How to Make a Greek Frappé With Nescafé From Our Bakaliko
Just picked up a tin of Nescafé from the OKC Greek Festival? Skip to the recipe >
Looking for a way to bring a little Greece into your everyday life? With Greek Nescafe you can make a frappé at home! All you need to make one is a tin of Greek Nescafé, cold water and a couple minutes.
What is a Greek Frappé?
A frappé (φραπέ, pronounced fra-PAY), not to be confused with a Frappuccino, is a Greek staple. A Greek frappé is shaken, and the foam comes from the coffee itself.
A Greek frappé is an iced coffee made by instant coffee, sugar and a little cold water, that’s shaken hard until you get a thick foam, then poured over ice and topped with milk, water or both.
The foam is the difference. It sits on top of the glass and holds for as long as you're drinking, which in Greece can be a long time when you’re chatting at the kafeneio.
However, a frappé isn’t “Greek coffee”. Greek coffee, also available at the bakaliko, is a fine ground coffee boiled in a briki. It won't dissolve or foam up when shaken like Greek Nescafé Classic does.
What Makes It Greek
A Greek invented it! We’re not channeling our inner Gus Portokalos: The story goes that the frappé was invented by accident in 1957 at the Thessaloniki International Fair by Dimitris Vakondios, a sales rep working the Nescafé exhibit. He wanted his usual instant coffee, but either couldn't find hot water or was feeling too warm for hot drink. So he grabbed a shaker meant for Nesquik, added Nescafé, cold water and some sugar and shook it up.
Nescafé embraced it, and by the 1980s, its ad campaigns had made the frappé a national hit and a staple across Greece.
Even though you may be served a frappé in a to-go cup, it's coffee meant to sit with, talk over and make last. Especially because a frappé made with 2 teaspoons of Nescafé has about 100 to 180 milligrams of caffeine, more than a typical cup of brewed coffee.
Why the Tin Matters: Greek Nescafé vs. American Instant Coffee
You can't just grab any jar of instant coffee and expect a foamy frappé. The Nescafé Classic sold in Greece is spray-dried, meaning the coffee is sprayed as a fine mist into hot air, leaving a fine powder with almost no oil in it. No oil means the foam holds up for a long time.
Most American instant coffee is freeze-dried, which keeps more of its oils, and oil kills the foam.
The Greek version also tends to taste bolder, which is what you want once it's diluted with ice, water and milk and sitting for a while.
Just don't confuse Greek Nescafé with Greek coffee. Greek coffee, also available at our bakaliko, is a fine ground coffee boiled in a briki. It won't dissolve or foam when shaken the way Greek Nescafé Classic does.
Greek Nescafe Classic tins on the shelf at the OKC Greek Fest Bakaliko Grocery Store
Order Coffee Like a Greek
If you order a frappé at a café in Greece, the server will usually ask Πώς τον θέλετε; (Pos ton thélete?), or “How would you like it?” They're asking how sweet you want your coffee and whether you want milk.
Here’s how you'd personalize your frappé in Greece:
Sketos (σκέτος) for no sugar
Metrios (μέτριος) for medium sweet
Glykos (γλυκός) for sweet
Me gala (με γάλα) to add milk
In a full sentence, drop the “s” on the end of the sweetness. For example, ordering a medium-sweet frappé with milk in Greek is, “Enan frappé métrio, me gála” (Έναν φραπέ μέτριο, με γάλα).
How to Make a Traditional Greek Frappé
Find more festival recipes and behind-the-scenes on Instagram at @GreekFest.OKC
You Need:
2 teaspoons Greek Nescafé Classic
0 to 4 teaspoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
Metrios is 1-2 teaspoons; Glykos is 3-4
2 tablespoons cold water
Ice
Cold water and milk to top it off
A drink shaker, jar with a lid or handheld milk frother
Tall glass
Straw
Instructions:
Add the coffee, sugar and 2 tablespoons of cold water to a shaker, a jar with a lid, or or a tall glass if you're using a handheld frother.
Shake or froth for about 30 seconds, until you have a thick, light brown foam.
Pour into a tall glass with ice.
Top with cold water, milk or both. Leave room so the foam sits on top.
Add a straw and stir gently from the bottom when you're ready to drink.
Make It Your Own
A frappé is easy to adjust once you have the basic method down. Here are a few ways to make it yours.
Change the sweetener
White sugar: The classic. It dissolves fast and keeps the coffee flavor front and center.
Brown sugar: Swap it in one for one for a deeper, almost caramel flavor.
Honey: Use water that's a little warmer than usual so the honey melts, then blend everything with a handheld frother. It mixes in much more easily than shaking.
Sugar-free sweetener: Granulated sweeteners like stevia, monk fruit or allulose blends work in place of sugar. Add them to the water before shaking so they dissolve. Sugar gives the foam a little extra body, so a sugar-free frappé may be slightly lighter, but it will still foam.
Sweetened condensed milk: Skip the sugar and stir a spoonful into the glass for sweetness and creaminess in one step.
Add a flavor
Syrups: Vanilla, caramel and hazelnut all are delightful. Add the syrup to the glass before the ice rather than to the shaker, so it doesn't weigh down the foam. Sugar-free syrups work the same way.
Chocolate: A drizzle of chocolate syrup in the glass turns it into an iced mocha.
Spices: A pinch of cinnamon on top of the foam makes your frappé a fall treat
Change the milk
Evaporated milk: What many Greek cafés use. It makes the frappé richer and creamier.
Whole milk: A good everyday option if that's what you have on-hand.
Half-and-half: For an extra creamy frappé.
Oat milk: Creamy without overpowering the coffee, and a great dairy-free choice.
Almond or coconut milk: Lighter dairy-free options, with coconut adding a hint of flavor.
No milk: Top with cold water only for the traditional black version.
Change the coffee
Stronger or lighter: Use 1 teaspoon of Nescafé for a milder frappé or 3 for a bolder one (don’t forget to adjust the sweetener to match!)
Coffee ice cubes: Freeze leftover frappé or brewed coffee in an ice tray so your drink doesn't get watered down as you sip.
Make it a treat
Ice cream: Add a scoop of vanilla on top for a summer dessert. In Greece, that's a frappé me pagoto (φραπέ με παγωτό).If you have the tin at home, why not experiment and find what type of frappe you like best?
Pick up a tin at our bakaliko, and while you're there, browse the rest of the shelves for popular Greek snacks and pantry staples to take home. Kali orexi!