a floral touch to your drink by mixing lavender syrup into half & half to make lavender cold foam. - Peppermint Cold Foam
Add mint simple syrup to half & half to sweeten and flavor your cold foam.
tastes excactly like the cold foam I get from Wawa, Dunkin ect.
Thank you. Great Recipe.
Hi! If you take whatever cup or pitcher you’re using with the handheld frother and gently tap it on a hard surface, those larger uneven bubbles will pop and you’re left with that beautiful silky texture! I much prefer this method so I don’t have to clean my French press.
I’ve also found that if you want a long lasting foam, half and half just isn’t going to cut it. Skim milk has a larger protein content which allows for a sturdier foam. I prefer to use just nonfat for the foam, and then I’ll add a touch of half and half to my drink for the richness. The ratios of your recipe is perfect though, I love that it’s not over the top sweet!
Great! Thanks
Made it just now. Finally. A way to have my fav (expensive) SBX drink at home.