Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Đá) with a Phin
Inspired by techniques from Serious Eats.
Strong dark-roast coffee dripped slowly through a phin onto sweetened condensed milk, stirred and poured over ice for a rich, sweet, bittersweet iced coffee.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Ready the glass. Spoon the condensed milk into the heatproof glass and set the phin plate and chamber on top.
- 2
Load. Add the coffee to the chamber, shake it level and rest the press screen on top with only light pressure. Pressing hard packs the coffee and stops the drip.
- 3
Bloom. Pour in about 20 ml of the hot water, just enough to wet the grounds, and wait 1 minute while they swell and darken. This lets the coffee brew evenly.
- 4
Drip. Fill the chamber with the remaining water, cover and let it drip slowly, 4-6 minutes. If it stops, loosen the screen a quarter turn; if it runs through in under 3 minutes, use a finer grind next time.
- 5
Stir and pour. Lift off the phin and stir the dark coffee into the condensed milk until it is caramel-coloured. Pour it over the glass of ice and stir again.
Storage
Best made fresh. Brewed coffee can be chilled for up to 1 day and poured over ice. Cool leftovers in a shallow container and refrigerate within 2 hours (within 1 hour on a day above 32°C).
EU nutrition claims
- Low salt: 0.11 g salt per 100 ml (limit ≤ 0.3 g)
Per 100 ml of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 118 ml a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Caffeine · Free sugars
- Per serving: at least 48 mg caffeine (serving: 1 glass (120 ml coffee)). Source: about 120 ml brewed per serving × USDA FDC SR Legacy #171890 (brewed coffee, 40 mg/100 g) This brew uses more coffee per ml than standard brewed coffee, so the real amount is likely higher..
- Scaling: making more servings does not change the caffeine in each serving; what counts is how many servings you drink in a day. 1 serving: 48 mg · 2 servings: 96 mg · 3 servings: 144 mg · 4 servings: 192 mg.
- General guideline: EFSA Scientific Opinion on the safety of caffeine (2015): for healthy adults, up to 200 mg in a single dose and up to 400 mg per day do not raise safety concerns. 1 serving = 12 % of 400 mg. EFSA
20.7 g per serving
41.4 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 82.8 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- Vietnamese phin filter (single cup)
- heatproof glass (about 250 ml)
- second glass for ice
- kettle
- spoon
Nutrition per serving (estimated values)
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 123 kcal |
| Protein | 3.1 g |
| Carbohydrate | 20.7 g |
| of which sugars | 20.7 g |
| of which free sugars | 20.7 g |
| Fat | 3.3 g |
| of which saturates | 2.1 g |
| Fibre | 0 g |
| Salt | 0.13 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
2.5 g High Protein needs ≥ 5 g (20% of energy)
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
