COVID Chronicles: Chapter 2 of 7…Instagram Made Me Do It

coffee 

[kaw-fee] noun

A dark, magical substance that turns “leave me alone” into “good morning, honey!”

Happy Tuesday Friends + Welcome to Chapter 2 of the COVID Chronicles! 

Hope you’re all doing well!

Before I start today’s post, I have to say, I was SO happy to hear from so many of you after last night’s post went live. To those of you that were inspired to dust off the keyboard + practice a song (or 2), to those of you who mentioned how eager you were to listen to a few of the songs that I mentioned in the hopes that one of them would cheer you up, to those of you who mentioned that they missed driving + decided to hop in the car and drive around the block to brighten their day…THANK YOU! Waking up to those messages totally made my day so much brighter, so for that I am so appreciative. 

Beyond that, I was so incredibly touched by the comments from people who realized, after reading that post, that they are not alone in their own feelings of anxiety or frustration. Well my friends, you are most definitely NOT alone and your thoughts matter and are totally justified. So keep on reaching out, I’m always SO happy to hear from you! If you don’t have it and wanna chat, send me an email at akinson27@gmail.com. Seriously, I’m always SO happy to hear from you! 

I was also so excited to receive a number of incredible song suggestions from you that I just needed to share! Wanna listen? Just click on the title of the song + it’ll take you straight there!  

“Great Night” by NeedtoBreathe

“Fistfight” by The Ballroom Thieves 

“Raye” by John Splithoff 

“Legend” by The Score 

“Legendary” by Welshley Arms 

If you have Spotify, check out the “Swagger” playlist, it’s pretty great! If you have any song recommendations, I’m ALL ears!  

Now, after yesterday’s rather heavy post, today my friends we’re chatting about something we all know + love, something that’s near and dear to our hearts! 

That’s right friends, today we’re talking COFFEE! (Not a coffee lover? No problem! I’ve gotcha covered, just keep on reading).

I love all things coffee. There are a handful of things that bring me SO much joy, like reading, lip gloss annnd coffee. Now, normally all I require is a venti, black, piping hot Americano! One large cup of that and I am one happy and VERY caffeinated gal! 

By the end of this thing, I might open up my own little coffee shop…serving one thing + one thing only…DALGONA coffee! If you don’t know what that is, I’m going to assume that you’ve been living under an Instagram free rock! It’s only the latest and greatest trend to grace the pages of all of our social media accounts. Everyone and their brother is making Dalgona coffee right now. 

It’s the easiest, most photogenic + if I do say so myself, the most delicious little cup of coffee to ever grace these plump lips (although who are we kidding, this quarantine is ruining all of my lip filler dreams). 

Now, for someone who is happy with the most basic cup of coffee, I was a tad hesitant about this fluffy, creamy looking coffee. But let’s be real, when we’ve got this much time on our hands, I’m grasping at ALL the straws for ways to entertain myself, so why not! 

So, what the heck is Dalgona coffee? 

For this my friends, we can thank South Korea! Some beautiful, beautiful genius had the idea to turn Dalgona (which is a coffee-flavoured toffee) into the most delicious, creamy coffee beverage! This will forever go down in history as being THE official drink of the 2020 quarantine and our lives will never be the same. 

Ever wondered what a cloud tasted like? Then keep on reading! 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

Short of a popping in a Nespresso pod, this might be THE easiest yet MOST delicious coffee out there. With a teeny bit of effort you’re going to get a drink straight off the Starbucks menu, without needing the fancy equipment or special syrups. The best part, it contains THREE ingredients that I can almost guarantee you already have at home! 

WHISK AWAY…Here’s how to make it: 

SOOOOO, in a medium sized bowl, add:

> 2 tbsp instant coffee (can be regular or decaf) 

> 2 tbsp sugar (can be regular sugar, brown sugar, stevia – you can opt out of sugar however it won’t be as thick as if you use sugar) 

> 2 tbsp water (room temperature) 

Now, whisk your little hearts out! Every post I read + every video I watched RE: Dalgona coffee advises you to use an electric mixer and NOT to mix by hand. Well friends, you best believe that if they’re telling me not to do it because it’ll be “too hard”, well then CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! 

You’re going to have to mix this concoction until it’s thick and holds it’s little caffeine infused peaks. Meaning if it holds its shape, then you’re good to go + ready to move onto the final step! 

SIDENOTE: I’d be lying if I said that mixing this by hand was no big deal + took only a couple of minutes to complete. 17.26 minutes & one very sore right arm later…I now know you should ALWAYS use the electric mixer for this one haha. 

So, now that you’ve created the most perfectly whipped coffee, you can do one of two things. 

1) If you want to enjoy this coffee COLD, then with 3/4 cup of milk + ice cubes, add a dollop of the whipped topping and VOILA!  

2) If you want to enjoy this coffee HOT, then with 3/4 cup of hot milk OR hot water, add a dollop of the whipped topping, and you’ve got your own tasty, reverse latte. 

Once you’ve taken a picture of your masterpiece because let’s be honest, this is definitely insta worthy, mix the whipped coffee in with your liquid of choice. Well I mean, you don’t HAVE to, but it’ll be strong, so brace yourself! 

Final thoughts 

I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to like this Dalgona coffee as much as I do! I like it so much that I’m considering tripling the recipe so that I can enjoy one of these tasty drinks over the next few days, saving myself from the gruelling arm workout of making it every.single.day haha! 

It’s also making me re-think my daily pre-pandemic stops to Starbucks or Tim Hortons on my way to work. Not only does this contain more caffeine than any other cup of coffee I normally sip on, but it’s SO delicious & actually quite filling. One might even argue that in the long run, making these on a weekly basis might prove to be more cost effective than my daily Starbucks trips. 

For those of you who are concerned with the sugar content, don’t worry, you can leave it out. Just be aware that the whipped portion won’t likely hold…not that that really matters once it’s mixed in with whatever liquid you choose to mix it with. 

Now, for those of you who don’t drink coffee (1. I need to know HOW you make it through the day without it?!), instead of using instant coffee you can use hot chocolate mix!

And there you have it friends! This is one Instagram trend that’s worth trying, I promise you won’t regret it! Now, if you do try it (which I hope you will), definitely send me a picture of your masterpiece or tag me on Instagram (@lipstickandbubbly)! 

Thanks so much for stopping by & I’ll see you all tomorrow for another post!

Stay safe, 

xo