Why we’re bananas about cold foam coffees (and how to make one at home)

It might be the dead of winter, but you wouldn’t know it from our coffee orders. Cold foams have taken centre stage. From pastel ube and strawberry to decadent tiramisu and rich, caramelly date froths, these velvety layers are giving a new wave of coffees and matchas a creamy, bubbly crown.

Until relatively recently, ordering a flavoured cold foam usually meant a trip to Starbucks syrup or settling for a traditional Vienna coffee. But over the past 18 months, the trend has exploded. Today, you’ll find cold foams, clouds and floats on menu boards across the country.

Cold foam toppings are typically made from cream, milk and sometimes sweetened condensed milk or flavoured syrup. Whipped until silky and frothy rather than stiff, the cream is poured or piped over iced drinks such as coffee, coconut water or matcha. Non-dairy alternatives, such as coconut cream, are also popular.

While pistachio, pandan and orange froths are increasingly popular drink toppers, industry experts say one particular fruit reigns supreme. The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox. “Hospitality is always evolving and so is the palate of our customers,” says Zeky Yousuf, co-owner of Donatello’s cafe in Melbourne’s Brunswick, where their “Brunny” banana cream cold foam (served over coffee or matcha) has become a smash hit.

“We’re seeing the rise of a younger generation of coffee consumers who want something a bit different. They’re not really interested in having a plain espresso,” he says, noting that today’s crowd is looking for a photo op as much as a caffeine hit. Daniel Cesarano, head of retail at Single O with cafes in NSW, Queensland and Japan, agrees that banana is the runaway winner.

Single O is currently serving a banana bread cold foam that celebrates 20 years of its signature menu item: banana bread topped with espresso butter. “Banana and coffee have always been a thing,” says Cesarano. “They go well together, almost like banoffee pie.

It’s those caramelly, toasty flavours.” While Single O builds on those deep, baked pastry notes, Donatello’s leans directly into nostalgia. Yousuf says their signature topping captures a classic banana lolly flavour, with customers delighted that the house-made syrup gets its sweetness from real fruit.

“We go through kilos and kilos each week,” Yousuf confesses, adding that the banana cold foam even made its way onto their matcha and became wildly popular. Cesarano notes the movement has distinct local roots. The nationwide obsession largely owes its spark to Carlton cafe Good Measure and their hyper-viral Mont Blanc – a striking, layered drink featuring sweetened filter coffee crowned with an orange-spiked, nutmeg-dusted cream layer.

“All these cold foams need a little nod to the guys at Good Measure, who kicked it off in Australia,” says Cesarano. “You also see a lot of these drinks all over Asia, so I think it was coming, but the Mont Blanc accelerated it here.” This phenomenon isn’t limited to cafes.

Social media is awash with professional-looking DIY foams and froths, catering to the growing swell of home espresso enthusiasts. A standout trend includes blitzing banana into “healthier” creamy toppings – often dairy-free – or using the fruit as a textured mix-in for a standard milky coffee. The trend is built around nuanced flavour combinations and house-made syrups.

While there are excellent syrups on the market, both Single O and Donatello’s use real banana in their bases and create their own flavour profiles. “Baristas, cooks and chefs are taking their time to be creative and honing their skills, making different creams and syrups, and that makes it special,” says Yousuf. At Sugar Plum Cakery in Coffs Harbour on the NSW Mid North Coast, cake boss and specialty coffee creator Monique Dawson agrees that the well-crafted flavours are the ones that hit home.

Her recent creation, Briar Brew, was so popular that it has stuck around past its planned June-only run. “We make our own golden syrup mixture for the cold brew, and then we top it with a brown-sugar cold foam and grate a Biscoff crumb on top,” says Dawson. The foamy, decadent coffees offer consumers a little affordable luxury at a time when they are feeling the financial pinch.

“Young people aren’t drinking or going out as much but they still want a treat,” says Cesarano. “It’s not uncommon to spend $13 on a signature or specialty coffee, instead of buying rounds of $22 cocktails.” Dawson has a simpler explanation.

“I don’t think it’s very deep. I just think it’s fun, and why can’t we have fun coffee? And we all want that Instagram story.”

Are there any flavour combinations to avoid? “Not really,” laughs Yousuf, as long as it works with the drink underneath. “If you can pull it off, the sky’s the limit.

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone tries Vegemite cold foam.” The homemade banana syrup is the most delicious part of this drink. Real banana flavour is hard to beat and the spices in the syrup give it that