If you love strong and icy cold coffee drinks, you’ll love this Greek frappe recipe.
Also known as a Nescafe frappe or instant iced coffee, a Greek iced frappe is one of the easiest (and cheapest) iced coffee drinks you can make at home.
Ready in under 5 minutes, let me show you how to make a Greek frappe at home with this delicious and simple Greek iced coffee with instant coffee.
What Is A Greek Frappe?
The Greek Frappe is a simple instant iced coffee drink that originated in Greece in the 1950s.
Also known as the Nescafe Classic Frappe thanks to its main ingredient, Nescafe Classic instant coffee, it’s a strong and cold coffee drink made with just a handful of ingredients including instant coffee, sugar, milk, ice and water.
The Nescafe Greek frappe coffee dominated the coffee scene in Greece until the 1990s, when the espresso based Greek Freddo gained popularity amongst coffee drinkers.
And yes, Greek coffee frappe lovers will know my recipe looks a little different! I love a classic Greek Frappe, but for this recipe I wanted to change it up, just a little.
But don’t worry – the recipe ingredients stay true to an authentic iced Greek frappe. The key difference is the order I have added them to the glass, making it more of a Greek style frappe with a pretty layered look!
Why You’ll Love This Instant Iced Coffee Recipe
Still popular today with locals and tourists alike in Greece and internationally, the classic Greek iced coffee frappe is an affordable, quick and easy iced coffee recipe you can make at home in just a few minutes.
And unlike many coffee recipes, you don’t need an espresso machine, a coffee maker or even coffee beans to make this coffee drink!
All you need is a jar or shaker bottle with a lid, a tall glass and a straw. Easy!
If you love easy iced coffee drinks, you might try iced coffee with chocolate milk, a brown sugar iced coffee recipe or one of these instant coffee recipes.
Greek Iced Coffee Ingredients
A basic Greek frappe has just TWO ingredients – Nescafe Instant Coffee and iced water. However there are many variations and my recipe includes sugar and milk too.
The specific quantities and steps to make a Greek iced coffee at home are listed in the recipe card below, so here I just want to touch on each of the ingredients that make this drink so unique!
- Instant coffee: Regular Greek frappe drinkers will insist the best instant coffee for a Greek frappe is Nescafe Classic instant coffee grounds.
- Milk: The classic Greek iced coffee frappe recipe uses NoyNoy milk. NoyNoy is concentrated full cream milk in a can, and is a form of evaporated milk. You can find NoyNoy canned milk online and at Greek grocery stores.
- Sugar: I use regular white sugar in this recipe.
- Water: The recipe works best with icy cold water. So if you don’t have cold water in the fridge, pop some ice cubes in a small jug of water to chill the water before using.
What Is Evaporated Milk?
Evaporated milk is a shelf stable and naturally sweet milk commonly used in baking recipes.
Not to be confused with sweetened condensed milk, which is ALSO found in a can and often used in homemade creamer recipes and Asian iced coffee recipes!
Substitutions
Instant coffee: The classic blend can be tricky to find outside of specialty Greek grocery stores (although you can usually find it on Amazon).
If you can’t find the classic blend, try a bold and strong instant coffee blend – Nescafe or another brand of instant coffee is fine.
NoyNoy milk: If you can’t find NoyNoy milk, substitute a local brand of evaporated milk.
If you don’t have that on hand, simply use whole milk or half and half. Note you may want to slightly increase the amount of sugar as the drink will be less sweet if using regular milk.
How To Make A Greek Frappe At Home
Here’s a quick overview of how to make a Greek frappe coffee drink at home. For the full recipe and ingredient list, scroll down to the printable recipe card.
Step 1: Create the coffee mixture. The first step is to create the base for your frappe – the frothy coffee mix.
In a jar, bottle or cocktail shaker, add the instant coffee, sugar and cold water. Pop the lid on and give it a really good shake – at least a minute, until frothy and creamy.
The quantities and ratios of coffee and sugar are completely up to you – and I list the common variations to the recipe in the section below.
Step 2: Prepare the glass. Add the ice, cold water and milk to the glass.
Note that a classic frappe recipe will say to pour the coffee mixture into the glass FIRST, then add the rest of the ingredients.
So as you can see from the process images, this step is where I diverge from the classic Greek frappe. Feel free to stick to the authentic Nescafe frappe recipe by adding the coffee mixture first if you prefer!
Step 3: Add the coffee mixture. Finally, pour your sweet frothy coffee mixture over the top of the milk and water in the glass. Serve with a straw and enjoy.
How To Customize Your Greek Frappe Recipe
Like any type of iced coffee drink there are essentially 4 different ways to customise a Greek frappe:
- Plain/Black with no sugar or milk
- Black with sugar
- With milk and no sugar
- With milk and sugar
In Greece this is explained with 4 different terms you need to know to order your favourite Greek Frappe:
- Skéto – Plain. No milk or sugar added.
- Métrio – Medium Sweet. Contains equal parts coffee and sugar.
- Glykó – Sweet. Contains double the amount of sugar as instant coffee.
- Me gála – With Milk. The amount of milk added varies and can be specified.
So to order my Greek frappe recipe in Greece or at a Greek coffee shop you would ask for “frappe metrio me gala”.
Recipe Tips For Success
- Chill your water: icy cold water helps make this drink extra refreshing.
- Adjust to your taste: This instant iced coffee drink can taste very bold and strong. But the beauty of it is you can completely customize it (as the Greeks do) to your personal taste with sugar and milk.
- Use evaporated milk: NoyNoy or evaporated milk adds a lovely creamy and sweet taste that really adds a nice touch to this recipe.
Greek Coffee Frappe Recipe FAQs
Do I Need A Greek Frappe Mixer?
You may have noticed that many Greek cafes use a frappe mixer, similar to a milkshake maker, to make a Greek cold coffee frappe. A mixer speeds up the process and creates great froth, but a frappe blender isn’t required when making a homemade Nescafe frappe recipe.
If you own a handheld milk frother, you could use it to froth the mixture, but I just use a jar or bottle to shake it up.
What Is the Difference Between A Greek Frappe And Dalgona Coffee?
Whilst the Greek Frappe and Dalgona Coffee are made with the same ingredients, there are several differences between them.
1. Greek frappes are predominately coffee and water with a little milk added (if at all). Whereas Dalgona coffee has a base of milk with the whipped coffee added to the top.
2. To make a classic frappe you shake the ingredients instead of whipping them together like you do for Dalgona. The frappe is less creamy as a result, but also blends better with the water or milk you add to the drink.
3. The final difference between the two drinks is the order they are added to the glass. For a traditional frappe the coffee is added first, followed by the water and milk. For Dalgona drinks, the milk is added to the glass first then topped with the whipped coffee.
More Iced Coffee Recipes You’ll Love
Find more iced coffee recipes here or browse all our coffee recipes.
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Greek Frappe (Instant Iced Coffee)
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons water cold
- 2 tablespoons evaporated milk see note 3
- ½ cup water cold
- ice cubes
Instructions
- In a jar or cocktail shaker, add the instant coffee, sugar and enough cold water to just cover the coffee and sugar – around 1-2 tablespoons (see note 1).
- Close the lid and shake vigorously for around a minute until the mixture is foamy and thick.
- Half fill a tall glass with ice. Add the evaporated milk and 1/2 cup cold water (see note 2).
- Pour the coffee mixture over the top and serve immediately with a straw.
Notes
- You can use any jar or container with a lid to shake the mixture. A mason jar works well, as does a small plastic container.
- For a classic Greek frappe, add your coffee mixture to the glass FIRST, then top with milk and water to taste. I just like the nice layered effect when adding the coffee last.
- An authentic Greek frappe contains NoyNoy milk, which is similar to evaporated milk – sweet, rich and creamy. NoyNoy can be found at Greek grocery stores. If you can’t find NoyNoy or evaporated milk, the best alternative is half and half or whole milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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