Cà Phê Sữa Đá (Vietnamese Iced Coffee)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The café classic from Saigon sidewalk stands: dark, chicory-deep coffee dripped slowly through a little steel phin filter onto a pool of sweetened condensed milk, then stirred and crashed over ice. It comes out thick, malty and bracingly strong — closer to a coffee dessert than a morning cup. This version gives you the full phin method plus a tested moka pot / French press workaround if you don't own one, and shows you how to control the drip so the coffee never turns bitter.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp dark-roast Vietnamese-style coffee, medium-coarse grind (about 45 g; a robusta blend or a French roast with chicory)
• 1 cup filtered water, heated to 200–205°F

• 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 3 cups ice cubes
• pinch of flaky salt (optional, for the milk)

• 2 Vietnamese phin filters (or 1 three-cup moka pot, or a small French press)
• 2 tall heatproof glasses, 10–12 oz

Instructions

1. Spoon 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk into the bottom of each heatproof glass and add a tiny pinch of flaky salt if using. Set the glasses on a plate or tray — the phin will drip a little. Do not add ice yet; hot coffee on ice inside the same glass dilutes the drink before you can stir it.
2. Heat 1 cup filtered water to 200–205°F (just off a boil — let a kettle of boiling water stand 30 seconds). Pour a splash into each empty phin chamber to preheat the metal, then discard it and dry the base.
3. Set a phin on each glass and add 3 tablespoons (about 22 g) of medium-coarse ground coffee to each. Shake the phin gently to level the bed, then set the perforated press-disc on top. Press it down lightly — snug, not clamped. Over-tightening chokes the drip and produces a harsh, over-extracted cup.
4. Bloom the grounds: pour about 2 tablespoons of the hot water into each phin, just enough to soak the bed. Wait 40 seconds while the coffee swells and releases CO2. You should see it puff up and smell strongly of chocolate and toast.
5. Top each phin with hot water to just below the rim (about 1/3 cup per phin), cover with the lid, and let it drip undisturbed. You want a slow, steady rhythm of drops taking 4 to 6 minutes to finish, yielding roughly 1/3 cup (2.5 oz) of very dark coffee per glass. If it gushes through in under 3 minutes, press the disc down slightly more next time; if it stalls past 7 minutes, loosen it.
6. No phin? Brew 5 oz of strong coffee instead: run a 3-cup moka pot with the same grounds over medium-low heat until it gurgles, then pull it off; or steep 6 tablespoons coffee in 3/4 cup of 205°F water in a French press for 4 minutes, press, and divide between the glasses. Aim for a concentrate about twice the strength of drip coffee.
7. Lift off the phins. Stir each glass hard with a long spoon for 15 to 20 seconds — the condensed milk is dense and sits at the bottom until you work it in. The coffee should turn an even caramel-tan and look glossy.
8. Fill each glass to the top with ice (or pour the sweetened coffee over a separate glass packed with ice, café-style, for the classic shocked-and-frosty texture). Stir once more, taste, and add a teaspoon more condensed milk if you want it sweeter. Serve immediately with the spoon in the glass.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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