Vietnamese Iced Coffee with Sweetened Condensed Milk

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A tiny amount of very dark, chicory-laced coffee dripped slowly over sweetened condensed milk, then stirred and poured over a full glass of ice. The drip is the whole trick: four to five minutes of slow extraction gives you a syrupy, almost chocolatey concentrate strong enough to survive melting ice. Made with a $10 phin filter — but there's a reliable French press workaround below.

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp dark-roast Vietnamese-style coffee, ground medium-coarse (about 40 g)
• 2/3 cup just-boiled water (205°F), plus 2 tbsp for blooming

• 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• 4 cup ice cubes
• pinch of flaky salt (optional)

Instructions

1. Chill two tall glasses (about 10–12 oz each) in the freezer while you brew. Spoon 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk into the bottom of each small heatproof cup or jar — you'll brew directly onto it, or into a separate cup if using the French press method.
2. Set up the phin: place the perforated base plate on the cup, add 3 tablespoons (about 20 g) ground coffee, tap the filter gently on the counter to level the bed, then set the gravity press screen on top. Do not screw it down tightly — rest it on the grounds with barely any pressure.
3. Bloom: pour 1 tablespoon just-boiled water over the screen and wait 30 seconds. The grounds will swell and lift the screen slightly; this is what you want.
4. Fill the phin to the top with just-boiled water (about 1/3 cup), cap it with the lid, and let it drip undisturbed for 4 to 5 minutes. You should see slow, individual drops, not a stream. If it drains in under 2 minutes, your grind is too coarse or the screen is too loose; if nothing comes through after 90 seconds, loosen the screen a quarter turn. Repeat steps 2–4 for the second serving, or brew both at once if you have two phins.
5. When dripping stops, lift off the phin and stir the hot concentrate into the condensed milk until it's a uniform caramel color. Add a tiny pinch of flaky salt if you like — it sharpens the sweetness. You should have roughly 1/3 cup of sweet coffee concentrate per serving.
6. Pack each chilled glass to the rim with ice — genuinely full, not half. Pour the sweetened coffee over the ice, then stir hard for 10 seconds with a long spoon so the drink shocks cold and the condensed milk doesn't sink. Top with a splash of cold water only if it tastes too intense. Serve immediately with the spoon in the glass.
7. French press alternative: use 6 tablespoons coffee ground medium-fine and 1 cup water at 205°F. Stir, steep 6 minutes, press very slowly, and divide the brew between two cups each holding 2 tablespoons condensed milk. Proceed from step 5. The result is slightly less syrupy but still stands up to ice.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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