There’s Always Room for Coffee Jell-o

Why drink your hot coffee, when you can slurp cold squiggly spoonful’s of it?

Welcome to the world of Jell-o Coffee  (or perhaps Coffee Jelly would be more appropriate). We can thank Japan for taking something which didn’t seem to require any further improvement (coffee) and elevating it to a whole new level by ‘jello-fying it’.

While you would assume that such an odd creation would definitely been developed in the 80’s or 90s, however the truth is Japan’s coffee jello was invented in the 1910’s.

It is essentially a medium coffee. Its wiggly stiff form is achieved by a thickening agent made from algae.

How do you consume this?

They come in little contains, like Motts’ Apple Sauce. You peal off the foil top, grab a spoon and start slurping. Most of them come pre-sweetened. Many people will add in some milk or half & half to add some more dimension to the flavor.

Where can I get it?

Any grocery store and most convenience stores in Japan supply these little tasties.

Other Uses

In Japan you will also find this coffee jelly used as an additive to a dessert, as little cubes in or on the main dessert. Coffee Jelly is also starting to see use in the US, as a top layer on some pies.

Recently

Coffee jelly’s latest incarnation is that of the Starbucks Frappuccino. Available to the public at Starbucks in Japan in August 2016. The top half will be Frappuccino the middle will be cream, and the bottom will be cubed coffee jellies. It is a wonder that in the past 100 years no coffee shop had already made this predictable hybrid. Gelatin-based desserts are gaining popularity in the US, therefore we may see these available to the American market one day.

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