This Business Is Under Fire After Falsely Claiming It Invented Dalgona Coffee
Who among the world's coffee enthusiasts doesn't enjoy a nice cup of Dalgona coffee? This delicious whipped coffee drink has been taking the caffeine-loving world by the storm since the fluffy libation started making waves in South Korean online circles, and the last year or so has seen the surprisingly easy-to-make beverage go global. (In case you haven't tasted it yet, don't worry — there's plenty of recipes for Dalgona coffee you can test and get hooked on.)
As with every new trend, it's not exactly a surprise that some coffee-themed companies have been keeping a careful eye on the Dalgona trend in case there's money to be made. However, it can be pretty difficult to ride the crest of internet hype — especially if you aren't content just riding it and actually claim that it was your wave all along. For this reason, one business has now come under fire after falsely claiming that it actually invented Dalgona coffee.
Whipped Drinks drew the internet's ire for claiming a Dalgona-style coffee as the brand's own invention
The Dalgona coffee hype's origins can pretty decisively be traced back to a South Korean actor, who in turn was quick to point out that the recipe originates from Macau (via Eater). As such, you wouldn't necessarily expect some aspiring stateside coffee company to appropriate the recipe over a year after it has been making rounds on the internet. Alas, that's what reportedly happened when a company called Whipped Drinks started selling a $49 kit for making a drink that seems a whole lot like Dalgona coffee and stated that the drink was created when its white owner, Katie Angel, "improvised with premium instant coffee in her home kitchen to make a whipped coffee creation to rival any Los Angeles barista" (via TODAY).
The company's message was promptly called out by multiple internet users, and Whipped Drinks soon corrected course with an Instagram apology that stated: "We are sorry and we acknowledge that this was inspired by Korean culture and we completely stand by the Asian community. We did not intend to make it seem that we invented dalgona." The company also promised to donate a percentage of their earnings to the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.