Vietnamese · Drinks

Cà Phê Sữa Đá

Dark roast coffee dripped slowly through a phin filter onto sweetened condensed milk, then poured over ice. Strong, sweet and thick enough to feel like a dessert.

10 min total Serves 1 serving Easy
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Cà Phê Sữa Đá

Photograph credit: Viet-coffee by Mike Verdone · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

What to Put on the Table With Cà Phê Sữa Đá

  • Serve after phở or bánh mì
  • A perfect mid-afternoon drink
  • Pairs well with anything sweet and coconut-based

Making Cà Phê Sữa Đá, Step by Step

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  1. Spoon the condensed milk into a heatproof glass. The amount is a matter of taste; three tablespoons is the Vietnamese standard.

  2. Add the ground coffee to the phin filter chamber and shake it level. Do not tamp it.

  3. Set the filter over the glass, place the press disc on top and screw it down until it is snug but not tight.

  4. Pour in 20 ml of the hot water and wait 40 seconds for the grounds to bloom and swell.

  5. Add the remaining water, put the lid on, and let it drip. It should take 4 to 5 minutes — if it runs through in under 2, the disc is too loose; if nothing drips, it is too tight.

  6. Once the dripping stops, remove the filter and stir the coffee and condensed milk together thoroughly until uniformly caramel-coloured.

  7. Fill a second tall glass with ice and pour the coffee over. Serve with a long spoon.

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Worth Knowing Before You Cook

A phin costs very little and there is no real substitute; a French press or moka pot are approximations.

For cà phê đen đá, black iced coffee, skip the milk and add a teaspoon of sugar instead.

Adjust the press disc, not the grind, to control the drip speed.

Keeping What's Left

Make to order. The coffee concentrate can be brewed and refrigerated for 2 days, then mixed with milk and ice.

Cà Phê Sữa Đá Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .