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What Is Vietnamese Coffee? Types, Taste and Phin Brewing

By Ali Can DoralarReviewed by Online Coffee Guide editorial teamPublished Updated 6 min read

Vietnamese coffee includes Vietnam-grown beans and drinks such as black phin coffee, sweet condensed-milk coffee, and egg or salt coffee. A phin is a small metal drip filter used to brew it.

Vietnamese phin coffee brewing into a glass with condensed milk at the bottom
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Drink Snapshot

Caffeine
Not measuredThis home recipeCaffeine comes from the coffee; the recipe uses 14 g grounds.
Calories
About 1 kcalGeneric brewed-coffee estimateFor the small black serving, without optional sugar.
Serving, sugar and sources
Serving
1 small black phin coffee; yield varies, under 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz)
Made with
Home phin recipe: 14 g coffee + 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz) water
Sugar
About 0 g total. Black coffee reference; excludes optional sugar or milk.
Preparation
6–8 minutes, including setup

Calories and sugar use a generic USDA black-coffee reference for a small serving. See the full calculation or label comparison.

Key Takeaways

  • 1Order cà phê đen for black coffee; ask for no sugar if you want it unsweetened.
  • 2Choose cà phê sữa for condensed milk, or bạc xỉu for a milkier balance.
  • 3At home, adjust the grind for flow, then change milk or sugar separately to find your balance.
On This Page9 Sections

Which Vietnamese Coffee Should You Order?

For a first order: choose cà phê sữa đá if you want sweet iced milk coffee, cà phê đen if you want black coffee, or bạc xỉu if you prefer more milk. The names describe a style; each café has its own recipe.

Which Vietnamese coffee should you order?
Which Vietnamese coffee should you order?
Drink and local nameIngredients and character
Black coffee: cà phê đenCoffee, sometimes with sugar; a direct view of the roast and brew
Hot milk coffee: cà phê sữa nóngCoffee and sweetened condensed milk, served hot
Iced milk coffee: cà phê sữa đáCoffee, condensed milk and ice; bold and sweet
Bạc xỉuMore milk and less coffee; creamy and gentler in coffee flavor
Egg coffee: cà phê trứngCoffee under a sweet whipped egg-based topping
Salt coffee: cà phê muốiCoffee with a lightly salted, sweet milk or cream component

Vietnam Tourism also describes coconut coffee and yogurt coffee. Coconut versions can be thick and icy, while yogurt adds tang; coconut coffee is not automatically dairy-free. Egg coffee is associated with Hanoi, and the tourism authority also highlights Huế's salt coffee.

You may also see cà phê nâu, or brown coffee. For example, Hanoi café SOLUS lists it as coffee with condensed milk, while its bạc xỉu includes both condensed and fresh milk.

What Does Vietnamese Coffee Taste Like?

Black coffee: a robusta-forward phin brew often has full body, pronounced roasted bitterness and cocoa or nut-like notes. Vietnamese arabica and lighter roasts can offer a brighter, fruitier profile.

I like black phin coffee as a reference before exploring the sweeter variations. Knowing the coffee underneath helps me notice what condensed milk, egg cream or salt cream changes in the next drink.

Milk and toppings: condensed milk supplies sweetness and a thick dairy texture. Egg cream moves the cup toward dessert, while a salted topping changes the sweet-bitter contrast. If you usually drink an unsweetened latte, the condensed milk may be the biggest change.

Why it can taste strong: a concentrated brew, a dark roast and the choice of beans each affect the experience. Bitterness, coffee concentration and caffeine are different things. Black Vietnamese coffee need not be sweet; sugar and condensed milk are additions.

Choosing Beans and a Phin for Vietnamese Coffee

Choose the beans as well as the drink. Nguyen Coffee Supply's own range includes Vietnamese arabica, robusta and blends, roasted without added flavorings. Vietnamese describes an origin and culture, not one species or roast treatment. The Vietnam origin guide covers growing regions and bean choices.

The sources show why a single definition can mislead: Vietnam Tourism describes butter-roasted coffee, while Nguyen sells beans without added oils or flavorings. Those examples can both exist. Read the bag rather than assuming every Vietnamese coffee contains butter, flavorings or chicory.

A phin normally has a perforated plate, brewing chamber, pressing disc and lid. Water flows through by gravity, without espresso pressure. For more on gravity and screw-down models, see the phin brewing guide.

Vietnamese phin filter parts shown separately: lid, gravity pressing disc, brewing chamber and filter plate; add grounds before the disc
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Add grounds before the gravity disc; screw-down phins instead secure their disc on a central post.

Equipment reference: Nguyen Coffee Supply's phin guide.

How to Make Black Vietnamese Phin Coffee

Recipe

Black Vietnamese Phin Coffee

Makes:
1 small serving, less than 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz)
Time:
About 6–8 minutes including setup

Ingredients

  • 14 g Vietnamese coffee, ground for a phin
  • 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz) water at 91–93°C / 195–200°F
  • Sugar, optional

Equipment

  • Small phin filter suitable for 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz) water
  • kettle
  • scale
  • heatproof cup

Method

  1. Warm and load. Rinse the phin and cup with hot water, then discard that water. Add 14 g coffee, level the bed and set the disc on top. Secure a screw-down disc gently without compressing the bed hard.
  2. Wet the grounds. Add 30 ml (1 US fl oz) of the brewing water and wait 45 seconds.
  3. Brew. Add the remaining 90 ml (3 US fl oz) gently, cover and let it drip. Aim for the first drops before 2 minutes and the last around 5 minutes after the first pour. Split the remaining water into smaller pours if needed to avoid overfilling the chamber.
  4. Taste and serve. Remove the phin and taste the black coffee. Add sugar if wanted, or a little hot water if you prefer less concentration.
Recipe notes

Start with a fine, sand-like grind and adjust to your filter. The 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz) is water input; the collected drink will be smaller because the grounds retain water.

One small black serving: about 1 kcal and 0 g sugar using a generic USDA brewed-coffee reference. Optional sugar and milk add calories.

Black Vietnamese coffee in a short glass beside a sugar bowl and spoon
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Remove the phin before serving the black coffee.

Makes: 1 small hot black coffee, usually less than 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz) because the grounds retain water.

Time: about 6–8 minutes including setup, with roughly 5 minutes from the first pour to the final drips.

This uses the 14 g coffee and 4 US fl oz water example in Nguyen Coffee Supply's phin guide, rounded to 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz). Start with a fine, sand-like grind and adjust to your filter's flow. Weighing is more repeatable than spoon measures.

Coffee-to-water ratio: 14 g to 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz) is approximately 1:8.6 by weight, treating 1 ml water as roughly 1 g. It describes the water you add, not the final drink yield.

Ground coffee being added to a metal phin filter resting above a glass
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Level the grounds before fitting the disc and adding water. The phin brews by gravity.

Vietnamese Coffee Caffeine, Calories and Sugar

There is no single caffeine amount for Vietnamese coffee. Robusta generally contains more caffeine than arabica, but the coffee dose, extraction and portion determine what ends up in a serving.

A published caffeine example: Copper Cow lists about 238–272 mg per serving for its Classic Black single-serve pour-over filters, checked September 27, 2026. The 14 g home phin recipe above is unmeasured; this range is not an estimate for it. Adding water or milk changes the concentration in each sip, not the total caffeine in the coffee already brewed.

Black coffee: a small calorie contribution. USDA's plain brewed-coffee reference, FDC 171890 gives about 1 kcal and 0 g sugar per 100 g of beverage, roughly 100 ml.

The opening's about 1 kcal is a rough estimate for the small black serving, based on that reference and less than 120 ml (4.1 US fl oz) collected coffee. Optional sugar, milk and toppings are excluded.

Condensed milk: the larger change. Using USDA sweetened condensed milk, FDC 171275, these additions contribute:

Calories and sugar added by condensed milkScrollable table
Calories and sugar added by condensed milk
Condensed milk addedEstimated additional caloriesEstimated additional total sugar
20 g (0.7 oz)64 kcal11 g
40 g (1.4 oz)128 kcal22 g

These are condensed-milk contributions; add them to the black-coffee estimate. Total sugar includes milk sugar as well as added sugar.

Fixing Vietnamese Coffee That Drips Too Fast or Slowly

Fixing Vietnamese Coffee That Drips Too Fast or Slowly
Fixing Vietnamese Coffee That Drips Too Fast or Slowly
What happensTry next
Water rushes through and the coffee tastes thinGrind a little finer and level the bed; keep the dose consistent
Almost no drippingCheck for blocked holes, very fine grounds or an overtightened disc
Strong but unpleasantly bitterTry a less heavily roasted coffee or adjust extraction
Condensed milk remains at the bottomStir while the coffee is hot, before adding ice
Iced version dilutes quicklyUse a measured concentrated iced recipe instead of weak hot coffee over a large ice load

Longer is not automatically better. Taste the coffee after it cools slightly as well as watching the timer.

Vietnamese Coffee vs. Espresso, and Brewing Without a Phin

For the no-phin option, choose the French press, AeroPress, moka pot or espresso guide for your equipment. Each supplies its own dose, water and preparation steps.

Is Vietnamese coffee stronger than espresso?
Stronger can mean concentration, bitterness or caffeine. A phin uses gravity while espresso uses pressure; the portions and coffee doses also differ. Neither drink name alone establishes which serving contains more caffeine. Compare a café's stated recipe or published product figures.
Can I make Vietnamese coffee without a phin?
Yes. Vietnamese beans can be brewed in a French press, AeroPress, moka pot or espresso machine using that brewer's own recipe. You can then add condensed milk if wanted. Do not transfer the phin's grind setting or water ratio unchanged: the extraction and flavor will differ.

Editor's Take

Sources and Further Reading

7 references

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