What Is Cold Foam?

Cold foam is milk frothed cold — without any heat or steam — producing a thick, velvety layer of microfoam that floats on top of an iced drink and slowly cascades down into it.

It was popularised by Starbucks in 2018 and is now a standard topping on iced coffee, cold brew, and iced tea drinks everywhere.

How it's different from a regular latte's foam: steamed milk foam is created with hot steam, which makes large, airy bubbles that collapse quickly and would melt straight into a cold drink. Cold foam is whipped cold at high speed, producing a much denser, finer, longer-lasting foam that sits on the surface of an iced drink instead of dissolving into it.

What it's made from: traditionally nonfat (skim) milk, which is the counter-intuitive part. Skim milk has more protein relative to fat, and it's protein that builds and stabilises foam, while fat weighs it down. That's why nonfat milk froths into the thickest, most stable cold foam.

For a richer version, cafés use sweet cream cold foam — a blend of heavy cream, milk, and vanilla syrup — which is denser and more indulgent but doesn't hold its structure quite as long.

Cold foam vs. whipped cream:

How to make cold foam at home — you need speed, not heat:

• Handheld milk frother (the cheapest and most common route): pour ¼ cup of cold nonfat milk into a tall narrow glass or jar, add sweetener or syrup if you want, and froth for 30–45 seconds, moving the whisk up and down. Pour it over your iced drink.
• French press: add cold milk, then pump the plunger vigorously 20–30 times.
• Jar method: put the milk in a jar with a tight lid and shake hard for 30–60 seconds.
• Blender or immersion blender: blend on high for about 30 seconds. Best for larger batches and for sweet cream foam.
• Electric frother with a cold setting does it automatically.

Tips for the best results:

• Use very cold milk, straight from the fridge.
• Use nonfat or low-fat milk for maximum volume and stability.
• Don't over-froth — past a certain point it turns stiff and separates.
• Add syrup before frothing, which helps it hold together.
• Pour it over the back of a spoon for a clean layer.

Non-dairy options: results vary a lot. Oat milk — especially barista-formulated versions — foams best, followed by soy. Almond and coconut milk are much harder to froth and produce a thinner foam. Barista blends contain added protein and stabilisers specifically to solve this.

Popular variations: vanilla sweet cream, salted caramel, pumpkin cream, chocolate, matcha, and espresso cold foam (with a shot blended in). You can flavour a homemade batch with any syrup, a spoonful of cocoa, or a pinch of cinnamon.

Which drinks it suits: cold brew and iced coffee above all, plus iced lattes, iced matcha, iced chai, and iced tea. It's less suited to hot drinks, where it simply melts.