How To Make Authentic Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Strong and unique taste is what makes Vietnamese iced coffee different. It has that chocolate-like flavor from robusta coffee beans that have been roasted in a mix of fish sauce and butter. The traditional Vietnamese coffee recipe is usually made using medium to coarse ground dark roast Vietnamese-grown coffee with a small metal Vietnamese drip filter.

Once hot water is added into the coffee grounds, the drip filter releases drops of hot coffee slowly into a cup. The simplest form of Vietnamese iced coffee is known as Cà Phê Sữa Đá. To make it a more unique flavor, sweetened condensed milk is added to sweeten and will make you love Vietnamese iced coffee at the first sip. 

If you are planning to recreate an authentic Vietnamese coffee at the comforts of your home, you must have robusta beans and Vietnamese coffee filter. Freshly brewed coffee using robusta coffee grounds yields bold and nutty flavors that complement the sweetness of condensed milk perfectly. Meanwhile, using the metal phin filter to brew the coffee will provide a strong, concentrated cup of premium blend Vietnamese coffee.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee Recipe

It may be hard to find a cafe that offers Vietnamese iced coffee with 100% single origin Vietnamese coffee beans. If that’s the case and you are craving for Vietnamese coffee soaked with ice cubes, then you can recreate your own by following a simple Vietnamese iced coffee recipe. 

For starters, you will need ingredients such as Robusta coffee like Truegrit or Loyalty, hot water, sweetened condensed milk, and ice cubes. You will also need some tools to brew the Vietnamese coffee perfectly such as a stainless steel phin filter and a glass or container to brew in. 

Here Are The Short lists of Ingredients With Measurements: 

• 2 tablespoons/14g Vietnamese coffee grounds
• 4 oz of water
• 0.5 oz of sweetened condensed milk

Procedure: 

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Unlike Americano brewed coffee, Vietnamese iced coffee  is much smaller and its flavor is much sweeter and punchier due to the presence of sweetened condensed milk. If the volume of Vietnamese iced coffee isn’t enough to satisfy your coffee needs, you may use a larger phin filter. You can also do a  second pour of hot water in your phin filter to get more coffee drip in the final brew.

This Vietnamese iced coffee recipe is very simple and you only need a few ingredients to create a masterpiece. Another trick that you should know if you want to make your Vietnamese iced coffee even bolder is to brew your Vietnamese coffee in an ice bath. This process will allow the coffee to cool as it brews and the final drink is less diluted once mixed. 

Making ice baths may be tedious to perform, so another trick is to  phin brew over ice directly as it will allow the coffee to cool instantly. Don’t worry as it will not affect the quality of your coffee as the dilution or the rate of melting is considerably slower than adding the ice directly to hot brewed coffee. Even a Vietnamese coffee shop or other coffee shops performs this procedure. 

Though Vietnamese iced coffee is usually made with sweetened condensed milk, you can still skip that part as long as you use robusta beans for your ground coffee and a traditional Vietnamese coffee filter. Simply add some ice cubes on your dark roast coffee and enjoy. Coconut condensed milk is intended to be used in a vegan Vietnamese iced coffee recipe. 

Making a Vietnamese iced coffee is easy, quick and more importantly, it will yield a delicious strong coffee with some hint of sweetness. Once you have experimented with a different Vietnamese iced coffee recipe, then you can  tweak the ratios of coffee or water in the brew based on your personal preferences. You can even customize the kind or amount of condensed milk you use. 

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Other Ways To Enjoy Vietnamese Iced Coffee

A simple Vietnamese iced coffee recipe could be boring. That is why there are different alterations to turn this good drink into a delectable treat. If you visit some coffee shops in Vietnam, they may offer different types of coffee on their menu. 

Cà Phê Sữa Đá is translated literally as Coffee Milk Ice and is the most popular Vietnamese Iced Coffee recipe. Cà Phê Sữa Nóng is translated as Coffee Milk Hot. Since it has the same concept as Cà Phê Sữa Đá, you simply remove the ice on that recipe and you’ll have a Vietnamese coffee in a cup of hot water. You can also have a Cà Phê Đen which is a simple black coffee without condensed milk. Cà Phê Đen Đá is a regular iced coffee without condensed milk as well. 

Nowadays, you might have noticed the popularity of bubble teas where they put boba balls or boba pearls into the regular iced tea to make it a more fun drink. You can also do that on your Vietnamese iced coffee recipe. Boba pearls work well on cold drinks, and your Vietnamese iced coffee should not be an exemption. 

One of the recommended boba balls that you can use in your Vietnamese iced coffee recipe is the Tea Zone Chewy Tapioca Boba. They are tapioca balls that are both chewy on the outside and inside. Simply add them at the end of the recipe procedure.

To make your regular Vietnamese iced coffee recipe into a more exciting drink, how about using some boba pearls that will burst? You can get the Mayde Bursting Popping Boba Pearls and add it into your already delicious Vietnamese iced coffee. What’s more interesting is that it comes with different flavors to choose from such as Mango, Pomegranate, Kiwi, Strawberry, Blueberry, and Passion Fruit. That’s how you can have some Vietnamese boba iced coffee.

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Tips For Making Vietnamese Iced Coffee

Aside from the things discussed above, there’s other useful information that you should know when making your own Vietnamese iced coffee. First, you should have a coarse ground coffee that is suitable for making espresso or known as espresso roast ground. You can find some recommendations below and where to buy them. The grind should be the same as for a French press. 

Use only Vietnamese metal coffee filters or “phin” to achieve an authentic Vietnamese iced coffee or a simple Vietnamese coffee. This tool ensures that you will only get a stronger brew than that of an American drip machine used in American coffee shops. 

To balance the strong flavor of the Vietnamese iced coffee, sweetened condensed milk would help you out. Its sweetness would pair perfectly to make Vietnamese iced coffee an enjoyable drink. Condensed milk also commonly comes in cans, so they are more ergonomic and cheap to produce. 

If you want your Vietnamese iced coffee less sweeter, combine the sweetened condensed milk with half and half before adding it to the cup. If you don’t like it cold, simply omit the ice cubes in the recipe. You can even put the glass in a cup of hot water to help keep it warm longer as what coffee shops in Vietnam usually do. 

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Lists of Ingredients and Tools

For the recommendations of ingredients, you may try checking Truegrit or Loyalty robusta coffee for your coffee grounds. Trung Nguyen Gourmet Blend is also a popular choice for that wonderful and authentic Vietnamese coffee taste. Café Du Monde coffee isn’t a pure coffee but that is also a good choice as it has a unique licorice flavor that Vietnamese love. 

For your condensed milk, you can get any brand but Longevity Sweetened Condensed Milk is recommended. For that freshly brewed coffee, get your Coffee Maker Pot and make sure that you use it according to the instructions.