Wellness Origin HubVietnamese iced coffee with a phin filter and condensed milk
How to make Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da) at home: strong coffee dripped slowly through a phin filter onto sweetened condensed milk, then stirred and poured over ice.
Vietnamese iced coffee, cà phê sữa đá, is very strong dark-roast coffee dripped slowly through a small metal filter called a phin onto a layer of sweetened condensed milk. You stir the two together and pour them over a glass of ice. It is bitter, sweet and creamy at once, and much stronger than it looks.
Coffee arrived in Vietnam with French colonists in the 19th century, and the country is now one of the largest coffee producers in the world, mostly of robusta beans. Condensed milk became the standard partner because it keeps without a fridge, which fresh milk did not in a hot climate. Today the drink is everywhere, from pavement cafes with tiny plastic stools to office desks.
How to make it
- Spoon the condensed milk into a heatproof glass.
- Take the phin apart. Put the ground coffee in the chamber, shake it level and set the press on top. Press gently; do not pack it hard.
- Set the phin on the glass. Pour in about 20 ml of the hot water and wait 30 seconds while the coffee swells.
- Fill the chamber with the rest of the water, put the lid on and let it drip. It should take 4 to 5 minutes.
- When it stops dripping, lift off the phin and stir the coffee and condensed milk together well.
- Pour over a second glass filled with ice, stir again and drink.
How the phin works
A phin is a small metal cup with a perforated base, a press that sits on the coffee, and a lid. It sits on top of the glass and lets the water pass through the coffee slowly, by gravity. The result is a short, concentrated coffee, between a pour-over and an espresso in strength.
Most of the skill is in the drip speed:
| Drip speed | What you will taste | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 minutes | Thin, sour, weak | Grind finer or press a little harder |
| 4 to 5 minutes | Strong, rich, balanced | Keep it as it is |
| Over 7 minutes, or stops | Bitter, harsh | Grind coarser or press more lightly |
Phins are cheap and sold in Vietnamese grocers and online. Pick a stainless steel one if you can; they are sturdier than the thin aluminium cafe kind.
Choosing the coffee
In Vietnam the usual coffee is a dark robusta or a robusta and arabica blend. Robusta tastes bolder and more bitter than arabica and has roughly twice the caffeine, which is why a small glass of cà phê sữa đá feels so strong. Many Vietnamese-American households use a New Orleans coffee with chicory, which gives a similar dark, slightly chocolate flavour. Any dark-roast coffee ground for a cafetiere or a little finer will work.
Tips for the best flavour
- Do not use boiling water. Water just off the boil (wait about 30 seconds after the kettle clicks) tastes less burnt.
- Warm the phin first. Rinse it with hot water before adding coffee so the brew does not cool too fast.
- Stir before the ice. Condensed milk mixes easily into hot coffee and hardly at all into cold.
- Adjust the milk, not the coffee. If it is too strong, add a little more condensed milk or some cold water rather than brewing weaker coffee.
Variations
- Black iced coffee (cà phê đen đá): skip the condensed milk and add a teaspoon of sugar instead, or nothing at all.
- More milk (bạc xỉu): a southern style that is mostly milk and condensed milk, with just a little coffee on top.
- Coconut coffee: blend the coffee with coconut cream, condensed milk and ice for a slushy drink popular in Hanoi cafes.
- Hot: drink it straight from the glass without ice, as many people do in the north in winter.
- Lower caffeine: brew with a good dark-roast decaf. Our article on how decaf is made explains how much caffeine is left.
Make ahead and storage
For several glasses, brew a few phins one after another and keep the coffee in a jar in the fridge for up to two days. Mix with condensed milk and pour over ice when you serve. Condensed milk keeps in a covered container in the fridge for about a week once opened.
Questions people ask
How much caffeine is in Vietnamese iced coffee?
It depends on the beans and the brew, so there is no exact figure. With 20 g of a robusta-heavy blend, a single glass can easily hold more caffeine than a typical cafe espresso. If you are sensitive to caffeine, start with half the coffee. Our comparison of matcha and coffee gives more detail on caffeine levels.
How much sugar is in it?
Two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk add roughly 15 to 20 g of sugar, depending on the brand. That makes it a treat rather than an everyday drink for most people. See how it compares in our guide to sugar in drinks.
Can I make it without a phin?
You can use strong espresso or a small, strong batch from a cafetiere or moka pot. It will taste close, though slightly different from the slow-dripped original.
Photograph: AI-generated image
