By ZOE MOORE, ABC News
(NEW YORK) — What happens when a coffee lover falls in love with a viral TikTok trend?
A brand new coffee company.
At least that was the case for 33-year-old Katie Angel when she came across the whipped coffee trend.
The light and airy coffee drink, which originated in South Korea and is known as Dalgona, swept the internet back in March 2020 as more people started making coffee at home amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“TikTok is what started it all,” Angel told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “My husband and I were sitting around watching videos on the platform (as I think everyone was doing at the beginning of March 2020), and we saw someone making whipped coffee. I’m a huge coffee lover so, of course, I had to give it a try.”
After making the drink herself, Angel thought there had to be a better and faster way to craft the delicious drink.
A lot has happened in Angel’s life over the past year, including adopting a puppy, getting married, getting pregnant and buying her first home with her husband, Taylor.
On top of that, the Los Angeles native is launching her own whipped coffee brand on Feb. 14.
“Like so many people, my job as an events producer was totally put on pause for several months at the beginning of COVID. After a few months of ‘quarantine and chill,’ I started to go stir crazy and knew I needed to make something happen, so we decided to dive head first into launching Whipped Drinks,” Angel said.
Whipped Drinks is launching a new whipped coffee experience with whipped coffee packets.
“Whipped Drinks is our platform for building the next wave of specialty beverage experiences at home,” Angel added.
To make the drink, you whip a coffee packet with a small amount of water and add the mixture on top of your favorite type of milk.
The self-starter and mom-to-be said she felt like she gained a business degree from starting her own company.
“As a newlywed and now pregnant woman building this business, I feel so empowered to do it all right now and use every experience and emotion at my fingertips to build this company,” she said.
Angel said she hopes her story helps other women feel empowered: “I hope people hear our story and not hold themselves back from creating something just because they feel like they don’t have the knowledge or expertise in that field.”
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