How to Make Vietnamese Iced Coffee at Home (Step by Step Recipe)

Vietnamese iced coffee is a popular cold coffee drink that is espresso like coffee poured over ice and sometimes mixed with sweetened condensed milk. If you’ve ever sat down at your local Pho restaurant then you’ve seen this coffee on the menu.

B and I love a good bowl of Pho but I adore this coffee. It’s sweet, thick, and super satisfying on a hot summer day with a spicy bowl of Pho or a crisp spring roll, heck maybe both.

This style of coffee combines the richness of espresso with the sweetness of the condensed milk. This is one of my favorite afternoon coffee drinks.

What’s Vietnamese Iced Coffee?

So, where did Vietnamese Iced Coffe come from?

Vietnamese iced coffee is also called cà phê đá or cafe da. The medium to coarse dark roast coffee is brewed with a drip single sever brewer that drips into a glass of ice with the condensed milk. The resulting drink is like no other.

When the French colonized Vietnam, they brought their love of coffee but ran into a couple of issues. It’s muggy and hot in Vietnam and the then dairy industry was just getting started. This left the French colonist in need of a cool coffee drink that didn’t require fresh milk or cream. Thus the Vietnamese iced coffee was born.

Sweetened condensed milk was shelf-stable and easier to find at the time than its fresh milk cousins. Rumor has it that a French priest is the inventor of Vietnamese iced coffee. The rest, as they say, is history.

This drink has become a cultural treasure and is now synonymous with spicy, flavor packed Vietnamese food. You can find this drink served across Vietnam with regional spins and at most American Vietmanese restaurants.

There’s even some talk on the internet that Starbucks will make it for you if you ask. I dare you. Please report back in the comments.

What’s the Best Coffee for Vietnamese Coffee?

I mentioned that one of things that makes this coffee drink so special is the medium to coarse ground dark roast coffee. Dark roast coffee plays so well with this brewing application. There’s a reason behind its use.

Vietnam is the largest producer of Robusta beans and the second largest coffee producer over all.

The dark roasted robusta beans (as opposed to the Arabica beans we know so well here in the States) bring a deeper, almost caramel chocolate flavor to Vietnamese iced coffee. The grind is probably more important than the varietal of your beans.

A plus to Robusta beans is they can be up to 2 times a much caffeine as compared to an Arabica bean. Robusta beans also have a higher acid content with less bitterness.

I like to use a French press grind on the beans I’m going to use for my Vietnamese iced coffee. If you’re needing some guidance on what grind is appropriate for which brewing style, here an easy-to-follow guide.

What makes this grind different is the drip brewing with such a coarse grind. It goes against all the things I’m yammering on about with grind importance, especially when it comes to coffee’s golden ratio.

But it works. It works so well that I don’t mess with it.

So, for a crisp, sweet glass of Vietnamese iced coffee, you’ll want to use a medium to coarse ground (French press grind) dark roasted robusta bean. If you can’t find robusta in your local coffee shop look for a Sumatra or an espresso roast. Either will do fine.

As always, I suggest grinding your own beans on an as need basis.

Here are some of my favorite roasts to use for Vietnamese iced coffee:

Nguyen Coffee Supply Company Truegrit Whole Bean

As one of the only Vietnamese/ American owned coffee companies, Nguyen Coffee Supply Company’s Turegrit coffee is as authentic as you can get for Vietnamese robusta beans. The peaberry Robusta beans bring 2x’s the caffeine as a traditional arabica bean and deep, big flavors.

The Turgrit roast is able to embody scotch and grapefruit all in one bean. Not only is this an excellent coffee but it’s also certified organic and fair trade.

A killer roast and organic/ fair trade? Where do I sign up?

This big bean stands up well to the sweetness of an iced Vietnamese coffee. You can buy the Trugrit whole bean coffee on Amazon for around the same price as you’ll see for other bags of organic coffee.

Dakoli Vietnamese Coffee

Dakoli is a fantastic roaster that brings newcomers to Robusta beans a blend of Robusta and Arabica beans. This blend will still impart the traditional Vietnamese flavor experience but still a familiar taste.

The beans have notes of chocolate, herbs, and strong fruit undertones that play well with the Vietnamese brewing method. I tried these because they were one of the few Vietnamese brands I could find in a whole bean.

I was not disappointed. The beautiful flavors are great as cold brew and French press.

You can buy the Dakoli whole bean coffee on Amazon for a little under $15.00 for 12 oz.

Vietnamese Coffee Brewer- The Phin

As with most regional specialty coffees, there’s a unique brewer that most people use to make Vietnamese coffee. A phin is a small (usually) metal coffee brewer that masters the blend of an drip brewer (much like pour over) and an immersion brewing (French style brewer) to make this delicious coffee drink.

There is;t a lot of information on how the Phin came to be but there are some theories. Some experts say the Phin originated in Cambodia, others say the French invented it. Both make sense but what makes the most sense is this: An industrious Vietnamese coffee lover invented the Phin in response to a need for a more affordable French press brewer.

So, what exactly is a Phin?

A Phin is a small tube like brewer that combines pressing the coffee all while applying drip applications. The Phin is made up of 4 parts: base, body, filter, and lid.

A Phin is traditionally made out of stainless steel but I’ve seen them made out of a variety of materials. There are some really beautiful ceramic ones that are stunning to look at but I question their shelf life. I like to stick to the metal traditional brewer.

The beauty of this brewer is that you don’t need a paper filter but can still achieve a silt free cup of coffee.

How a Phin filter (because that’s really what it is) is like this:

1. Fill the Phin with desired amount of ground coffee and press to make a slightly dense coffee “puck”.
2. Place the filter on top of the cup you’ll be drinking out of.
3. Pour the hot water on top of the Phin.
4. The water filters through the coffee and the metal built in filter to produce your coffee.
5. The coffee slowly drips into your cup. Presto!

How to Make Vietnamese Iced Coffee at Home (Step by Step Recipe)

There are some slight variations to this recipe for Vietnamese iced coffee but this is the one I’ve been making almost every summer when the mercury reaches sweltering levels here in Texas.

I should note that I’ll be using a dairy free sweetened condensed milk because I can’t do dairy. Feel free to use the traditional sweetened condensed milk (SCM) of your liking.

What You’ll Need:

1. Phin coffee brewer
2. 20 grams of dark roasted Robusta beans
3. 32 grams of sweetened condensed milk (here’s the vegan one I like to use)
4. 165 grams of filtered water
5. Tall glass that has a sturdy base
6. Burr grinder
7. Kitchen Scale
8. 3-4 ice cubes (or to your liking)

Vietnamese Iced Coffee Recipe

1. Grind your coffee beans to the French press grind.
2. Pour the 32 grams of SCM into your glass
3. Put the water onto your heat source. I prefer a gooseneck kettle for all my coffee brewing but it’s not as important in this application.
4. Pour the ground coffee into the Phin.
5. Place the filter plate on top of the coffee.
6. Pack the ground coffee into the bottom of the Phin. Be sure not to pack too tight or the water won’t be able to filter through.
7. Zero out the scale.
8. Once the water reaches about 205 degrees F, remove it from heat.
9. Pour around 65 grams of water over the filter plate to bloom the coffee. Wait for 45 seconds.
10. Once the bloom pour time is over, pour the remaining 100 grams of hot water over the filter.
11. Place lid on top of the Phin
12. The water will filter through the coffee and begin to dip over the SCM.
13. Once the coffee is done dripping into your glass, remove the Phin and add ice.
14. Stir and enjoy your homemade Vietnamese iced coffee.

You might want to fiddle with the SCM levels to your own likings. You can also mess with the coffee to water ratio but remember that Vietnamese coffee is meant to be strong. You’re looking for a 8:1 coffee golden ratio on this brew.

Conclusion

I hope you’re going to be adding Vietnamse iced coffee to your home brewing repertoire. Not only will you impress your friends and guests but I think you’ll fall in love with this slightly sweet but highly caffinated brew.

I’ll be writing a follow up post on how to make Vietnamese iced coffee with out a Phin. Because coffee is for every one, no matter your situation.