Mocha Egg Cream

For the uninitiated, an egg cream is a delightfully delicious combination of cold milk, chocolate syrup, and club soda. This mocha egg cream recipe combines all the traditional elements and emboldens them with the caffeinated punch of instant coffee. It’s creamy, effervescent, and the perfect pick-me-up that modernizes the soda shop classic. It’s made by dissolving instant coffee granules and chocolate syrup into milk and topping it off with club soda. The key to achieving the beverage’s aerated, frothy texture is to pour the club soda into the milk mixture from a few inches above the rim of the glass. While this act might seem like it’s all for show, doing so creates the unique fizzy texture and striking ombre effect that egg creams are known for; if done correctly, the resulting beverage becomes impossibly creamy with a texture similar to a draft beer or latte.

While you can use any store-bought chocolate syrup you might have on hand (Fox’s U-Bet brand is the go-to choice for egg cream purists), using homemade hot fudge in place of syrup gives the drink an even bolder chocolate flavor.