Banana Latte바나나 라떼
Convenience-Store Banana Milk Poured Over Iced Americano
Sweet Binggrae banana milk poured over a cheap convenience-store iced Americano, mixed in a cup of ice you buy at the counter. Creamy, lightly sweet, coffee-bitter, and tastes like a cafe drink for a fraction of the price.
- Spice
- 0/5
- Vegetarian?
- Yes
- Beginner?
- Yes
- Similar to
- Imagine a banana-flavored iced latte from a coffee chain, but one you build yourself out of a bottle of sweet banana milk and a cheap black coffee. If you have had a bottled banana-milk drink poured into cold brew, it is exactly that, only assembled at a convenience-store counter for pocket change.
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What is Banana Latte?
Banana latte is the signature drink of Korea's convenience-store combo culture, what we call pyeonuijeom kkuljohap, literally 'convenience-store honey combinations.' Here is the trick that makes the whole thing work: in a Korean convenience store you can buy a plastic cup packed with ice for a few hundred won, basically a few cents, sitting in the freezer next to the drinks. You are meant to grab that ice cup, buy whatever drinks you want, and mix your own creation right there at the counter or on a stool by the window. For banana latte you take one of the famous fat-bellied bottles of Binggrae banana-flavored milk, the yellow one every Korean grew up drinking, and you pour it over a cheap pouch or bottled iced Americano into that ice cup. That is it. The result is a homemade banana-flavored iced latte that looks and tastes like something from a cafe, but costs maybe a third of the price. It is not a traditional food at all; it is a modern DIY drink hack that blew up on social media.
What does it taste like?
Creamy and lightly sweet up front from the banana milk, then a clean coffee bitterness underneath from the Americano. The banana milk is not fruity like a real banana; it is that soft, nostalgic, sweet-milk banana flavor Koreans love, and it rounds off the sharp edge of the black coffee beautifully. Think of a mellow, easy-drinking iced latte with a gentle banana-candy note. Because the banana milk is already sweet, you usually do not need to add any sugar.
🌶️ Heat: Not spicy at all. It is a sweet, creamy coffee-and-milk drink with zero heat, safe for anyone.
🎬 Banana Latte in K-dramas & K-pop
This combo went viral on Korean drink-hack social media.
- TikTok & YouTube drink hacks — Banana milk plus iced Americano over an ice cup is the poster child of the Korean convenience-store 'ice cup' mixology trend. Tourists film themselves buying the cheap cup of ice, pouring the yellow Binggrae bottle into black coffee, and reacting to the swirl, tagging it as the must-try Korean convenience-store hack. It regularly tops the 'things to try at a Korean 7-Eleven or GS25' videos that young travelers and Korean students share. ▶ Watch on YouTube
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🧾 Key ingredients
- Binggrae banana-flavored milk (the classic round yellow bottle)
- Convenience-store iced Americano (pouch or bottled)
- A convenience-store cup of ice (eol-eum-keop)
🥗 Dietary notes
Vegetarian. Not vegan, since the banana milk is dairy-based. It is generally gluten-free. It is quite sweet because the banana milk carries a fair amount of sugar, so if you want it lighter, use less banana milk and more coffee, or pick a light or sugar-reduced Americano.
How to eat Banana Latte
Assemble it yourself, that is the whole fun. Grab a cup of ice from the freezer, one bottle of Binggrae banana milk, and one iced Americano. Pour the Americano into the ice cup first, then slowly stream in the banana milk and watch the pale banana color swirl down through the dark coffee, that little marbled moment is why people film it. Give it a stir, pop in a straw, and drink. Adjust the ratio to taste: more banana milk for sweeter and creamier, more coffee for a stronger, more bitter latte.
🍜 Common variations
- Extra-creamy version (more banana milk, less coffee)
- Stronger version (two coffee shots, one banana milk)
- Iced latte swap (use bottled cold brew instead of Americano)
- Strawberry latte (same idea with Binggrae strawberry milk)
- Melon latte (with Binggrae melon milk, the green bottle)
💡 Insider tips
- Buy the ice cup first, it is in the freezer with the drinks and costs almost nothing. It is the key to the whole trend.
- Pour the coffee in first, then the banana milk on top, so you get the pretty swirl before you stir.
- Start with about a 1-to-1 ratio of banana milk to coffee, then adjust. More milk = sweeter and creamier.
- Use the real Binggrae banana milk (the fat round bottle) for the authentic nostalgic flavor; other banana milks taste different.
- No need to add sugar, the banana milk is already sweet enough for most people.
Banana Latte — FAQ
＋ − What is the 'ice cup' everyone talks about?
Korean convenience stores sell a plastic cup filled with ice for just a few cents, kept in the freezer beside the drinks. You buy it so you can pour your own drinks over ice and mix combos right there, which is the whole basis of this trend.
＋ − Does it actually taste like banana?
It tastes like Korean banana milk, which is a soft, sweet, slightly candy-like banana-milk flavor rather than fresh banana. Mixed with the coffee it becomes a mellow, lightly banana-scented iced latte.
＋ − Why not just buy a banana latte at a cafe?
You can, but the whole appeal is that this homemade version costs roughly a third of the cafe price and you get to make it yourself. That cheap-and-fun factor is exactly why it went viral.
＋ − Which banana milk should I use?
The classic Binggrae banana-flavored milk in the round yellow bottle is the one Koreans reach for. It is the nostalgic standard and gives the drink its signature flavor.
Sources & further reading
Written from first-hand experience. Recipes and spice levels vary by cook, region, and restaurant. If you have food allergies, always confirm the exact ingredients before you eat.