What Is Vietnamese Iced Coffee
Vietnamese iced coffee, or Café Sữa Đá if you can figure out the pronunciation, is a strong brewed coffee served over ice with sweetened condensed milk. Sounds simple, right? What about it makes it so special compared to your average iced Coffee?
It’s the intensity. The strong coffee flavor, the slow drip method for its creation, and the creamy sweetness mark it as a unique snowflake in the world of cold coffee, and soon, if you follow this recipe, you’ll know yourself.
Ingredients You Need for Café Sữa Đá
Before we get to the Viet coffee recipe, you’ll need to know the ingredients you need to make your new favorite drink. It’s nothing crazy; all you need is:
Ground Vietnamese Coffee
For a good Vietnamese iced coffee, you need their kind of coffee beans if you want the most authentic experience. However, finding those authentic coffee beans is a challenge of its own depending on where you are, so we recommend Rousta coffee beans as an alternative.
However, the type of coffee beans doesn’t actually matter so much as the condensed milk part of the drink will overpower the subtler flavors of the coffee bean. What matters is that your coffee bean’s roast level is dark. Consider these beans to get that strong coffee flavor:
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Then you need the reason the coffee needs to be so intense: sweetened condensed milk. Any store brand will do, but you absolutely need it, as it’s a good counteragent for the espresso-like coffee and is the reason why this drink is so iconic!
Hot Water
Water is a pretty obvious requirement for coffee, but you can’t just have any water; it needs to be hot water. Why, though? Doesn’t the water heat up anyway when you’re making the coffee?
Well, not always, and in this case the water should be hot so that it can help with the brewing process as it passes through the Vietnamese iced coffee filter, also called a phin filter.
Ice Cubes
Of course, you can't have an iced coffee from Vietnam without the ice. Be sure to have plenty of ice cubes with you, preferably larger ice cubes since they take longer to melt and won’t water down your coffee. But if aesthetics is your thing, then you need to go for small ice cubes.
Optional Add Ons
Simple stuff, right? All the previously mentioned ingredients are all you need to make your Vietnamese iced coffee. But not everyone wants a classic. In that case, you can try adding these additional ingredients for some extra flavor, though preferably not all at once:
- Sea salt
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Vanilla extract
Equipment Needed
The ingredients are simple, but they’re not the end of it. You need some specialized equipment for this Vietnamese iced coffee recipe to work. You’ll need:
Phin Filter
For this Viet coffee recipe, you can’t just use any filter for your coffee grounds; it needs to be a specialized Vietnamese iced coffee filter, more popularly known as a phin filter. It’s the only filter that can effectively get the most coffee out of your coffee beans as the water goes through the filter and slowly drips the near espresso-like coffee out. If you want the best Vietnamese iced coffee, you need one of these for the job.
Tall Serving Glass
If you want maximum aesthetic, you need a nice tall glass for your iced coffee.
Spoon
And finally, you need, besides the kitchen basics, a nice long spoon for stirring. Once you’ve poured the drink, you’ll need a spoon that can reach all the way to the bottom of your tall serving glass without sinking in.
Heat Safe Glass
Before you pour the coffee into your serving glass, you’ll need a good heat safe glass, as that’s where the initial hot coffee is gonna be.
How to Make Classic Vietnamese Iced Coffee Step by Step
- Set The Phin Filter Over The Glass
Now we get to the making. Start off by preparing your Vietnamese iced coffee filter and place it over a heat safe glass; make sure it has all its parts:
- The brewing chamber
- The bottom filter plate
- The small press or gravity insert
- The lid
The coffee extraction and brewing will happen in drops as the filter works its magic, so make sure it's secure for the long run.
- Add the Coffee Grounds
- Add 2 tablespoons of your ground Vietnamese coffee
- Make sure it is medium fine coffee grounds
You’ll want to make sure to shake the filter when you pour the grounds so it sits nice and even. Don’t pack it too tightly; otherwise, the water will struggle to get through and be too loose and it’ll drip too quickly.
- Place the Press on the Coffee
Pretty self explanatory. Don’t press it too hard, as a reminder.
- Bloom The Coffee
Now you pour around 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water into the filter and then wait for 30 seconds.
This lets the coffee grounds expand, release all the gases, and lets the brew come out more evenly and with a stronger flavor. We call this process blooming.
- Fill the Filter with Hot Water
Now pour the rest of the hot water, which should be about ⅔ a cup or whatever your filter can handle. Make sure the water is just below boiling for the optimum flavor absorption.
- Wait for the Coffee to Finish Dripping
Now you can wait for the coffee to drip into the glass. This can take between 4 and 6 minutes. The slow drip is vital since it's the reason the Vietnamese iced coffee is so strong on the coffee part.
Once the dripping stops, remove the filter and get ready for the next step.
- Add Condensed Milk to the Glass
Now, some folks like to add this at the beginning of the process, and you can do so with no big issue, but I say it’s better to put the sweetened condensed milk now, as having it in the glass as the boiling water comes in can cook it a little. It may be something you like, but adding it after can let you adjust the sweetness to your preference.
Either way, add your condensed milk to the glass, and the amount kind of depends on how sweet you want it to be:
- 1 tablespoon if you don’t like it too sweet.
- 2 tablespoons for a classic, authentic Vietnamese iced coffee
- Stir the Coffee and Condensed Milk
Now use that spoon to stir your drink until the condensed milk and coffee mix well. After that, give it a little taste to see if it's missing something.
- Coffee too strong? Add a splash of hot water.
- Not sweet enough? Add a teaspoon of condensed milk.
The final color of the drink should be a rich golden brown.
- Fill a Serving Glass with Ice
Now just get your serving glass and fill it up with some large ice.
- Pour the Coffee Over Ice
Finally, slowly pour your coffee over your ice filled serving glass. Once it's poured in, stir it once and then stir it again after a few seconds so that the drink is chilled evenly.
Enjoy Your Vietnamese Iced Coffee!
FAQs
1. Can I make Vietnamese iced coffee without a phin filter?
Yes, but the traditional Vietnamese iced coffee filter gives it its iconic flavor.
2. What coffee is best for Vietnamese iced coffee?
Vietnamese robusta coffee or a strong dark roast works best.
3. Why is my Vietnamese iced coffee too watery?
The coffee may be too weak, or too much ice may have melted before serving.
4. Can I make it ahead of time?
Yes, you can brew the coffee first, chill it, and pour it over ice when ready.