Traditional Vietnamese Phin Drip Coffee

Vietnamese coffee is brewed one cup at a time in a small metal filter called a phin, which sits on top of the cup. Dark-roast robusta drips through slowly, and the thick, strong coffee is stirred into sweetened condensed milk.

Origin & Story

A phin is a small metal filter with a chamber, a pressing plate and a lid. It sits on top of a glass, and hot water drips slowly through the coffee beneath it, drop by drop. You cannot hurry it, and that is part of the pleasure: a few quiet minutes while the glass fills.

Coffee came to Vietnam in 1857 with French missionaries, and the first plantations followed in 1888. The Central Highlands, around Buon Ma Thuot in Dak Lak province, became the main coffee region after the French opened commercial zones there in the 1920s. Today Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer in the world after Brazil, and about 97 percent of its coffee is robusta.

Robusta and condensed milk go together for a reason. Fresh milk was scarce in colonial Vietnam, and it spoiled quickly in the tropical heat, so sweetened condensed milk took its place. Dark-roast robusta, with its bitterness, was a good match for that sweetness.

Coffee growing took off after 1975, when four to five million people moved to the Central Highlands, and again after the Doi Moi reforms of 1986 allowed private enterprise.

In the cup it is dark cocoa and roasted hazelnut, with caramel from the condensed milk, thick and sweet. To make it, put about 30 g of condensed milk in a glass, add 20 g of coarse coffee to the phin and press the plate on lightly, then wet the coffee with a little hot water and let it bloom for half a minute. Fill the phin with water just off the boil, cover it, and let it drip for four to five minutes. Stir, and drink it hot or pour it over ice.

Reading the Flavor Profile

These values are comparative editorial positions within our own catalog, calibrated so entries can be ranked against each other. They are not laboratory measurements.