Vietnamese Coffee - Recipe

[Guest]

This coffee is the thickest... strongest... best [est] coffee I've ever had.
Vietnamese Coffee

Ingredients:
1 cup brewed coffee (dark roast)
1 tbsp sweetend condensed milk

add sweetend condensed milk to a cup of your favorite dark roast (try a french dark roast) and stir. Add more or less sweetened condensed milk for your personal taste.

 

[CoffeeLover]

Vietnamese Coffee

This will be a first for me as I haven't had Vietnamese Coffee before. Sometime this week I will give it a try, if my homebrewing skills do not serve my tastebuds then I will try it at a coffee shop. Thanks for the recipe for Vietnamese coffee. Has anyone else tried Vietnamese Coffee before, how did it work out for you?

 

[notmuffy]

oh, it's very good! All sweetened condensed milk is is cream and sugar, only smoother!
I had it in a vietnemese restaurant in NYC. They way they served it was very different - I don't know if most vientnemese serve their coffee this way or if it was just a posh restaurant. I'm trying to remember - I think they had an inch of the condensed milk in a cup, and a special filter-brewing contraption on top of the cup. You had to wait awhile for your coffee to all seep down into the cup.

 

[Just Java]

Mrs NotMuffy is right. In Vietnam coffee is served in small glasses. It is served with the condensed milk (about an inch) in the bottom and a small aluminium filter device with coarse ground coffee sits on top of the glass. The waiter then pours hot water into the filter, puts a lid on it, and you wait until it has brewed. In total I guess it was about (4oz)120ml in size - similar to French coffee - longer than Italian but not as weak as American.
In Vietnam the coffee is pretty dark, close to French roast (which makes sense). It has a distinct chocolatey smell and taste, and is delicious drunk in that method. I bought some beans in Saigon to take home. They looked great - large uniform sized beans, oily surface, and fresh smelling. Back home, I put them through my espresso machine, and they were undrinkable. I guess the espresso method extracts too much flavour from them (in addition to them being a little too dark for espresso). I think the condensed milk hides a lot....

 

[EH21]

don't they marinate the beans in something?

Hi,
I'm new to this forum...just came across this thread as I'm trying to figure out how to make this at home too. Let me explain...Many years ago I used to lunch at a great Vietnamese restaurant called V's in Oakland. I always had the vietnamese coffee dripped over the condensed milk and ice. Many times I asked where to buy the beans they used but they always said it was just french roast that they marinated with spices. The spice was their secret. Other restaurants seem to offer similar tasting coffee and I'm curious if anyone in the forum has any clues as to how to marinate and what with.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Rowley]

I have no memories of any required spices, I do know local Vietnamese restaurants in Orange County(little saigon) sell coffee beans by the pound.

I will ask around to see what people say though.

 

[Rowley]

So far I'm assured you should just try picking up some French Roast like you have been told, most any dark roast will work.

Are you useing the small tin to make your cup of coffee as well?

I rember it was difficult to make vietnamese coffee at home, I am given slack because I'm not Vietnamese.

 

[OzScotland]

Vietnamese Coffee

Hi all, I have to say Vietnamese coffee is my favourite. The coffee with condensed sweetened milk is called cafe su a da, (not the correct spelling, more like how it is said). The best is served with ice, simply because in the south, Saigon for instance, the temperature and humidity are unbelievable. Also it really must be made with the drip type filter all vietnamese use. I can't comment on the spices mentioned, the coffee sold in Vietnam doesn't appear to have spices added. After drinking your coffee, it should really be followed by a cup of hot weak green tea, if you want it the authentic Vietnamese way. As for esspresso, I didn't have any problems putting Vietnamese Mocha in my machine, I use the buttered beans, they taste simply magnificent. My problem is finding a retailer in Scotland..
cheers all, happy drinking Oz

 

[pinellasperk]

Re: Vietnamese Coffee

This is one of my favorite drinks!

 

[mangolassi77]

Vietnamese coffee- i need help!!!

Hi, I am a newbie here,
Could someone please lend me a hand. I bought a kilo of vietnamese coffee powder from Hanoi and also their dripping cups. But when I pour the hot water into the cup filled with coffee powder, it doesnt drip, it just goes through like a siever. Did I miss anything??? Am I supposed to mix the coffee powder in the hot water first before I pour into the dripper cup?? It was supposed to be dripping....right??? And at the bootom of my cup, there are sediments. Is that how its supposed to be?
I wish someone can shed some light to me.

When I was in Hanoi, I fell in love with their coffee. I actually made the tour guide to bring me to the Coffee Street and I headed to the little hut where tons of locals sat on their tiny stools sipping coffee....Heavenly!! The description of the coffee having this chocolaty taste is absolutely true. The coffee is super strong, yet when mix with the condensed milk, it gives you a very aromatic taste which I find it difficult to describe. But love it!!

Meanwhile, I am sipping this coffee and trying super hard not to swallow the black stuff down in my throat.
Cheers!!! :lol:

 

[Rowley]

I am going to get in depth on how one should go about experimenting with Vietnamese coffee. You will definatly need your favorite grind in a fine grind, and the classical vietnamese coffee dripper. picture >here<.

First seperate the tin into its two or three peices.
You should have a container with holes in the bottom and a probably threaded lead to be explained in a second. This is where you will put your grinds and place ontop of your cup.
Next is what I want to call the tamper, it works in the way that you use it to compress the grinds but not exactly like what you would think as a barista.
Third, and optionally there may be the top to the tin. I lost mine years ago and have yet to replace it. It probly keeps your water hotter longer and is good for storage, but I've lost it year ago and still make good cups of coffee.

Here are some tricks when preparing your coffee.
Use your favorite dark roasted beans, and grind them into a very fine grind. Start with two teaspoons of your grinded dark roast, put them in the container, now take the 'tamper' and screw it into the container. The trick here is compacting the grinds just right. They should allow a slow drip but not too slow, on average I timed my coffee at my favorite vietnamese restaurant to take around the 8 minute mark to finish dripping. A trick if you are new and can't get it right is, turn it tightly over your grinds and then give it a quarter turn or less back to loosen it.

Place how much condensed milk you would like into your cup, then place the tin ontop of your cup. Pour boiling water (please be careful) into the tin. Viola! in a short period of time your cafe sua da should be ready without the embarrassing pronouciation. Stir until milky brown and little or no reminiscence of the condensed millk is on your spoon.

Enjoy, you just spent alot of delicate time and preparation for a drink that is incomparable.

 

[mangolassi77]

Thank you Rowley for your lengthy explanation. My aunt is currently using a coffee bag made of muslin cloth to drip the coffee but the result is nothing compare to the 1st cup I had back in Hanoi....literally like flying when I took in the first gulp.

appreciate your reply. have a great cuppa day!

 

[Rowley]

No problem.

I hope it helps you in making vietnamese coffee at home, and saves you a trip to Hanoi.

 

[Kytarn]

Well I was researching Coffee as it is one of my passions and I saw this post and had to register to add a bit to this.

I am half Vietnamese so I grew up with this stuff. Its called
Cafe Sua Da Meaning Coffe with Sweetened Condensed Milk and Ice. Alternatively Cafe could be spelt Caphe depending on how traditional the place is (Vietnamese has no F just PH to make the sound but its interchangeable.) Cafe Sua is just Coffee with Sweetened Condensed Milk. Da means "rock" but in context it means ice, kinda similar to the phrase "on the rocks" in English.

Ok the pot is like Rowely said in three parts. Add your coffee finely ground and tighten but not too tight, this part takes experience because it can affect the amount of time it takes to drip.

The coffee is always a dark roast french usually. Though, you will find many people use Cafe Du Monde with chicory. This is the kind I prefer it is strong and the chicory extends the taste. I highly reccomend this brand.

Well Good luck making this.

Kytarn

 

[santacruzom]

Use your favorite dark roasted beans, and grind them into a very fine grind. Start with two teaspoons of your grinded dark roast, put them in the container, now take the 'tamper' and screw it into the container. The trick here is compacting the grinds just right. They should allow a slow drip but not too slow, on average I timed my coffee at my favorite vietnamese restaurant to take around the 8 minute mark to finish dripping. A trick if you are new and can't get it right is, turn it tightly over your grinds and then give it a quarter turn or less back to loosen it..

I'm new to this forum, and recently acquired my own Vietnamese coffee press. It does seem to require a bit of experimentation to get it to drip right -- my first few attempts took about a half hour! I think I've got it figured it though. The trick for me is to tighten the tamper completely, then remove it, shake any grinds back into the container, and tighten it again. I do this about 3 or four times before finally tightening the tamper down just a bit past the point where I first feel resistance. This appears to work well -- the coffee drips through a bit fast at first, but then settles down to the point where the final half takes about 5 minutes or so. This seems to be how it's served in restaurants -- when brought to the table, the glass already has a bit of coffee in it, and the final half or so takes a bit of time.