How To Make Cold Foam

Here’s how to make cold foam for iced coffee! It’s super easy to make with only one ingredient. You can also add your favorite flavorings!

Cold coffee drinks are a popular summer beverage, and they are delicious with cold foam on top! You can leave it plain, sweeten it or add a flavoring of your choice. All you need is skim milk and a frother!

Ingredients and Equipment Needed

There is really only one ingredient needed to make cold foam at home, and that is milk! But you can add sugar and flavorings to make whatever kind you want.

• We recommend using fat-free skim milk for the thickest, most sturdy cold foam. Using a frother will turn 1/4 cup of skim milk into 1 cup of cold foam! Other milk will not give the same results.
• We recommend using a frother which is a battery-powered mini whisk. This small handheld frother is our favorite. You can also use a mixer with the whisk attachment, but the foam won’t be as thick or sturdy.

Cold Foam Comparison

We tested five dairy products and vanilla creamer to see what would happen when we used the frother. Each one was tested in the same glass container, and we used the frother for one minute.

• Skim Milk: With fat-free skim milk, we found that 1/4 cup makes 1 cup of cold foam. It started forming almost immediately, and it is made up of tiny bubbles and is thick and sturdy!
• 1% Milk: For 1% milk, 1/4 cup makes slightly more than 3/4 cup of foam. It reduces slightly, and liquid starts gathering on the bottom of the glass. It isn’t as sturdy or thick as skim milk.
• 2% Milk: With 2% milk, 1/4 cup makes slightly more than 3/4 cup, but there were large bubbles that popped quickly and reduce the amount of foam.
• Whole Milk: For whole milk, 1/4 cup makes 3/4 cup, but the large bubbles on top pop, and it almost immediately reduces to 2/3 cup.
• Half-n-Half: When frothing half-n-half, 1/4 cup makes slightly more than 2/3 cup, but the large bubbles quickly popped and reduced it to 1/2 cup.
• Vanilla Creamer: We also frothed vanilla creamer, and 1/4 cup makes slightly less than 3/4 cup of cold foam. It actually worked surprisingly well.
• Heavy Cream: As a side note, we also frothed heavy cream, and it turned into whipped cream as expected.

Here is a look into the glass for each of the dairy products to show the cold foam turned out. You can see the large bubbles that formed in most of them. For the skim milk, you can see how thick the foam is and that the frother left an indent in it when we removed it from the glass.

How To Make Cold Foam

Put cold milk into a cup or jar and froth until the cold foam has formed. Make sure that you use a cup that is much larger than the amount of liquid you add since it will triple in size. We found that we got the most volume when using a tall narrow cup!

Then, to make a coffee drink, pour the cold brew or iced coffee over ice in a glass. Add flavored syrup and half-n-half and spoon cold foam on top.

Flavored Cold Foam Recipes

Now that you know how to make cold foam at home, you can start adding flavorings and spices to make different kinds!

Frequently Asked Questions

Coffee Recipes

• You can make delicious Cold Brew at home with coffee grounds and water!
• Here’s How To Make Ice Coffee with an espresso machine, instant coffee, and a Keurig!
• Pumpkin Mocha Whipped Coffee can be enjoyed hot or cold.
• This Mocha Punch is a frosty combination of coffee, ice cream, and chocolate!

Flavored Syrups and Sauces

Here are some of our favorite syrups and sauces to use on your iced coffee drinks!

• White Chocolate Sauce is delicious in a white chocolate mocha drink.
• We love using Peppermint Syrup during the holidays!
• This Banana Syrup is made with only three ingredients.
• Vanilla Bean Syrup is a classic choice for coffee drinks.