Brew It Yourself: Vietnamese Filter Coffee

Hot or on ice, give this sweet coffee concoction a try!

Vietnamese coffee is easy-peasy to make yourself, once you know the basics. 

Ca Phe - Vietnamese Coffee

a fun change for your coffee routine! 

Like any self-respecting coffee lover, I have my go-to blends and brew methods that keep me motoring along every day.

Having said that, I am always excited to try a new — or new to me — coffee style. 

I’ve been fortunate to travel to some beautiful and interesting places, and happily, many of these places share my love of coffee.

Several years ago, my friend, Lisa, and I travelled through Vietnam. We and ended up in the city of Dalat. Elevated far above sea level and surrounded by mist-covered valleys, Dalat has been dubbed “The City of Eternal Spring” due to weather that’s much more temperate than the rest of Vietnam. 

Dalat has an ideal climate for growing coffee, and we were lucky to arrive just as the coffee harvest season was winding down. It was a sight to behold – roads, sidewalks and yards completely covered in coffee beans drying in the sun! 

I’ll confess that seeing beans being walked or driven over alarmed me at the time. But considering the many stages of drying and cleaning the beans go through before they’re poured into your cup, it’s really no cause for concern. My surprise did not diminish my enjoyment of the local take on coffee. 

Vietnamese coffee, called either ca phe sua (milk coffee) or ca phe nau (brown coffee, i.e. without milk) is quite different in both taste and brewing method from North American-style drip coffee.

Bittersweet Ca Phe Sua Da

The most popular Vietnamese coffee is iced coffee with condensed milk, or ca phe sua da in the local parlance. 

Vietnamese coffee is typically made from Robusta beans, which grow in abundance locally, and produce a more bitter-tasting coffee than the Arabica beans used in premium coffees here in Canada (including at Sparkplug). The relative bitterness of the coffee is offset by the sweetness of the condensed milk, and It’s a fun variation on your typical cop of Joe. A perfect way to cool down on a hot day, whether you’re in Vietnam or your own back yard! 

Rules of Thumb for a great Vietnamese coffee

Tools required: What you need to Ca Phe like a Pro

• A Vietnamese coffee filter, AKA a phin.
  This can be found in Asian supermarkets or kitchen supply stores and are remarkably inexpensive. You can also get one from us and it’ll include a bag of coffee so you can start brewing right away!

• Dark Roast Coffee.
  A dark, bold and smoky roast coffee helps to counterbalance the sweetness of the condensed milk. If you have medium roast coffee on hand, it will do. Avoid using a very light roast coffee, as it will be overpowered by the condensed milk’s sweetness. 
  
  While Robusta beans are used in Vietnam due to their ready availability, Arabica beans (used for all Sparkplug coffees) are actually of higher quality, and an ideal substitute. Our Globetrotter dark roast espresso or Bullit Custom Dark are perfect picks for your ca phe sua da.

• Condensed Milk - usually Sweetened
  French settlers in Vietnam started the practice of using condensed milk, as it was difficult at the time to find a reliable and sufficient supply of fresh milk. This practice continues to this day, with condensed milk replacing fresh milk as the preferred ingredient.

The Rules:

1. Add about 1/3rd of an inch or 1 cm of sweetened condensed milk to the bottom of a glass. 

2. Remove the top screen of the filter and add your ground coffee. We like to use a medium grind - more or less the texture of kosher salt or sand. One rounded tablespoon (about 20 ml) is a good starting point. 

3. Screw the filter top back on or set it on top. Not too snug, you want to leave some space for the coffee to expand into.  

4. Place the phin coffee brewer on top of your glass. 

5. Boil water and let it sit for 30 seconds to 1 minute to cool down slightly. Add just enough hot water to wet the grinds (enough to generously cover the top screen). Once that has dripped through, fill the filter up, put the cover on, then wait for it to drip through the filter. It typically takes 4 or 5 minutes for all the water to pass through. 

6. Stir the coffee into the condensed milk. 

7. Add ice, stir and enjoy!  

If you prefer your iced coffee without milk, you can follow the same brewing method and skip the addition of condensed milk – keeping in mind that it will result in a much stronger, more bitter-tasting  coffee.  

If the coffee pours through the filter, the grind is too coarse and your coffee will be weak and boring. If the coffee takes more than 5 minutes to drip through, or isn’t dripping through at all, the grind maybe too fine OR a bit of a vacuum has been created. Ease the top screen up and see if that fixes it.

Coffee Pro Tip: 

Adding a small amount of chicory (no more than ½ tsp), as is common in Vietnam, helps to reduce the coffee’s bitterness while adding extra body and flavour.

If you want to really embrace Vietnamese coffee-making customs, soak the end of a toothpick in fish sauce and stir into your coffee. As with chicory, this helps to blunt any bitterness in your dark roast. 

Some Like It Hot  

You can, of course, make a hot version of Vietnamese coffee (ca phe sua nong). Just follow the directions above, using slightly less condensed milk, and skip the ice! You can also do a second pour of hot water into the filter to make a “long” ca phe. The second run through will be weaker than the first, kind of like turning an espresso into an Americano.

However you make it, the Vietnamese coffee is a fun diversion from your coffee routine. Once you’ve tried it for yourself, we’d love to get your feedback. Send us a pic of your Vietnamese coffee! Happy brewing! 

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