Homemade Cold Foam – How To Make Cold Foam For Coffee

Learning how to make a homemade cold foam is great as when you do, it is so easy to make more exotic tasting flavored versions of a cold foam topping. Once you have the base perfected it is so easy to add a pump or two of flavored coffee syrup.

…Or a well-thought-out combination of them like peppermint and chocolate for an after eight chocolate mint tasty topping.

Keep reading to learn how to make an excellent homemade cold foam!

Homemade Cold Foam – What Is Cold Foam?

Starbucks, the world’s leading coffee company and famed for their tasty cold foam toppings use whipped non-fat milk and blend it using a custom-made and designed high speed bladeless blender to get that smooth and tasty cold foam that sits perfectly on their cold brew coffee and iced coffee drinks.

It is much more than blended or aerated cold milk. It’s a well-thought-out topping that sits on top of the drink that provides you with a two-tone taste and texture to your beverage. It’s not designed to be mixed in with your coffee drink. It’s supposed to sit on top.

Although many coffee lovers like to put their cold foam on top of any coffee drink it doesn’t work at all that well on hot drinks. The coffee beverages with a reduced temperature like a cold brew, iced coffee or a latte. It can go well with a hot latte as the temperature is significantly reduced due to using twice as much steamed milk as the espresso shot.

(The steamed milk is at a significantly reduced temperature than the coffee used).

Although you can use any type of milk to make cold foam, the non-fat dairy milk variety will get the best results.

Read: How to make cold cream foam

What Is The Best Milk For Cold Foam

For many coffee enthusiasts, and fans their first thought is that full fat milk is best for making cold foam and will make the richest, creamiest and best cold foam. I can understand why!

…And I’ll forgive you for thinking so as many recipes for homemade cold foam have full fat milk or heavy cream as the milk to use.

Surprisingly nonfat milk gets the strongest and most dense cold foam due to the higher percentage of protein when you compare it to 2% milk or whole milk.

This is in stark contrast to whole milk which is best for making steamed milk. The lipids in the milk help to keep the bubbles formed small and makes it best for microfoam and an amazing texture for latte art.

A Little Fact About Starbucks Cold Foam

Starbucks launched their cold foam for the first time in 2014 at the grand opening of their Reserve Roastery in Seattle. The first drink that was given a cold foam topping was their Americano Con Crema beverage when a nice thick dollop of coffee spiced foam was put on top of it.

Now, the world’s most famous gourmet coffee shop has their cold foam topping in a number of popular coffee beverages such as:

• Nitro Cold Brews.
• Cold Brews.
• Iced Cappuccinos.
• Iced Lattes.
• Iced Espresso.
• Iced Mochas.
• Iced Matcha Tea Latte.
• Iced London Fog Tea.
• Iced Chai Tea Latte.
• Dragon Drink.
• Pink Drink.
• Violet Drink.

Read: Starbucks sweet cream cold foam recipe

How To Make A Homemade Cold Foam

Making a homemade cold foam is easy, very easy, it’s a very simple and easy to make treat that you can add to many beverages. Here is all that you will need to make it:

A Handheld Milk Frother Or Starbucks Verismo Milk Frother

There is no question about it, this is the absolute best way to froth your milk at home. The Starbucks Verismo blender is a little hard to find, so if you see it on Walmart, Target, Amazon or eBay it is worth getting. It’s a high speed bladeless blender that gets your milk fluffy and frothy.

A handheld milk frother will get the job done just as well and has the advantage of being low cost, cheap and very portable. Simply froth for 20 to 30 seconds.

French Press, Mason Jar Or Cocktail Shaker

Of course you can use other tools other than a milk frother or the Starbucks Verismo milk frother. A French press, mason jar or cocktail shaker are just as good.

You will get better results when you freeze your equipment as it helps to emulsify the lipids in the milk.

With a mason jar of cocktail shaker all you need to do is add the ingredients you need to fill it to no more than 1/3rd full and shake with energy and vigor for 2 minutes.

With a French press, follow the same rule of filling to 1/3 full and pump the press for a minute or two until it doubles in volume.

Read: How to make vanilla sweet cream cold foam

Ingredients Needed

Of course, you need some ingredients to make this recipe. At Latte Love Brew we encourage you to follow the Chefs principle and use the best possible ingredients to get the best possible results.

• 1/3 cup of nonfat milk.
• 1 tablespoon of sugar or 2 tablespoons of simple syrup.

That is all that is needed, two very basic ingredients. Personally I prefer and recommend the use of a simple syrup than using sugar as you get a better distribution of sweetness.

Instructions

Simply add the milk into a mixing bowl, and your simple syrup and mix your milk and simple syrup together well before your froth.

It is good to get your ingredients very well mixed before you introduce your milk frother. When your ingredients are mixed perfectly add your handheld milk frother and slowly and move it throughout your milk from top to bottom covering all areas of your milk until it is nice, thick, stabilized and of the consistency that you like and need for your drink.

The total time taken should be 20 to 30 seconds.

Recipe Upgrade: Add Vanilla, Caramel Or Salted Caramel

If you want to give your cold homemade cold foam an upgrade add a hint of vanilla extract or vanilla syrup. This is exactly all it takes to turn your homemade cold foam into a homemade vanilla cold foam.

You can use sugar-free version of the syrup if you are concerned about your health or simply want a healthier topping. You’ll find both the regular and sugar-free version of the vanilla syrup by Starbucks, Torani, DaVinci gourmet on Amazon. You’ll even find exotic French vanilla and Madagascar vanilla.

If you want you can even make your own homemade vanilla syrup. It’s very easy to make.

To turn your homemade cold foam in a caramel or salted caramel cold foam is just as easy. Add a pump or two of the syrup to your milk and mix well before frothing.

This is where you can really start to get exotic and mix flavored syrups. Try how the mix works at Starbucks before you spend your hard-earned cash on a series of bottled flavored syrups.

Chocolate and Peppermint, and chocolate and orange are my two favorites.

Frequently Asked Questions About Homemade Cold Foam

What Does Starbucks Make Their Cold Foam Out Of?

Starbucks and their tasty chilled foamy dairy-based topping that they call a cold foam and put on their iced coffee drinks, cold brew coffees and flavor with simple syrups like a vanilla syrup, caramel syrup, salted caramel syrup, Pumpkin spice syrup and more.

It is made using a base of non-fat milk and blended using a special bladeless high speed blender.

You can get a home version, the Starbucks Verismo from Walmart, Amazon, Target or eBay.

Can I Make Cold Foam With Just Milk?

Yes, this is all Starbucks uses: non-fat milk, their high speed blender and when required a flavored syrup.

A special note. If you want to make cold foam with an alternative plant based or nut based milk like coconut milk, oat milk, almond milk, soy like or any non-diary milk alternative, use the Barista brand as this is of a much better quality. It’s custom-made for coffee beverages with a little more fat that will help it to emulsify better.

How Do You Make Cold Foam Without A Machine?

Making cold foam without a machine or any special equipment is very easy. You can use a mason jar (or cocktail shaker) or your French press. You can also get great results with a manual whisk.

Simply add the ingredients to your mason jar or cocktail shaker while being careful not to fill it more than 1/3 full and shake with energy and vigor for approximately 2 minutes.

You can also add your ingredients to your French press and fill it to no more than the 1/3rd full mark and pump the plunger for a minute or two until the foam expands to twice its volume.

You will get better results when the equipment that you use is ice cold as the ice cold temperature helps the fat to emulsify.

Is It Hard To Make Cold Foam?

No, making cold foam is easy, very easy to make at home. All you need is the right ingredients. You don’t even need any special equipment as you can get that fluffy and fantastic foam, a cocktail shaker or mason jar is all that is needed.

I am confident you will make a great cold foam first time round.

Can You Make Cold Foam Out Of Creamer?

Yes, you can use coffee creamer to make cold foam and a very good one too.

For some coffee lovers, nonfat milk is best, for others it’s heavy cream or half-and-half cream. The important part is to experiment and find out what is best for you as you can make cold foam from all types of milk (and creamers). For alternative milks use the barista brand for the best results.

 Final Thoughts – Homemade Cold Foam

I hope you have paid attention and get started making a homemade cold foam. You can as I have indicated get very creative and start making exotic tasting topping of your own.

Once you have mastered making cold foam, the next step is to experiment making the flavored ones the following step is to perfect making your own flavored coffee syrups, and then you can go wild!

Join our fun, active and informative coffee community on Facebook/Meta and share your homemade cold foam creations and recipes.

Derek Marshall

Derek Marshall, a certified barista by the Specialty Coffee Association possesses over two decades of experience in specialty coffee shops. He holds professional certifications for coffee brewing and barista skills. Derek is also an author with authoritative books covering various coffee topics including specialty coffee, sustainability and coffee, coffee brewing, coffee recipes, coffee cocktails and books focusing on Brazilian coffee, Vietnamese coffee, Indonesian coffee and Malaysian coffee. As a barista for over two decades, Derek Marshall has worked in specialty coffee shops across the United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. His expertise extends to the distinct coffee cultures, specialty beverages, and brewing techniques of each nation. Functioning as a coffee consultant, Derek charges US$50 per hour. To learn more about Derek Marshall and Latte Love Brew, visit his About Me Page. For coffee inquiries, contact him at +34-639-410-375 or Derek@LatteLoveBrew.com, mentioning your name and location