Adding cold foam is one way (and one of my favorite ways!) to upgrade your cup of cold brew coffee.

Cold foam was popularized by Starbucks, but it is so easy to make at home so you can try it for yourself right now. It’s basically made by simply frothing cold milk and customizing it with your favorite coffee syrups or other sweeteners.

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We’ll get into the details about making cold foam at home (click here to skip to the recipe.)

But first…

What is cold foam?

Cold foam was launched by Starbucks in 2018. The first cold foam drink to appear on the menu was Cold Foam Cascara Cold Brew. But since then, there’s also been almond milk and oat milk foams along with cinnamon, cocoa, salted honey and caramel flavors and topped on either cold brew or Nitro coffee.

If you’ve ever tried putting steamed or hot foamed milk on top of iced or cold brew coffee, you know it’s going to make the coffee warm immediately after you put it in. So that’s why Starbucks launched cold foam.

All it is is cold frothed milk using non fat milk, which gives the cold foam its creamy texture. And if you do mix it into your cold coffee, it won’t make it warm.

Though cold foam may not have Frappuccino like status (with a fan base willing to line up for limited edition flavors), try it next time at Starbucks if you haven’t already, or make it at home.

How to make cold foam

The basic method of making cold foam includes putting milk and a sweetener into whatever frothing device you choose.

Looking at the Starbucks ingredients lists, their Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew is made with a salted vanilla sweet cream, which includes the following: Cream (Cream, Mono And Diglycerides, Carrageenan), Milk, Vanilla Syrup (Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid), Salt.

According to Starbucks baristas, it appears that cold foam is made using a special blender and on something called setting 3. I’m guessing most of us don’t have this specific Starbucks blender at home, so we’ll stick with a few alternative methods to create our own cold foam at home.

Ingredients for cold foam

1 cup cold brew coffee
3 tablespoons skim milk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon sweetener of choice (coffee syrups, chocolate sauce)
Milk frother

Note about cold brew coffee:

To make cold brew coffee, you need to plan in advance. Cold brew coffee requires steeping coarse coffee ground in water for at least 12 hours. I make mine with a Primula Cold Brew Coffee Maker, which is convenient and requires minimal clean up. Here’s how to use it.

You also can put cold foam on top of iced coffee too. Cold foam doesn’t have to exclusively be paired with cold brew coffee.

Note about the liquid ratio:

I’ve tested various combinations of milk, cream, coffee creamers and also non dairy barista blends. My preferred ratio has been 3 tablespoons of nonfat milk plus 1 tablespoon of heavy cream.

Using my milk frother, I find this combination allows for the milk to not sink right into the coffee after I pour. From time to time, I also enjoy making cold foam with ¼ cup of half and half, especially with the chocolate cold foam version, as it makes the cold foam creamier.

Note about the sweetener:

Once you’ve found a liquid ratio that you like, you can also experiment with flavor combinations. You’ll find below I made a vanilla, chocolate, caramel and hazelnut version all by adding in one teaspoon of the flavoring. My favorites have been Monin Coffee Syrups and Torani Chocolate Sauce.

Note about the device/frother:

I like using my electric milk frother that has a cold milk froth setting. It’s so convenient. While the milk is frothing, I can pour my cold brew coffee into a glass then pour the foam on top all done in under 5 minutes.

If you don’t have an electric milk frother, you can use a blender or handheld milk frother and blend it to your desired consistency.

You can also use a French press and pull down the plunger multiple times until the milk froths. Or use a mason jar and vigorously shake the liquid until it froths. These may require a little more work on your part but they are options if you don’t have any of the other devices at home.

How to make cold foam

Step 1

Add milk, heavy cream and sweetener of choice into the frother. Set frother to cold foam setting.

If using a blender, blend for 20 seconds, check the consistency and blend until desired consistency.

Step 2

Pour cold brew coffee into a glass.

Step 3

Pour cold foam into glass on top of cold brew coffee.

For a caramel version, add one teaspoon of caramel coffee syrup to the milk/heavy cream before frothing. For a chocolate version, add one teaspoon of Torani chocolate sauce. You can adjust the sweetness by adding more or less of the sweeteners.

How to make Starbucks style salted cream cold foam

For making the popular Starbucks salted cream cold foams, add in a pinch of salt (⅛ teaspoon) and a teaspoon of vanilla syrup to your preferred milk ratio texture. Froth and pour on top of cold brew coffee.

Cold Foam Recipe

Yield: 1

Cold Foam

Adding cold foam is one way (and one of my favorite ways!) to upgrade your cup of cold brew coffee, involving cold milk and a milk frother.

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Materials

1 cup cold brew coffee
3 tablespoons skim milk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 teaspoon sweetener (coffee syrups, chocolate sauce)
Milk frother

Instructions

1. Add milk, heavy cream and sweetener of choice into the frother. Set frother to cold foam setting.

If using a blender, blend for 20 seconds, check the consistency and blend until desired consistency.

2. Pour cold brew coffee into a glass.

3. Pour cold foam into glass on top of cold brew coffee.

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How to Make Cold Foam for Cold Brew Coffee

What is cold foam?

How to make cold foam