The iced coffee of old was a tall glass of milk, a scoop of ice cream and a hopeful shot of espresso. Its successor is more refined: chilled coffee over ice, topped with a slow-sinking layer of lightly whipped cream or foam, sometimes salted, sometimes scented with orange or nutmeg. Cold foam coffee has gone from social media curiosity to café menu staple, and Adelaide has some very good versions.
If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, these are the places to start.
What is cold foam?
Cold foam is milk or cream whipped cold until it’s thick enough to sit on top of an iced drink rather than blend into it. The appeal is the contrast between bitter coffee underneath and something soft, sweet or salty on top. Each sip gets a little of both.
The best-known local variation is the Mont Blanc, which originated in Melbourne in the early 2020s. It’s iced black coffee topped with cream, usually finished with orange and a grating of nutmeg. Vietnamese cafés have their own long-standing version: a salted cream that cuts through the intensity of a strong phin-brewed coffee.
Where to try it
Coffee Society, Seacombe Gardens
This one’s for anyone who thinks cold foam belongs in a coffee shop, not a dessert bar. A self-taught barista opened Coffee Society on Morphett Road, and its signature iced crème brûlée cold foam has become something of a local legend, selling more than 200 in one month alone. Every foam is made in-house, and new flavours rotate through, with KitKat and banana bread among recent additions. Get there early, because it closes at 12.30pm. 577 Morphett Road, Seacombe Gardens. Open Monday to Friday, 6am–12.30pm, and Saturday, 7.30am–12.30pm.
An Nam Quan, Hawthorn and Marryatville
For a Vietnamese take, An Nam Quan makes a strong case. Its Vietnamese iced coffee comes with the option of salted cold foam, the sweet-salty cream balancing the rich, chocolatey brew. The drinks menu also has a Coconut Matcha Cloud and a Coconut Taro Cloud for those who’d rather skip the caffeine hit. 206 Belair Road, Hawthorn, and 236 Kensington Road, Marryatville.
2nd Street Coffee, Bowden
Bowden’s newest coffee stop has an entire cold foam menu. The highlights include an iced long black with chocolate cold foam, an iced latte with honey cold foam, and a coconut water topped with a matcha cold foam “cloud”. It’s a good option if you’d rather your foam came on black coffee than a sweet latte. 6–10 Gibson Street, Bowden.
Yolk, Walkerville and Brooklyn Park
Yolk has been a Walkerville brunch favourite for years, and its cold foams are now drawing crowds of their own. They’re house-made with cream, and they come on more than just coffee. The Honeycomb Iced Chocolate is an iced mocha topped with vanilla bean tiramisu cold foam. The Strawberry Matcha pairs iced matcha with a strawberry cold foam. The coffee comes from McLaren Vale roaster Dawn Patrol, so the espresso underneath is as good as the topping. 42 North East Road, Walkerville, and 108 Marion Road, Brooklyn Park. Both open Monday to Saturday, 7am–2.30pm, and Sunday, 8am–2.30pm.
Docee, Woodville South and Firle
Docee calls its signature drink the “cold cream”: iced coffee crowned with a thick, velvety layer that leaves a milk moustache on almost every sip. The best known is the Strawberry Pistachio, which layers pistachio cream, strawberry, milk, coffee and a lightly sweetened strawberry confit. There’s also a Peanut Mocha with espresso and chocolate, and seasonal flavours such as Bueno. It’s very much a dessert in a cup, and there are gluten-free and dairy-free options. 3/115 Findon Road, Woodville South, and 171 Glynburn Road, Firle.
Doozy, Brighton
A short walk from the beach on Jetty Road, Doozy pairs Kindred Coffee with toasted jaffles and pastries, and its cold foam specials attract a following of their own. Flavours rotate, with Kinder Bueno cold foam on an iced latte among the recent favourites, so it’s worth checking what’s on before you go. Take it down to the sand afterwards. 2/49 Jetty Road, Brighton.
Two Sisters Café, Woodville South
This one isn’t technically cold foam, but it belongs in any conversation about creamy iced coffee. Two Sisters Café serves “ultra-frozen” lattes in glasses chilled to -85°C, so the milk freezes at the edges into a slushy, velvety texture. Flavours change with the seasons, and recent options have included pistachio matcha, Earl Grey hojicha and a Dirty Single O. 68B Woodville Road, Woodville South.
One Block Up, Malvern
At its Unley Road café, cult bakery Abbots & Kinney gives its iced drinks a pastry-shop twist. The Biscoff iced latte has a spoonful of the bakery’s house-made vanilla custard stirred through, and the iced mochas come in caramel, chocolate and hazelnut. There’s also a cold foam series with a rotating drink of the month. If the Milky Way is on when you visit, order it, and grab a pastry while you’re there. Unley Road, Malvern.
Hello Stranger, Adelaide CBD
Hello Stranger’s Mont Blanc follows the classic Melbourne recipe: iced black coffee topped with cream, grated nutmeg and orange. It’s a bright, grown-up drink for those who like their coffee black but don’t mind a little indulgence on top. Gilbert Street, Adelaide.
Altura Coffee Roasters
Altura has its own take on the Mont Blanc, combining cold foam and cream foam over filtered coffee on ice. As roasters, they start with excellent coffee, which makes the cream more of a garnish than a disguise.
Fika, North Adelaide
This Swedish-inspired café on Melbourne Street offers a gentler alternative in its Matcha Cloud. It’s made with refreshing coconut water and topped with a layer of creamy matcha milk foam, the café equivalent of a cool change on a hot afternoon. 74A Melbourne Street, North Adelaide.
Cabana Café, North Adelaide
For something sweeter, Cabana’s Dubai Cloud Iced Latte nods to the pistachio craze with a creamy, pistachio-infused iced latte. It’s one for an afternoon treat rather than a morning heart-starter.
How to order like a regular
Cold foam drinks are best drunk without a straw. Sipping through the foam gives you a balance of cream and coffee in every mouthful, rather than a straw of plain coffee and a lonely layer of cream at the end. Ask for the foam unsweetened if you prefer your coffee less sweet. Most cafés will oblige.
With summer on the way, it’s a good time to try one. Start with a crème brûlée foam in Seacombe Gardens, then work your way around town.
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