What Is a Frappe? Differences Between Frappe and Frappuccino

What Is a Frappe?

Frappe coffee (also known as Greek Frappe), is a cold coffee that includes instant coffee (spray-dried Nescafe), some water, sugar, and sometimes milk. It is a tasty and refreshing coffee covered with foam. In addition, if you are a flavor chaser, you may have your Greek Frappe with some whipped cream or toppings.

There are many variations of the Frappe such as caramel frappe and mocha frappe. It can even be made with coca-cola. Therefore, this brings some questions like “Is Frappe coffee or not?” The answer is simple. The traditional version of Frappe is coffee, but of course, you can prepare your Frappe however you like.

Origins of Frappe

The name of the Frappe comes from French, in which frappe means drinks chilled with ice. Today, we use this word to describe this tasty coffee. We can attribute the success of this great coffee to the Greeks.

Greek Frappe was invented in 1957 by accident. Yes, accidents may lead to unexpected consequences sometimes and Frappe is one of the best examples of this. This invention happened at the International Trade Fair in Thessaloniki. At the fair, the Nestle Company was showing its new product by using a shaker to mix the ingredients. Meanwhile, a worker in the Nestle Company named Giannis Dritsas was trying to find himself a way to drink his coffee. After not being able to find anything to prepare his coffee, he mixed his coffee with cold water and ice cubes in a shaker. As a consequence, a delicious drink named Frappe that we drink today was born.

After this invention, Greek Frappe gained popularity very quickly with the help of some marketing campaigns made by Nestle. In 1980, it was so popular and it was generally called “Nestle Frappe” but today, it is often called “Frappe.”

Variations of Frappe

As we said earlier, there are a lot of variations of Frappe ranging from oreo frappe to frappe that is made with coke. Before we dig into these variations, let’s start with some traditional variations of Greek Frappe.

In Greece, when ordering a frappe, you can specify the sugar and milk amount of your Frappe if you want. And of course, there are names for the sweetness levels of the Frappe.

Glykós (sweet)	4 spoons of sugar
Metrios (medium)	2 spoons of sugar
Sketos (plain)	No sugar

As for milk, when used, it is usually an evaporated milk and it is called frapógalo (frappe milk).

Milk is not always included unless requested. If you want some milk, you should say me gála (with milk), if you don’t want milk in your Frappe you can say horís gála (without milk).

When it comes to other variations of Frappe, things change a little bit. In Bulgaria, Frappe can be prepared with coca-cola. In Denmark, sometimes cold milk can be used instead of water. In Serbia, Frappe is usually made with milk or ice cream. In particular beach bars, Frappe can be prepared with alcoholic liqueurs such as Kahlúa or Baileys Irish Cream. These are some basic variations of the Frappe coffee.

Differences Between Traditional and Modern Preparation of Frappe

Throughout the years, the preparation process of the Frappe has evolved. Although you can prepare your homemade Frappe with traditional methods, you can use some modern preparation techniques as well.

The Greek version, which is traditional, is very simple. Use some water, instant coffee, and some sugar and mix them together using a mixer or shaker. In this way, you can get the famous frothy foam on top of your Frappe.

In modern preparations, it is usually made with a blender. Ingredients are usually instant coffee, sugar, water, and some syrups or alcohol if requested. These ingredients are put into a blender and blended. In modern preparation, you may have some toppings such as chocolate syrup, whipped cream, or even ice cream. In addition, you can see some variations such as green tea Frappe in modern variations as well.

What makes This Frothy Top Popular?

When it’s time for Frappe, the first thing that comes to mind is its frothy top. But what makes it so popular?

The coffee used to prepare Frappe is spray-dried and includes no oil, therefore, it results in this perfect frothy foam. This foam is similar to the foam found on espresso, but the foam of the Frappe is thicker and lasts longer because it contains no oil.

The foam consists of three things. Air bubbles, coffee solids, and water. Over time, the water drains from the foam and it becomes a solid foam. Although the lifespan of the foam is short, it doesn’t change the fact that it is one of the characteristics of the Frappe.

Frappe vs Frappuccino: What’s the Difference?

While some people think they are the same thing because of the similarity between their names, there are many differences between Frappe and Frappuccino.

While Frappe contains coffee always, Frappuccinos don’t have to contain coffee

No matter what ratio you use, a frappe has to contain some coffee. On the other hand, coffee content in Frappuccino can change depending on how you order your Frappuccino.

Frappe uses instant coffee, Frappuccino uses brewed coffee

When Frappuccino contains coffee, it is a cold-brewed coffee. However, when it comes to Frappe, it is usually made with instant coffee. Using instant coffee gives Frappe a thick foam and darker color.

Frappuccino is a trademarked brand of Starbucks

As the title describes, the rights of the Frappuccino belong to Starbucks, unlike Frappe, which is just an ordinary coffee type.

Frappuccino contains a lot of sugar and foam

Even though Frappe contains foam and some sugar, the sugar content in Frappuccino is more than Frappe. Therefore, it is safe to say that the calorie content in Frappe is less than Frappuccino.