Vietnamese Coffee

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Creamy, flavourful, and packed with caffeine, Vietnamese Coffee is a delicious way to start the day off or as a way to cool off later in the day.

Growing up, there was never a shortage of Vietnamese coffee (also known as cà phê) in my household. Even though I was never a huge fan of coffee, I still would take a couple of sips of it whenever my parents made it. I have a huge sweet spot for sweetened condensed milk so that definitely plays a big part. Even to this day, this is my coffee of choice, and obviously with extra sweetened condensed milk!

What is Vietnamese Coffee

Vietnamese coffee is dark, rich, and deep as well as sweet. The coffee is made with strong and flavorful Vietnamese coffee beans that are slowly dripped through a phin, cut with sweetened condensed milk. A regular dark roast coffee is not the same, in order to make Vietnamese coffee, you must use Vietnamese grown beans (usually robusta and/or arabica). Vietnamese coffee can be enjoyed hot or cold.

A glass of Vietnamese coffee being poured into a glass of ice.

What is a Phin

A phin is a traditional metal filter that can be compared to a cross-over between a pour-over and a French press. The phin consists of four parts. The round perforated plate that fits over a cup (top left), a brewing chamber that sits on top of the plate (bottom right), the press/damper that goes over the top of the grounds (bottom left), and the lid (top right).

They come in various sizes as well. There are small phins that are generally 4 to 8 oz (photographed above) and up to 24 oz (photographed below).

Vietnamese coffee phin with a pack of Nguyen coffee.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Vietnamese ground coffee — you can get the coffee beans (whole or ground) online if you can’t find it locally (like myself).
sweetened condensed milk — there are some who are very loyal to the Longevity brand but to be honest, I just buy whichever is on sale at the store.
hot water

Ingredients needed to make Vietnamese coffee.

How to Make Vietnamese Coffee

Glass with a Vietnamese coffee phin on top.

Add the sweetened condensed milk to a small cup or mug.
Place the plate over the top of the cup and then the brewing chamber on top.

Coffee grounds added to the coffee phin placed on top of the glass of sweetened condensed milk.

Add the ground coffee to the chamber.
Add around 1 tablespoon of hot water to the chamber to let the coffee bloom for around 30 seconds.

Glass with a Vietnamese coffee phin on top and coffee dripping in.

Place the press over the coffee grounds.
Pour 200ml of hot water into the chamber or enough to fill to the top. You might have to allow some of the coffee to drip through before adding the rest if you have a small chamber.
Allow the coffee to drip through the filter, around 5 to 7 minutes.
Stir to combine when done and enjoy immediately.

To make iced Vietnamese coffee, simply pour the coffee over top of a cup filled with ice cubes.

Recipe Tips and Notes

You can pre-heat the phin for better blooming by running the phin under your boiling water before adding the coffee grounds.
Avoid jiggling the chamber once the coffee grounds have been added. Not only will the grounds fall out of the chambers into your cup but you might also end up plugging up the holes in the filter with the displaced grounds.
Feel free to adjust the amount of sweetened condensed milk. I love my coffee sweet whereas H loves his strong and dark.
Not sure what mug or cup to use? My small phin fits perfectly over a mason jar!

Vietnamese coffee phin over top of a mason jar.

Do I need a paper filter?

No paper filter is needed to make Vietnamese coffee in a phin!

Can I add more water to the phin?

If you do two pours of hot water into the phin, the second batch will be less strong.

Can I scale this up?

You can! I usually use my 24 oz phin and place it over a pitcher. Instead of adding the sweetened condensed milk to the pitcher, I leave it out so H and I can have our preferred amount of condensed milk.