How to Brew Vietnamese Phin Coffee: Dose, Grind, Timing
A step-by-step phin recipe with dose, grind, bloom and drip time, plus how to fix a stalled or fast drip and how to make it with condensed milk or over ice.
Quick recipe. Use about 14 g of fine-medium ground coffee and about 120 ml of just-off-the-boil water. Bloom with 20 to 30 ml for 20 to 30 seconds, top up, put the lid on, and let it drip for 4 to 5 minutes.
Key takeaways
- A phin is a small metal drip filter that sits on top of a cup or glass.
- Fixing the drip: Change one thing per brew. The grind is the strongest lever, followed by the screen.
- For the iced version, drip the coffee onto condensed milk, stir well, then fill the glass generously with ice and stir again.
- A phin suits anyone who wants a small, strong, slow coffee and enjoys a sweet milk coffee or a dark, bitter black one.
If water is still sitting on top at 5 minutes the grind is too fine or the screen is too tight; a drip that finishes in under 3 minutes is a common sign of a grind that is too coarse.
What a phin is and why the recipe is small
A phin is a small metal drip filter that sits on top of a cup or glass. Hot water passes through a bed of grounds under gravity alone, with no pump and no paper, so the speed of the drip is set by the grind and by how firmly the inner screen presses on the coffee. One published recipe notes that a standard phin holds a maximum of about 15 g of coffee, which is why single-cup recipes sit at 10 to 15 g. The result is a small, strong brew rather than a large cup, which is the point: it is made to be sweetened with condensed milk or poured over ice.
Traditional phin coffee uses dark-roast robusta, which is more bitter than the medium-roast arabica Vietnamese drinkers once favoured, and which has nearly twice the caffeine of arabica (Wikipedia's robusta entry gives about 2.7% against 1.5%). The bitterness is what balances the sweetness of the condensed milk. Modern recipes often use medium-roast arabica instead. Both are used, and they taste different.
Starting numbers
Recipes vary, so these are common starting points from published guides, not rules.
| Variable | Starting point | What the guides say |
|---|---|---|
| Dose | 14 g (about 2 rounded tablespoons) | One recipe gives 14 g; another uses a heaping tablespoon. Weigh it, because spoon sizes differ. |
| Grind | Fine, between moka pot and pour-over, like table salt | Finer than a pour-over, coarser than espresso. Grind just before brewing. |
| Water | About 120 ml at around 96°C (205°F) | Another guide simply says boiling water, preheating the phin and cup. |
| Bloom | 20 to 30 ml, 20 to 30 seconds | A second guide gives 20 g for 30 seconds. |
| Total drip time | 4 to 5 minutes | Another range quoted is 3 to 5 minutes; drips should start within 2 minutes. |
| Condensed milk | 30 ml (2 tablespoons) for the iced glass | A hot recipe uses 15 to 20 ml; a second uses 1 to 3 teaspoons. |
On those numbers the ratio is roughly 1 g of coffee to 8 or 9 ml of water, far stronger than a filter coffee at around 1:16 to 1:18. That is why the concentrate tastes intense on its own.
Step by step
- Warm the phin and cup with hot water, then empty them.
- Put the condensed milk in the glass or cup if you are making a milk coffee, and do not stir.
- Add the coffee to the phin chamber and level it gently without pressing.
- Screw the inner screen down until it touches the coffee, then back it off by one full turn. This leaves just enough room for the grounds to swell.
- Pour in the bloom water, about 20 to 30 ml, and wait 20 to 30 seconds.
- Add the rest of the water to a total of about 120 ml, put on the lid, and leave it to drip. The lid keeps the heat in.
- Stir the dripped coffee into the milk for 20 to 30 seconds before drinking or pouring over ice.
Fixing the drip
- Water still pooled after about 5 minutes: the grind is too fine, or the screen is too tight. Back the screen off or go slightly coarser.
- Drip nearly stops: the screen is too tight.
- Pouring disturbs the grounds: the screen is too loose.
- Always over in under 3 minutes and thin: the grind is probably too coarse.
- Weak and uneven: the grounds were probably not levelled before the screen went in.
Change one thing per brew. The grind is the strongest lever, followed by the screen.
Iced and hot versions
For the iced version, drip the coffee onto condensed milk, stir well, then fill the glass generously with ice and stir again. Because ice dilutes the drink, the brew is made strong. If you skip milk, pour the black coffee over ice, which is the pattern behind the plain iced coffee sold as cà phê đen đá. For a hot version, use roughly 8 to 10 g of coffee per 100 ml of water and a smaller amount of condensed milk, since nothing will dilute it. One published recipe keeps the glass in a flat-bottomed bowl of near-boiling water so the drink stays hot.
Evaporated milk is not a substitute. The sweetness of the condensed milk is part of the drink, and the style likely developed because fresh milk spoiled quickly in the tropical heat while imported condensed milk did not.
Who this suits and who should skip it
A phin suits anyone who wants a small, strong, slow coffee and enjoys a sweet milk coffee or a dark, bitter black one. It is cheap and has no moving parts. Skip it if you want a delicate, fruity cup from a light roast, or if you need a quick brew: it takes four to five minutes of waiting. If you want something faster and still strong, a moka pot or AeroPress is the closer alternative, and for a plain filter cup use a pour-over.
Questions
Is phin coffee the same as Vietnamese coffee?
Not quite: the phin is the brewer, and Vietnamese coffee is the style made with it. The full story is in the Vietnamese coffee guide.
What makes Vietnamese coffee different?
Wikipedia lists three shared attributes: Vietnamese-grown robusta, the phin filter, and sweetened condensed milk when a creamer is used.
How long does Vietnamese coffee take to make?
About 4 to 5 minutes of dripping once the bloom is done, plus a minute to prepare. Dripping should start within 2 minutes.
Related
- Vietnamese coffee guide
- Vietnamese phin drip
- Vietnam and robusta coffee culture
- Coffee grind size guide
- Coffee bloom guide
Sources
- Wikipedia, Vietnamese iced coffee.
- CoffeeGeek, how to make Vietnamese iced coffee.
- Crema, how to make Vietnamese coffee.
- Seattle Coffee Gear, achieving the Gold Cup standard (SCA ratio, used for comparison).