Coffee Drink
Bạc Xỉu: Vietnamese White Coffee Recipe
Bạc xỉu is a Vietnamese milk-forward coffee associated with Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. This iced version combines a small portion of strong phin coffee with fresh milk, sweetened condensed milk and ice. Stir before drinking to blend the layers.
Drink Snapshot
- Caffeine
- Phin varies; espresso option ~85 mg85 mg applies only to 40 g espressoThe main phin recipe has no measured caffeine value. The espresso figure uses a generic USDA reference, not a phin conversion.
- Calories
- About 155 kcalDefined home servingGeneric USDA milk values, with a small allowance for plain brewed coffee; café servings and products differ.
Serving, sugar and sources
- Serving
- 1 drink: 40 ml brewed phin coffee, 120 g milk, 25 g condensed milk and 100 g ice
- Made with
- Strong coffee, whole milk and sweetened condensed milk
- Sugar
- About 20 g total. Includes both condensed-milk sugars and naturally occurring milk sugar.
- Preparation
- About 3 minutes with brewed, cooled coffee ready
Ingredient estimates, not a tested café formula. The 400 ml glass allows headroom; it is not the liquid yield. See the full calculation or label comparison.
Key Takeaways
- 1Milk leads: use 40 ml brewed coffee, 120 g whole milk, 25 g condensed milk and 100 g ice for this home serving.
- 2Bạc xỉu is more milk-led than a typical cà phê sữa đá; sweetness, café recipes and hot versions vary.
- 3About 155 kcal and 20 g total sugar. Phin caffeine varies; a separately defined 40 g espresso alternative estimates about 85 mg.
On This Page7 Sections
Bac Xiu vs. Vietnamese Iced Coffee
Bạc xỉu makes milk the main event. Vietnam Tourism describes it as a milkier relative of cà phê sữa đá and connects it with Ho Chi Minh City. Its pale color comes from the milk, rather than a special pale-roasted coffee bean.
| Drink | The useful distinction |
|---|---|
| Bạc xỉu | A larger sweet milk base with a smaller coffee portion; this recipe includes fresh whole milk |
| Vietnamese iced coffee | Typically strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk over ice, with coffee more prominent |
| Iced latte | Espresso and milk over ice; condensed milk is not required |
| Dirty coffee | Hot espresso poured onto cold milk for temperature and layer contrast; usually served without ice |
There is no single compulsory milk formula. Vietnamese producer Lacàph publishes a hot version using condensed milk and water, while chef Tu David Phu's Saigon-style version includes fresh whole milk. The iced recipe below is our measured home starting point, not a claim to reproduce every café's drink.
Iced Bac Xiu Recipe
Makes one drink in a 400 ml glass. The three-minute preparation starts with coffee already brewed and cooled. Use a scale for the two milks: thick condensed milk is especially awkward to measure accurately by eye.
Ingredients
- 40 ml brewed, cooled phin coffee
- 120 g cold whole milk
- 25 g sweetened condensed milk
- 100 g ice cubes
Method
- Mix the milks. Stir 25 g sweetened condensed milk and 120 g cold whole milk together in a 400 ml glass until evenly combined.
- Add ice and coffee. Add 100 g ice, then pour in 40 ml brewed, cooled phin coffee.
- Stir and serve. Stir through the whole glass before drinking. Serve promptly while cold.
For the coffee, follow the Vietnamese phin brewing guide. Brew into a separate heat-safe vessel, cool the coffee, then measure the required 40 ml of collected coffee. This is not the brewing-water input: the grounds retain some water, and a full phin batch may supply more than one drink. Nguyen Coffee Supply's guide provides the equipment-specific brewing sequence.
Choosing Coffee and Adjusting the Milk
Use coffee with enough concentration to remain noticeable in the milk. A Vietnamese robusta or arabica–robusta blend is an option, but the drink's identity does not require a particular branded bag. Roast, beans and brewing all affect its bitterness and aroma. The broader Vietnamese coffee guide explains those choices.
No phin? Try 40 g of prepared espresso, weighed after extraction, in place of the 40 ml phin portion. This is a practical alternative with a different extraction and caffeine basis. Do not treat 40 g espresso as a claim that every 40 ml coffee portion has the same mass or strength. The espresso guide covers preparation.
The condensed milk supplies concentrated sweetness and body; whole milk supplies most of the drink's milk volume. Evaporated milk is unsweetened, so it is not a direct replacement for sweetened condensed milk.
| If your drink is… | Change one thing next time |
|---|---|
| Too sweet | Reduce condensed milk from 25 g to 15 g; retain the whole milk and coffee |
| Too weak or watery | Start with cold milk and cooled, concentrated coffee; avoid extra water or waiting for all the ice to melt |
| Unevenly sweet | Dissolve the condensed milk into the fresh milk before adding ice, then stir the finished drink |
| Too coffee-forward | Reduce the coffee portion slightly; adding extra condensed milk would also increase sweetness |
Calories, Sugar and Caffeine
The recipe is approximately 155 kcal and 20 g total sugar. Most of both comes from the two milks. Using 15 g condensed milk instead of 25 g reduces the estimate to about 120 kcal and 14 g sugar, with the coffee portion unchanged.
Phin caffeine cannot be established from the 40 ml serving alone. Bean composition, coffee dose, extraction and the share of the brewed batch all matter. A pale, sweet drink can still contain substantial caffeine. For the separate 40 g espresso alternative, the USDA generic espresso reference gives about 85 mg; that is an illustrative estimate, not a measured result for your machine or a value for phin coffee.
Serving assumptions and calculation
USDA SR28 lists whole milk at 61 kcal and 5.05 g total sugar per 100 g, and sweetened condensed milk at 321 kcal and 54.4 g sugar per 100 g. The 120 g whole milk contributes 73.2 kcal and 6.06 g sugar; 25 g condensed milk adds 80.25 kcal and 13.6 g sugar. Their subtotal is 153.45 kcal and 19.66 g sugar. The rounded 155 kcal estimate allows for a small contribution from plain brewed coffee; its precise energy depends on preparation. Ice contributes neither. Removing 10 g condensed milk subtracts 32.1 kcal and 5.44 g sugar. The espresso-only caffeine example is 40 g × 212 mg per 100 g = 84.8 mg. Generic references are not a laboratory analysis of this recipe.
Contains milk. Replacing only the fresh milk with a plant drink does not make the recipe dairy-free; conventional condensed milk also contains dairy. Use both suitable alternatives and their labels if adapting it. Keep dairy cold and assemble when ready to drink.
Questions About Bac Xiu
Is bac xiu the same as a latte?
Can you make bac xiu hot?
Does bac xiu have less caffeine than Vietnamese iced coffee?
Should I stir the layers?
Editor's Take
Sources and Further Reading
6 references
External links open in a new tab
Recipe context
Nutrition
- USDA Agricultural Research ServiceSR28 dairy referenceWhole milk NDB 01077 and condensed milk NDB 01095 for ingredient calculations.(opens in a new tab)
- USDA Agricultural Research ServiceSR28 beverage referenceGeneric espresso NDB 14210 for the separately defined alternative's caffeine estimate.(opens in a new tab)