Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Ca Phe Sua Da)
Strong, dark coffee dripped slowly through a phin filter over sweetened condensed milk, then poured over ice — rich, bittersweet and intensely refreshing.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Serves
- 1 glass
- Level
- Easy
By Maya Chen
Method
- 01
Spoon the sweetened condensed milk into the bottom of a glass or cup.
- 02
Set a phin filter on top of the glass. Add the ground coffee to the phin and gently level it, then settle the insert disc on top — snug but not screwed down tight.
- 03
Pour a small splash of near-boiling water over the grounds to let them bloom and swell for about 30 seconds.
- 04
Top up with the rest of the hot water, set the lid on, and let the coffee drip slowly through onto the condensed milk. A good drip takes 4 to 5 minutes.
- 05
When dripping finishes, lift off the phin and stir thoroughly so the condensed milk dissolves into the dark coffee.
- 06
Fill a separate tall glass with ice, then pour the sweetened coffee over it. Stir and serve at once.
Ca phe sua da — iced coffee with milk — is Vietnam’s everyday refreshment and a small ritual in a glass. Strong, dark coffee drips slowly through a phin filter onto a layer of sweetened condensed milk, and the two are stirred together and poured over ice into something rich, bittersweet and intensely cooling.
The phin and the drip
The phin filter is what gives the coffee its character. A coarse, dark grind and a slow four-to-five-minute drip produce a concentrated, full-bodied coffee that can stand up to the milk and the ice. The pace is controlled by the insert disc: snug for a slow drip, looser if it stalls. A short bloom with a splash of hot water before the main pour helps the grounds extract evenly.
Condensed milk and ice
Sweetened condensed milk is non-negotiable here. Its thick caramel sweetness is what balances the bold, slightly bitter robusta, and it gives the drink its silky body. Stir it thoroughly into the hot coffee before the ice goes in, then pour the sweetened coffee over a full glass of ice so it chills fast without watering down too far. Adjust the condensed milk to taste — some like it almost dessert-sweet, others lean bitter.
