Vietnamese Coffee
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Don’t wait to visit a Vietnamese restaurant to order Vietnamese Coffee. Rich and strong dark roast coffee brewed overtop of sweet condensed milk. Enjoy it hot in the morning and cold during a hot afternoon.
What is a Phin?
Vietnamese is just coffee, right? Can’t you make just make it in your Keurig? The answer is no! This type of coffee is more unique than you would think.
The traditional way of brewing good Vietnamese coffee is using a metal phin filter. The filter works similarly to pour-over drip coffee but only one cup at a time. It gives a stronger brew than drip coffee or French press would which is a must! A strong brew helps balance out the sweet condensed milk that’s required for Vietnamese coffee.
Sometimes referred to as Vietnamese press or dripper, you can get them at your local Asian supermarket or online. The phin is made up of 4 parts; the lid, body, filter disk and rim. The lid helps keep the coffee from losing heat or too much evaporating and the rim is the part that lets you rest the entire filter over your cup.
You can try using other pour-over coffee machines but note that the coffee might not taste the same. A metal phin filter is recommended and definitely worth the small investment!
How to Brew Vietnamese Coffee
As mentioned above, Vietnamese coffee is brewed using a metal filter which is super easy to use! Just add the coffee grounds on top of the assembled filter and pour hot water on top! The coffee will then slowly drip over a layer of sticky condensed milk and fill the room with the delicious aroma of coffee.
You can also make iced Vietnamese coffee! The process is the exact same. All you need to do is wait for the coffee to cool a little before adding it to a glass of ice.
To get the best flavour, the Trung Nguyen pre-ground brand is the best. If you don’t have it or can’t find it at the store, any other type of dark roast grounds is a good substitute. A dark French roast works best. As for the condensed milk, the Longevity Brand is most recommended but any other kind of condensed milk works.
You can add as much condensed milk as you like. It’s just important to note that it is naturally very sweet already so it’s best to start with a little before adding more.
Once you try Vietnamese coffee, you won’t be able to go back to your regular brew. It’s rich, flavourful and sweet making it the perfect drink to perk you up in the morning. For other refreshing drinks, try our Mango Smoothie or cooling Chrysanthemum Herbal Tea. Now let’s get started on it!
Vietnamese Coffee Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp Vietnamese ground coffee, (Trung Nguyen brand or dark French roast)
- 1-3 tbsp sweetened condensed milk, (Longevity brand recommended)
- 6-8 oz water
- ice, (optional)
Instructions
- Start by boiling your water. Once boiling, pour a little bit into the filter to heat it up.
- Measure 3 tablespoons of ground coffee, and distribute it evenly into the filter.Note: Do not shake the filter to even out the coffee grounds! The grounds will drop into the holes of the filter and clog the holes.
- Place the metal filter piece on top of the grounds.
- Scoop the desired amount of condensed milk into a heatproof glass.
- Once your filter is ready to go, put it on top of your glass with the condensed milk. Pour about 2 tablespoons of hot water into it and let the coffee grounds bloom for 5 seconds. This releases the CO2 and lets the grounds expand.
- After, press the metal filter piece down a bit to compress the bloomed coffee grounds and pour the rest of the boiled water into the filter. Put the filter lid on to reduce the amount of evaporation and keep the water hot.
- Wait about 5 minutes for the coffee to finish dripping.
- Remove the filter and stir to mix the coffee and condensed milk together. For the iced version, wait a few minutes for the coffee to cool a bit before pouring it into a tall glass of ice. Now it’s ready. Cheers, and enjoy!
