Vietnamese Coffee

Cà phê sữa đá (Vietnamese iced coffee) is made with a phin (Vietnamese metal drip filter) — coarsely ground Robusta-heavy coffee drips slowly through the filter directly into a glass of sweetened condensed milk. Ice is added after the coffee drips. The result is intensely strong, sweet, creamy, and served over ice — the most efficient coffee delivery system in Southeast Asia. It is street food, it is breakfast, it is the national beverage.

Vietnam. Coffee was introduced to Vietnam by French colonists in 1857. Condensed milk replaced fresh milk (which was scarce and expensive) as the standard addition. The phin filter was developed as a simple, single-serve brewing device. Vietnam is now the world's second-largest coffee producer (predominantly Robusta).

Bánh mì or bánh cuốn (steamed rice crepe) for breakfast alongside — the sweet, cold, intensely caffeinated coffee is the standard street food breakfast pairing in Vietnam. The condensed milk sweetness and the bitter Robusta are a complete morning circuit.

Vietnamese coffee: Robusta-dominant blends (Trung Nguyen G7 or Highlands Coffee) — the Robusta gives the characteristic earthy, chocolatey, slightly rubbery note that Arabica cannot replicate. Chicory is sometimes added The phin filter: the metal filter creates a pressureless slow drip, not an espresso. Set the filter over the glass, add coffee, the press, and pour hot water (just below boiling) over the press Water temperature: 92-95C — poured slowly to 3/4 fill the phin. The coffee drips through in 4-6 minutes Sweetened condensed milk: 2-3 tablespoons at the bottom of the glass before the coffee drips — the hot coffee mixes with the condensed milk as it falls Ice: added after all the coffee has dripped through — pour the hot coffee-condensed milk mixture over the ice, stir, and drink immediately For cà phê trứng (egg coffee): egg yolk beaten with condensed milk and vanilla until thick, spooned over the black coffee as a foam