Vietnamese coffee: beans, phin and condensed milk

In Vietnam, the day often begins on a low plastic stool on the sidewalk, with a glass on which a small metal filter is dripping. No one is in a hurry. The coffee drips drop by drop onto a layer of condensed milk, and only when the filter is empty do you stir it, pour it over ice, and watch the motorbikes whiz past you. Vietnamese coffee is dark, strong, and sweet, and just as much a moment of the day as a drink. In our shop in Amsterdam, we stock the packs of Trung Nguyen, the Vietnamese coffee brand you simply come across in the supermarket in Vietnam, and here you can read which one to choose, how to make it, and which milk to serve with it.

What is Vietnamese coffee?

Trung Nguyen Sang Tao 5 gives you a good taste of what Vietnamese coffee is like: coffee from Vietnam, usually with a lot of robusta, dark roasted and brewed so strong that it can easily handle a generous spoonful of sweetened condensed milk or a glass full of ice. The French brought coffee to Vietnam in the nineteenth century, and today the country is the world's largest coffee producer after Brazil. Most of it is grown in the Central Highlands, around cities like Buon Ma Thuot, where Trung Nguyen also comes from.

The fact that coffee in Vietnam is so often drunk with milk from a can also has to do with that French era: fresh milk was difficult to obtain and store in the warm climate, but condensed milk held up. You can taste that same French influence in the crispy baguette of the banh mi. The dark roast gives the coffee its deep, slightly bitter flavor; some roasters in Vietnam even add a little butter or sugar. You can read what is in your pack on the label.

Robusta or arabica: which beans are in Vietnamese coffee?

Sang Tao 2 is 100% arabica, but most Vietnamese coffee is robusta, and you can taste it right away. Robusta is more bitter and fuller than arabica, with less acidity and more caffeine, and it is precisely that robust side that holds up against sweet milk and melting ice. Arabica is milder and fruitier and grows higher in the mountains. Many Vietnamese blends combine the two, sometimes with even more beans: according to the description, Sang Tao 3 contains arabica and robusta, as well as excelsa, known as chari in Vietnam, and catimor.

Which Trung Nguyen Sang Tao coffee should you choose?

Trung Nguyen Sang Tao 3 is the balanced middle ground and a good pack to start with; if you want it milder, choose Sang Tao 2, and if you want it fuller and stronger, choose Sang Tao 5. Sang tao means creative, and each number is its own blend, so a higher number is not automatically stronger. All packs contain 340 grams of ground coffee, so you can make it right away. The descriptions we have for the beans in Sang Tao 4 do not agree with each other; what they do share is a rich, full flavor with a long finish. We sell Trung Nguyen in exactly the same packs that are on the supermarket shelves in Vietnam, so you can make at home what they drink there.

Sang Tao 2 100% arabica · 340 gMild and soft, with a fruity undertoneSang Tao 3 arabica, robusta, excelsa · 340 gRound and balanced, bitter and sweet in balanceSang Tao 4 340 gRich and full, with a long finishSang Tao 5 arabica and robusta · 340 gFull and intense, for those who want their coffee strong

View all Vietnamese coffee and drinks →

How to make Vietnamese coffee with a phin?

With a phin, you make Vietnamese coffee slowly and strong: you place the small metal filter on your glass, pour hot water in, and let the coffee drip through in a few minutes. A phin consists of a plate with holes, a chamber for the coffee, a separate press plate that lies on the coffee grounds, and a lid. No electricity or pressure is used, only gravity, and therefore the coffee becomes dark and almost syrupy.

Scoop about 12 grams of coffee into the phin, shake it flat, and place the press plate loosely on top without pushing, because if you press it, the water can hardly get through. First pour a small splash of water around 95 degrees on the coffee and wait half a minute until the coffee grounds swell, then fill the phin to the brim and let it drip through with the lid on for four to five minutes. If it drips much faster, then the plate may be a little firmer next time, and if it stops, it was too tight. You can find the whole step-by-step guide, with the ratio between coffee, milk, and ice, in our recipe for ca phe sua da.

Vietnamese coffee without a phin: French press or moka pot?

If you don't have a phin, the easiest way to make Vietnamese coffee is in a French press or a moka pot, and both come close. In a French press, you take a little more coffee and less water than you are used to, let it steep for about four minutes, and then gently press the filter down; let the coffee grounds settle for a moment before pouring. A moka pot gives a small, powerful cup that comes closest in strength to the phin. However you make it, make it stronger than you would drink it yourself, because the milk and the melting ice take quite a bit of the strength away.

Which condensed milk to use for Vietnamese coffee?

Nestle Sweetened Condensed Milk is sweetened condensed whole milk, and that is exactly what you are looking for: thick, sweet, and creamy, so that it rounds off the bitter coffee. Friesche Vlag with sugar works the same way. Start with two tablespoons per glass and then adjust to your own taste. The milk always goes in the glass first, so that the coffee drips over it as a dark layer. Unsweetened condensed milk, the coffee milk from a can, is something else and does not give that sweet, syrupy flavor. If you want dairy-free, choose the Nature's Charm condensed coconut milk, which gives a soft coconut note; there is also a sugar-free coconut variant. Follow the label for how to store the milk after opening.

Nestle sweetened · 397 gSweetened condensed whole milkFriesche Vlag with sugar · 397 gWhole milk with sugar, for ca phe sua daNature's Charm coconut · 320 gDairy-free, with a soft coconut note

What types of Vietnamese coffee are there?

Ca phe sua da, iced coffee with condensed milk, is the best-known Vietnamese coffee, but there is much more on a Vietnamese coffee menu.

• Ca phe sua da (cà phê sữa đá): strong coffee with condensed milk, stirred and poured over a glass full of ice.
• Ca phe sua nong: the same coffee with milk, but hot and without ice.
• Ca phe den da (cà phê đen đá): black coffee on ice, often with some sugar.
• Ca phe den nong: black and hot, straight from the phin.
• Bac xiu: from Saigon, with a lot of milk and very little coffee.
• Ca phe trung: egg coffee from Hanoi, with a thick layer of whipped egg yolk and sugar on the coffee.
• Coconut coffee: coffee with a cold, creamy layer of coconut.

Recipes with Vietnamese coffee

Besides the iced coffee recipe itself, a banh mi and a bowl of pho, the quintessential Vietnamese breakfast, go perfectly with it.

Ca phe sua daStrong coffee from the phin on condensed milk, over a glass full of ice.Banh mi thitCrispy baguette with caramelized pork neck, pate and do chua.Pho boClear broth made from beef bones and beef shank, with banh pho and paper-thin beef tenderloin.

For the pho and the banh mi, you'll find the rice noodles, fish sauce and sriracha in our Vietnamese collections; read all about the broth and the noodles in Pho and bun.

Drinks coffee · tea · coconutTrung Nguyen, tea and coconut waterShop nowNoodles banh pho · bunRice noodles for pho and bunShop nowVietnamese kitchen everything in one placeFrom fish sauce to rice paper and srirachaShop now

Read more about Vietnamese coffee and the Vietnamese kitchen

Vietnamese kitchen 101Spices on the table, fish sauce as a base and the dishes to get you started.Fish sauce 101Nuoc mam, grades of saltiness, brands and how to make nuoc cham.Pho and bunRice noodles, clear broth and the spices for pho.Rice paper and spring rollsGoi cuon and cha gio rolls without tearing.

Frequently asked questions

Vietnamese coffee mainly requires a little patience, because the most beautiful moment is actually waiting while the phin or the press does its work and you see how the dark coffee slowly sinks on that white layer of milk. Just take a pack of Sang Tao 3 and a can of condensed milk the first time, brew it stronger than you think is necessary and then slowly adjust the ratio until the glass tastes exactly how you want it, warm on a grey morning or over a mountain of ice when the sun shines. Come by the shop in Amsterdam, then the packs of Trung Nguyen, the same as in the Vietnamese supermarket, are simply with the rest of our Vietnamese products, and if you want to know what else belongs on a Vietnamese table, read on in Vietnamese kitchen 101.