
Cold Coffee a.k.a Pakistan’s favorite coffee
Don’t confuse this with iced coffee. This is a blended coffee that has been all the rage in Pakistan long before Frappuccinos became a thing at Starbucks. It’s on the menu at every cafe and restaurant, and my personal favorite combination to order as a kid (Who am I kidding? It’s still my favorite order!) was a cold coffee and fries. The combination of sweet and salty is perfection. While the cold coffee of my childhood is a bit too sweet for me now, I penned down this recipe keeping that original flavor in mind.


Cold Coffee is synonymous with Lahore summers
I always remember my summers in Lahore fondly. We spent our days having so much fun that the scorching heat never really bothered us. The peak noon hours were spent playing dark room or cards, then we ran outside to play once the sun settled a bit. We always came back to the sound of the blender whirring in the kitchen, and we knew what it meant. Right as we settled on what to watch on tv (there wasn’t much to choose from in the 90’s) a large tray of homemade fries and glasses full to the brim with cold coffee would be set in front of us. If we were lucky, we’d get seconds.


The recipe is simple
This is literally a dump and blend recipe, but I like blending it in two sections. It gives that rich flavor and is similar to the dalgona coffee method, which again, has been all the rage for ages in Pakistan, much before the lockdown craze that took over TikTok. I start by blending the instant coffee, sugar and a little water until it’s whipped and tripled in volume. Then I add the ice and milk and blend till smooth. Needless to say, blending this in advance won’t do you any good. It’ll just separate, so blend it when you’re ready to serve. You can find my favorite instant coffee here.

Cold Coffee
Equipment
- blender
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp instant coffee
- 5 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup ice
- 2 scoops vanilla or coffee ice cream optional
- whipped cream optional
Instructions
- Start by adding the coffee, sugar and water to your blender. Blend for 1-2 minutes, or until it has tripled in volume and is pale in color.
- Then add the milk and ice and blend until the ice has completely crushed and the drink is smooth. You can blend the ice cream with the coffee as well, although I prefer having a scoop in my glass.
- Serve over a scoop of vanilla or coffee ice cream and add whipped cream on top. Serve immediately. This makes 2 large servings or 3 small.
Notes
Have you tried this delicious recipe?
I love hearing your feedback. If you tried this recipe I’d love to hear how it turned out in the comments below.

