Last week, I was scrolling through Instagram stories when I saw one from Ben Mims, the cooking columnist for The Lost Angeles Times. Ben was making a coffee drink that looked like a cross between a latte, meringue, and milkshake. “I need to make that immediately,” I thought to myself.

The drink, Dalgona coffee, is taking off during the coronavirus pandemic as people seek alternatives to store-bought lattes. It started in South Korea but it’s making the rounds on social media, where people are sharing pictures of their creations and using hashtags to boost their posts. You can read more about it in this LA Times story.

Dalgona coffee could not be easier to make. I mean, it’s not as simple as throwing ground coffee in a French press with hot water, but it’s more rewarding. You go by a 2:2:2 ratio for ingredients: 2 tablespoons of instant coffee (I used Ferrara), 2 tablespoons of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of hot water. You whisk those ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a small bowl using a hand mixer, until the mixture is golden brown and thick. This will take about 3-5 minutes.

Then, you put some ice cubes in a tall glass, pour in a cup of milk, and use a spatula to put the coffee mixture on top. Use a spoon with a long handle to swirl the coffee mixture into the milk. Then, let it sit for a second. Eventually, the milk will settle and the top of the drink will become light and frothy. The frothiness is my favorite part of this drink.

So yeah. If you’re sick of your normal coffee routine and you want to switch things up, make this Dalgona coffee. It’s creamy, rich, frothy, and light. It will make you miss cappuccinos and lattes a little bit less, if only for a minute. It’s basically the coffee milkshake you never knew you needed.

Here’s a song to get you started on your Dalgona coffee journey.