Why is Dirty Coffee So Popular? How to Make Trendy Dirty Coffee and What Does It Taste Like?

Introduction to Dirty Coffee

Espresso really does offer endless possibilities. The combination of espresso and milk alone can produce any number of coffee beverages, and Dirty coffee is a very popular one born from that collision. With a little espresso knowledge it isn't hard to see that Dirty is essentially a small, no-ice version of an iced latte.

Preparation Method

The preparation is quite simple. FrontStreet Coffee's parameters are: prepare a 200ml chilled glass and pour 160-170ml of iced milk into it. If bubbles form on the surface, skim the foam off with a spoon. Then place the glass directly under the brewing head and extract the espresso straight in. Keep the glass as close to the portafilter as possible, to avoid excessive impact force that would blend the espresso into the milk.

History and Origin

This "layered coffee" first appeared in mainland China in 2014 at a café in Beijing, inspired by the practices of Hong Kong baristas, when it was still a niche beverage. Later, as independent specialty coffee shops became popular in major Chinese cities, the practice of pouring espresso over milk spread widely among baristas and picked up Chinese names such as "Amber," "Stain," "White Night," and "Dirty Coffee."

In fact, the original creator of Dirty is Katsuyuki Tanaka from Japan. In 2009 he opened a café called Bear Pond Espresso in Kitashinzawa, Tokyo, and Dirty was a specialty product he made from the beginning, listed on the menu as B.P Dirty. Its most distinctive feature is Tanaka's unique espresso - "Angel Stain." He specifically used a bottomless portafilter for extraction, observing and judging the extraction by eye, with the espresso leaving teardrop-like traces on the cup wall.

With the combination of dark roast, a large dose, ultra-high concentration, and a low extraction rate, the double "Angel Stain" lets the B.P Dirty's espresso sink slowly, keeping distinct layers even without pre-chilling the glass. Yet B.P Dirty never became widely popular in Japan. It was learned and adopted instead by some cafés in Hong Kong and Thailand.

Reasons for Popularity

Why has such a small drink become so popular? FrontStreet Coffee has roughly listed the following reasons.

First, Dirty was positioned as an internet-famous product from the very beginning. It started to take off around 2018-2019, when "dirty" food became trendy - dirty buns were especially popular - referring to food that creates a "dirty" visual effect. Early "dirty" coffee wasn't standardized, and some versions used milk foam and cocoa powder to create the effect. (Internet-famous products iterate so fast that the later "forgiveness green" matcha set has already become an outdated sensation.)

Later, major specialty coffee shops began to informally unify the definition of "dirty" coffee: freshly extracted hot espresso slowly permeating into pure white iced milk, creating the "dirty" visual effect.

Second, it fills the visual aesthetic gap in iced coffee. To put it bluntly, it looks beautiful. Hot coffee has lattes and other drinks that can feature latte art, while iced coffee poured into a transparent cup shows only a gradient from golden yellow to brown. The beauty of Dirty is dynamic - the dark espresso slowly permeating downward, gradually staining the white - and it's a favorite subject for coffee photography.

Third, a multi-layered tasting experience. If Dirty coffee were only about appearance, it couldn't have gone this viral. Iced lattes served in coffee shops today can also achieve a layered look, but when drinking them people still tend to mix the milk and coffee evenly.

With Dirty, what you're drinking is its ever-changing layers. A small Dirty can be finished in 3-4 sips. The first sip is rich, warm espresso (with a small amount of iced milk), letting us experience a robust coffee aroma.

The second sip brings you to the transition zone between coffee and milk, where part of the coffee and milk blend in an unsaturated way, letting you taste a rich milk chocolate flavor. The third sip is chilled milk with a faint coffee aroma. With no dilution from ice cubes, the overall mouthfeel is very full-bodied - from bitter to sweet, from hot to cold - a very rich, multi-layered experience.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Dirty lives or dies by its espresso, and the crema that sits on top of the shot. FrontStreet Classic Blend was designed precisely for espresso and moka pot use, and its greatest strength is outstanding crema: even a beginner on a non-professional home machine can pull a dense, silky layer. Based on the traditional Mamba recipe, it has a mellow, rounded body that both veterans and newcomers accept easily, making it a dependable first choice at home or in a shop.

If you like a nuttier, deeper flavor, FrontStreet Fine Blend - a classic medium-dark espresso blend of washed Colombian and semi-washed Brazilian beans - brings nut, dark chocolate, and caramel notes, and its creamy, almond, and cocoa aromas hold up in Americanos, lattes, and flat whites, with crema fully on par with a café. And for anyone planning to open a shop, FrontStreet Commercial Blend builds on the Fine Blend with a small addition of Robusta, adding more fine, deep-brown crema and a heavier profile, so latte art comes easily.