Nothing is more refreshing or energy life-giving than an icy cold Vietnamese coffee. Sweet and creamy, with a massive kick of intense coffee flavor. This is the caffeine hit I want all day, every day.

After Brazil, Vietnam is the world’s largest coffee producer, and it’s no surprise that Vietnamese coffee culture is fierce. Cafes line the streets, and you’ll see people drinking coffee in the morning, noon, and night. It’s just a way of life. After pho and banh mi, Vietnamese coffee might be the most famous culinary export.

What is Vietnamese coffee?

Dark, intense, rich, and bottomless Vietnamese coffee is made from solid and flavorful Vietnamese-grown coffee beans, often cut with sweetened condensed milk and drunk hot or cold.

Nowadays, many people think Vietnamese coffee is just regular old coffee with sweetened condensed milk. If we’re going to be purists: actual Vietnamese coffee is made from robusta coffee beans (or a mix of robusta and arabica) grown in Vietnam.

Robusta beans are bitter, less acidic, and have twice as much caffeine as the more commonly used Arabica beans. Robusta beans produce a dark, robust coffee beautifully balanced by sweetened condensed milk.

For simplicity, in this post, we’ll define Vietnamese coffee as coffee made from beans grown in Vietnam or coffee served with sweetened condensed milk. We’re using Vietnamese-grown beans, and if you want a truly authentic cup, you should use them too 😉

What does Vietnamese coffee taste like?

In a word: delicious! I am addicted to that sweet milky coffee-forward flavor. It tastes like how you imagine coffee to taste. Deliciously dark and deep with a hint of toasty caramel, sweet milkiness, and nutty buttery-ness, with just a touch of chocolate notes.

How to make Vietnamese coffee

1. Get the coffee equipment ready. Gather your phin, the ground coffee beans, sweetened condensed milk, and a mug or glass. I like to use heatproof glass because aesthetics.
2. Boil the water. To be specific, you want the water between 195°-205°F. Essentially boil it and remove it from the heat.
3. Preheat the pan and cup. Pour a bit of water through the filter. It’ll run right through and warm the filter and cup. Carefully pour the hot water out.
4. Add the condensed milk to the cup. Spoon some condensed milk (if using) into the cup. Add the body of the phin back on top, leaving the filter and lid to the side.
5. Bloom the coffee. Scoop in 1 heaping tablespoon of acceptable coffee grounds and use the filter press to press down on the coffee lightly. Pour about 1 tbsp hot water over the filter. Let bloom for about 30-40 seconds.
6. Brew the coffee. Slowly pour more hot water into the pan until it reaches the top, then cover it with the lid. Let the coffee brew; it should take about 3-5 minutes and drip through slowly.
7. Enjoy! When the coffee is made brewing, remove the pin. Stir it up, pour over ice, or add more hot water if desired.

Hot vs. iced Vietnamese coffee

In Vietnam, coffee is enjoyed both iced and hot; it’s up to personal preference.

• Hot: Enjoy the coffee brewed straight from the phin. Add some hot water if you want your coffee slightly diluted, more like an americano.
• Iced: There are two ways of making iced coffee. You can brew the coffee and then pour it over ice, or you can brew the coffee directly over ice.

Vietnamese coffee ingredients & equipment

Phin

What is a phin? It’s an individual stainless steel coffee filter that sits on top of a glass. A pin is made of three parts: the body, the press or filter disk, and the lid. Coffee grounds go into the body, the press is placed lightly on top, and finally, the cap covers everything. The coffee drips out slowly into the waiting cup at the bottom. It’s a mix between a pour-over and a French press.

Coffee beans

Some people say that it’s the condensed milk or the way it’s been brewed that makes Vietnamese coffee Vietnamese coffee, but it’s the beans. Lots of Vietnamese roasters roast with butter for extra richness.

For authentic Vietnamese coffee, try to find a bean grown and roasted in Vietnam. Contrary to popular belief, Cafe du Monde coffee (often used in Vietnamese restaurants) is not actually Vietnamese beans. There are a variety of Vietnamese beans on the market, and lots of them are sold online.

Sweetened condensed milk

Contrary to popular belief, Vietnamese coffee doesn’t need to have sweetened condensed milk in it. Mike drinks his Vietnamese coffee black (ca the den), and so do a lot of other people. I’m a huge fan of sweetened condensed milk – sometimes, I eat it with bread.

My preferred brand of sweetened condensed milk is Longevity Brand. You can find it online or in Asian grocery stores. After opening, use a rubber spatula to scoop it into a clean container with a lid and pop it into the fridge. I like to put mine in a squeeze bottle to squeeze to my heart’s content. Sweetened condensed milk will keep in the fridge forever.

Go for Eagle Brand, Carnation, and Nestle’s La Lechera sweetened condensed milk if you’re at a regular grocery store. I especially like the tubes they sell now (Eagle Brand, La Lechera) because it’s so easy to squeeze out; no can opener is needed.