10 Korean Drink Recipes To Create Your Own Cafe At Home, Including Popcorn And Cereal Lattes

There is nothing quite satisfying and ASMR-worthy as Korean home cafe videos—all sunlight-dappled glasses, the tinkle of ice cubes, and beautiful gradients of coloured beverages. As aesthetically pleasing as they may be, it’s actually not that difficult to make these drinks.

With that, here are 10 drink recipes to create your own Korean home cafe.

• 1. Popcorn Latte

Everybody knows that popcorn is the go-to movie snack. However, the next time you’re thinking of what to eat and drink during your stay-home movie session, we propose this Popcorn Latte recipe. With the espresso, this drink is a nice pick-me-up, made better by the kernels of popcorn on top that you can munch on.

Yield: 1 serving Time needed: 5 minutes

1 shot of espresso

• ½ tbsp caramel syrup

Whipped cream

• ½ cup popcorn

Directions:

• In a cup, add the espresso, caramel syrup, and your desired amount of ice cubes.
• Pour in the milk.
• Top with popcorn and your desired amount of whipped cream.
• 2. Galaxy Lemon Mojito

Galaxy lemonades are all the rage, because of their gorgeous blue-and-purple palettes that replicate the cosmic skies. If you’re looking for a drink that’s both refreshing and pretty to look at, consider this Galaxy Lemon Mojito recipe. Yield: 1 serving

Slice of lemon, quartered

• 3g mint leaves
• 1 tsp sugar

Ice cubes

• ½ lemon, juiced
• 150ml sparkling water
• 50ml butterfly pea tea

Directions:

• Mash lemon quarters, mint leaves, and sugar together.
• In a cup, add the lemon-mint-sugar mixture, lemon juice, and your desired amount of ice cubes.
• Pour in the sparkling water and butterfly pea tea.

Recipe adapted from 리틀토이 Little Toys.

• 3. Sweet Bean Green Tea Latte

Matcha and azuki are a match made in heaven, and that’s evident in this Sweet Bean Green Tea Latte recipe. It’s easy to make, yet complex in taste, where you get the earthiness of red beans, bitterness of matcha, and creaminess of milk, all in one sip.

Yield: 1 serving Time needed: 5 minutes Ingredients:

• 3 tsp matcha powder
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 1 tbsp red bean paste

Ice cubes

• 200ml milk

Directions:

• Add water to matcha powder and whisk until smooth.
• In a cup, add red bean paste, and your desired amount of ice cubes.
• Pour in the milk and matcha mixture.

Recipe adapted from 한세HANSE.

• 4. Tiramisu Latte

If your favourite cake is tiramisu, try out this Tiramisu Latte, which makes for a convenient alternative to the traditional dessert. Mix in the cream cheese froth to get an indulgent flavour usually achieved with mascarpone.

Yield: 1 serving Time needed: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 30g whipping cream
• 10g cream cheese
• 5g sugar
• 215ml milk

Directions:

• Whisk the whipping cream until it hardens.
• Mix whipping cream, cream cheese, sugar, and 15ml of milk together until it becomes smooth.
• In a cup, add the espresso and your desired amount of ice cubes.
• Pour in the remaining milk.
• Top with the cheese froth and your desired amount of cocoa powder.

Recipe adapted from 한세HANSE.

• 5. Egg Coffee

Egg coffee is traditionally a Vietnamese coffee, best known for its sweet, frothy egg topping. The yellow egg mixture and dark brown coffee also create an aesthetically pleasing colour contrast that adds to your IG-worthy home cafe experience.

Yield: 1 serving Time needed: 10 minutes

2 egg yolks

• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp condensed milk
• 200ml black coffee

Directions:

• Whip egg yolks, vanilla extract, and condensed milk until it becomes smooth and frothy.
• In a cup, add black coffee.
• Top with egg mixture and your desired amount of cocoa powder.

Recipe adapted from 한세HANSE.

• 6. Banoffee Pie Latte

Banoffee pie is a dessert that’s traditionally made with bananas, caramel, and cream. We’ve turned this sweet treat into a delicious beverage—the banoffee pie latte.

For this recipe, we made our own toffee topping, though you’re free to use store-bought toffee if that’s more convenient. Yield: 1 serving

Time needed: 1-2 hours Ingredients:

• 280ml black coffee
• 200ml banana milk
• 220g sugar
• 227g unsalted butter
• ¼ tsp vanilla paste
• ¼ tsp salt

Directions:

• Make coffee ice cubes by filling an ice tray with 230ml of the coffee. Freeze.
• To make your toffee, add butter, vanilla paste, and salt to a pan and cook it down over medium heat.
• Add the sugar to the pan in intervals until dissolved.
• When the toffee mixture browns, pour it onto a sheet of parchment paper and leave it to cool in the fridge until it becomes solid, then break it up to get a toffee crumble.
• In a cup, add banana milk and remaining black coffee.
• Top with your desired amount of whipped cream and toffee crumble.
• 7. Chendol Coffee

For a localised beverage in this list of Korean home cafe drink recipes, try out this Chendol Coffee recipe. Here, you get the fragrance of gula melaka with the bitter aroma of coffee, and some textural variation from the coffee jellies. Yield: 1 serving

Time needed: 1 hour Ingredients:

• 14g gelatin
• 1 tbsp hot water
• 4 tbsp sugar
• 150ml black coffee

2 pandan leaves

• 240g water
• 150g gula melaka, chopped
• 250ml milk

Directions:

• Mix gelatin and hot water together.
• In a pot over high heat, add gelatin mixture, sugar, and black coffee, and stir until everything is dissolved.
• Pour the liquid into a heatproof bowl and refrigerate it until it becomes jelly.
• In a pot over medium heat, add pandan leaves, water, and gula melaka, and simmer for eight minutes until it turns syrupy.
• Leave this gula melaka syrup to cool until it becomes sticky.
• Cut the coffee jelly into small cubes.
• In a cup, add cubed coffee jelly, gula melaka syrup, and milk.
• Top with your desired amount of whipped cream and gula melaka syrup.
• 8. Cereal Latte

Start your day right with this Cereal Latte recipe, which comprises coffee and cereal, both rather essential breakfast items. We used Honey Stars for this recipe, and enjoyed the malty flavour it gave the drink, but you’re free to use any cereal of your choice.

Yield: 1 serving Time needed: 5 minutes Ingredients:

Ice cubes

• 200ml milk
• ½ cup cereal of your choice

Directions:

• In a cup, add the espresso and your desired amount of ice cubes.
• Pour in the milk.
• Top the cup with cereal.
• 9. Strawberry Cheesecake Latte

Strawberry latte is a popular, fruity drink to reach out for at beverage stores, and this strawberry cheesecake latte recipe elevates that with a creamy cheese froth topping. You’re also free to replace the house-made strawberry jam with any store-bought alternative you have on hand.

Yield: 1 serving Time needed: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 30g whipping cream
• 10g cream cheese
• 5g sugar
• 215ml milk

4 large strawberries, chopped

• 20g sugar

Directions:

• Whisk the whipping cream until it hardens.
• Mix whipping cream, cream cheese, sugar, and 15ml of milk together until it becomes smooth.
• In a pan over medium heat, cook down three strawberries and sugar until the mixture reaches a jammy consistency.
• In a cup, add the strawberry jam and your desired amount of ice cubes.
• Pour in the milk.
• Top with the cheese froth and remaining chopped strawberries.

Recipe adapted from Rose Nana Luvu.

• 10. Peach Strawberry Smoothie

Smoothies are a fun, easy way to chug down your favourite fruit and this Peach Strawberry Smoothie recipe elevates that experience, with its addition of house-made strawberry jam on top. We liked the slight zing of the strawberry jam, which paired well with the light sweetness of peach.

Once again, you can substitute the strawberry jam here with any store-bought alternative. Yield: 1 serving Time needed: 10 minutes

3 large strawberries, chopped

• 20g sugar

2 peaches, chopped

• 1 cup yoghurt

Directions:

• In a pan over medium heat, cook down the strawberries and sugar until the mixture reaches a jammy consistency.
• Blend the peaches, yoghurt, and your desired amount of ice cubes until smooth.
• In a cup, layer the peach yoghurt smoothie and strawberry jam.