Name: Vietnamese Iced Coffee
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 3/4 cup water; 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (or more to taste); 2 slightly rounded tablespoons Vietnamese dark-roast ground coffee (I use Trung Nguyen Gourmet Blend); Ice

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Prep Time:
10 mins
Cook Time:
0 mins
Total Time:
10 mins

Authentic Vietnamese coffee brewed with a traditional Phin filter and served with sweetened condensed milk over ice.

Brewed Vietnamese coffee being poured into a glass of ice.

I know it seems crazy to talk about iced coffee when we’re about to have another cold front blow through. But this isn’t just any iced coffee, it’s authentic Vietnamese iced coffee – it’s strong but sweet and creamy at the same time. I’m willing to don an extra sweater and turn up the heat to enjoy it. Besides, I really needed it this week for all kinds of reasons –

1. I am hardly cooking right now. Several projects that had been in the planning stages for the last few weeks all kicked into high gear this week which meant I had very little energy left for shopping, recipe research, and cooking.

2. For Christmas last year, I gave several friends a gift bag with some Vietnamese coffee, sweetened condensed milk, and the traditional Vietnamese single-cup coffee filter (also called a Phin filter). However, I failed to include a recipe with the gift. Oops. So, here’s the recipe, dear friends, albeit a couple of months overdue.

3. Brewing this coffee is relaxing which I needed (see #1).

Vietnamese coffee being brewed with a phin coffee filter.

There is something very calming about waiting for the coffee to slowly drip through the phin filter when I make Vietnamese iced coffee the traditional way. There is no rushing the process. I am forced to slow down, take a deep breath, and just let it happen at its own pace.

And, if you really want to treat yourself – go for that extra bit of sweetened condensed milk. To quote my daughter, “it’s magical”.

Glass of sweetened condensed milk and coffee being brewed with a phin coffee filter.

What coffee to use for Vietnamese iced coffee

In theory, you can use any dark-roast coffee but I strongly recommend going to the trouble of getting some authentic Vietnamese coffee. I love the Gourmet Blend from Trung Nguyen Coffee which I order on-line. They carry the traditional one-cup (phin) filters as well. I find most dark roast coffees to have a slightly bitter after taste that I don’t get with the Gourmet Blend coffee – it’s very smooth with just a hint of chocolate aroma.

Lots of people and restaurants also like the Cafe du Monde brand coffee with chicory for making Vietnamese iced coffee. It is usually easier to find in stores and is great to use. I used it for years before I discovered the Trung Nguyen Gourmet Blend.