How to Make the Viral Donut Coffee? What Steps Are Needed for Homemade Donut Latte?

A couple of winters ago, a "donut latte" from South Korea took social media by storm. With its striking looks and cozy, wintry vibe, it caught the eye of plenty of coffee lovers and inspired all kinds of upgraded versions. Ever since, every time the temperature drops, this milk-based drink — hailed as the ultimate winter special — gets rediscovered and starts circulating on social platforms all over again.

While browsing online over the past few days, FrontStreet Coffee came across a tutorial for it and realized the method isn't all that complicated. So today, let's recreate a cup and find out how it actually tastes.

Gathering the Ingredients

Structurally, this donut latte is built from two parts: a hot milk-coffee base plus a cocoa-dusted milk foam topping.

Because the bottom half of the drink is just any hot milk coffee, there are no strict ratio requirements. If you prefer a balanced cup, build it like a large latte; if you want a bolder coffee presence, use cappuccino proportions. The base should ideally be espresso, but moka pot coffee works too — anything sufficiently concentrated will do.

The donut-shaped bulge on top is fluffy whipped milk foam dusted with chocolate powder, while the white concave "hole" in the middle is formed by pouring in heavy cream. Since both heavy cream and milk are unsweetened — and can taste flat or heavy on their own — it helps to whip in a little syrup and salt to round out the flavor. If you have them on hand, flavored syrups and sea salt are even better substitutes.

In short, to make this donut latte you'll need at minimum: espresso, milk, heavy cream, salt (or sea salt), syrup, and chocolate powder (cocoa powder), plus two tools: a milk pitcher and a whisk.

Let's Start Making It

First, prepare a 200ml coffee cup and pull a cappuccino into it.

Here FrontStreet Coffee used the shop's standard Sunflower Warm Sun blend. Today's parameters: 19.7g of coffee in, extracted for 31 seconds to yield 38g of double-shot espresso, poured into the cup first. Next, pour 130ml of fresh milk into the pitcher (holding back some milk to leave room for the foam topping), use the steam wand to build dense, thick microfoam, keep the temperature between 55–60°C, then blend it evenly with the espresso until the cup is 9/10 full. No latte art needed.

Second, gently dust a layer of chocolate powder over the surface of the latte. Aim for as even a coating as possible — it makes a big difference to the final look.

Third, find a clean container and add 50g of heavy cream, 0.5g of salt, and 8g of syrup (if you're not a fan of salty notes, reduce or skip the salt).

Then whisk until it reaches a yogurt-like consistency — this took FrontStreet Coffee about 30 seconds. One important detail: the cream must stay pourable; otherwise it may clump up at the very end.

Fourth, once the cream is whipped, pour it quickly into the center of the coffee. You'll see the surrounding foam rise gradually as the liquid flows in. When the level stands about 1cm above the rim of the cup, the donut shape has successfully formed.

First Taste

The first sip brings the fragrant fats and dense foam of the top layer, carried on a lightly salty chocolate aroma, followed by the vanilla and cocoa notes of the espresso underneath. On the second sip, the sweet milk steps forward, and you can feel the espresso, foam, and cream topping melding in your mouth, with the coffee's layers coming through more clearly. (PS: when you drink this donut latte, the cocoa powder tends to stick to your teeth and lips — remember to wipe your mouth afterward, or you'll walk around looking like

Operational Details

1. To keep the finished drink both photogenic and full of coffee flavor, FrontStreet Coffee tested three different milk volumes (130ml, 150ml, 180ml). The less milk used, the stronger the coffee presence in the finished "donut latte," and the richer the texture of the salty cream topping. So adjust the milk amount to your own taste — it will also determine the size of cup you need.

2. Heavy cream is at its most pourable right after whipping, so leave it for the final step and don't whip it in advance. If it sits too long, the foam and liquid will separate, and when you pour it onto the foam it can punch through the surface, landing in the wrong spot and leaving you with a "donut" that isn't round.

3. Technique-wise, the donut latte isn't hard to make, but first attempts often end with coffee overflowing the cup because of poor volume control. After many trials, FrontStreet Coffee found that cups with thicker walls give the rim better support against foam overflow, which raises the success rate considerably.

Finally, when "stacking the bulge," don't get greedy and build it too high. Once the foam layer gets stretched too thin, the milk underneath breaks through easily and you end up with a messy spill. To stay on the safe side, FrontStreet Coffee suggests keeping the bulge to about 1cm, and ideally no more than 1.5cm above the rim.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The donut latte works with any concentrated coffee base — espresso, or coffee brewed in a moka pot. Whichever route you take, here are a few FrontStreet Coffee beans that pair beautifully with a rich, sweet milk drink like this:

FrontStreet Coffee Classic Blend — a traditional Mandheling-Brazil blend designed specifically for espresso and moka pot brewing. Its standout strength is abundant, silky crema: even beginners on a non-professional home machine can pull dense, fine crema with ease. The body is mellow and rounded, and it's the backbone of lattes, cappuccinos, and Dirty-style drinks — a natural first choice for this recipe.

FrontStreet Coffee Brazil Fazenda Rainha (Queen Estate) — very low acidity with a balanced cup, prominent nut and cocoa aromatics, and clear caramel sweetness. Smooth on the palate with no astringency, warm and long-lasting. It performs equally well as pour-over, espresso, or moka pot coffee — a great pick if you want your donut latte's base to lean nutty-chocolatey.

FrontStreet Coffee PWN Indonesia Golden Mandheling — dark roasted with very low acidity, a rich and lingering body, and deep herbal, dark chocolate notes with a faint earthiness. If you like your milk coffee bold and full-bodied rather than bright, this is the base to reach for.