Cà Phê Talk - cà phê sữa dá Vietnamese Iced Coffee

I had planned on Pizza tonight for dinner, in fact I had already prepared the post during lunch at work, all it needed was photos. Then I got home... HA. 92 freakin degrees man!!! The bedroom, where my pets are shut up all day, was blessedly cool due to a window air conditioner. This is what prompted this particular post in lieu of a 500 degree oven for 2 more hours adding to the swelter of my apartment.

Cà phê sữa dá literally means "Iced Coffee with milk" as opposed to the hot version (which was NOT happening tonight by any means) which is known as cà phê sữa nóng. This is a particularly potent drip brew. The grounds are slightly compacted so that it drips VERY slowly through dark roasted coffee, taking up to 6 minutes to brew a single cup.

Due to the scarcity of fresh milk when the French introduced coffee to Vietnam, it is traditionally made with canned sweetened condensed milk. Normally, I myself would turn my nose up at this potential sweet factor, however, the dark brew is SO potent that the sweetened condense milk only adds another nuance to the beverage. And while I am still not a fan of sữa nóng, I find sữa dá to be particularly refreshing on a hot day.

This little individual brewing device is known as a cà phê phin and is composed of 4 parts.

Lower filter, bottom center, which allows the device to set atop a glass.
Upper filter, upper left, which contains the grounds
Screen, lower left, which, if you have a good one, allows for compacting of the grounds.
The Lid, lower right, which contains the heat.

Let us begin.....

Begin heating water in a kettle to 200 degrees.
In a small glass (10-12 oz) add 2 TB of Sweetened Condensed Milk. (I only use 1 1/2 TB)

Place the lower filter on top of the glass.

To the upper filter basket, add 2 TB plus 2 tsp Dark roasted Coffee and place on top of the lower filter.

If your screen has a screw mechanism, place the screen in and screw it down to compress the grounds slightly. (Mine I simply have to press cause it's a cheap one)

When the water reaches 200 degrees, you will need to "prime" the grounds by adding about 2 TB hot water and letting it soak the grounds.
After this, simply fill the filter basket with water;

Then place the lid on to contain the heat, and wait...Drip... and wait...Drip... and wait...Drip... for as long as 6 minutes. (the drip rate should be fairly slow, only a drip or maybe 2 per second)

If it is dripping like an American drip coffee maker, use a spoon to tighten the screw on the screen. If it's dripping to slow, loosen the screw a little. (I really wish I had a good model to take a picture)
When the dripping is complete,

Simply remove the device and stir the contents of the glass to incorporate the coffee and condensed milk together.

Fill a tall glass to the brim with ice.

And pour the coffee over it,

and enjoy. Ahhhhhh! Refreshing!!! (Although better looking if served with a mint spring)


Cin Cin!!
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