Stop Buying $7 Coffee — Make These 5 Vietnamese Coffee Drinks at Home

If you travel to Vietnam, you'll know that Vietnamese coffee culture is absolutely insane. From the iconic cafe sữa on the street side, to the bá hải coffee that's been popping up all over the internet, I'm going to show you five cafe classics that you can totally master at home. But here's the thing, most people brew Vietnamese coffee completely wrong, and the difference between a decent cup of coffee and an amazing one is one simple technique that you're probably skipping. So let's brew. So in the Western world we tend to rely on these thousand dollar expensive espresso machines to give us beautiful, rich, full-body coffee, right? But in Vietnam, for centuries, we've been using this. This is called a phin, and this is the iconic traditional Vietnamese coffee filter. There's four pieces to it, and although it looks simple, there's actually an art to how you use this thing. So let me show you how this thing works, and we're going to start with the foundation, which is how to brew a perfect gaffid and black coffee. So for this, we're going to need a Vietnamese phin filter, we're going to need some hot water, and of course, some coffee. So when you go to Vietnam and get the coffee, they tend to use robusta beans. In North America, a lot of us grew up with this brand, which is cafe du mon. Cafe du mon is actually a blend of both arabica and robusta beans, and they also add chicory, which gives it a really nice fragrance and a little bit of a bitter note, which is why it's often used by Vietnamese restaurants and in Vietnamese households, because it's very, very reminiscent of the coffee that we get back home. So for nostalgia, I'm going to be using cafe du mon today. You can also use Nguyen coffee supply. It's really, really good for authentic Vietnamese coffee. So to make our delectable black coffee base, we're going to start by adding three tablespoons of coffee into the phin. Give it a gentle tap to level the grounds, then drop the press firmly on top. Now, this is the legit technique that I learned in Vietnam. This is called a double bloom. I'm going to add about a tablespoon of hot water into the upside down lid, set the phin right on top of it, and then add another two tablespoons of water over the press. So the process of blooming allows all these trapped gases to be released from the coffee grounds. So then when we add water later on, it's going to be able to soak evenly and we're going to be able to extract beautiful, rich flavors from it. If we skip this step, the water is just going to quickly run through all the grounds and you're going to end up with a flat, watery, sour coffee. The result that we're going to be looking for later is like a thick syrupy concentrate. So blooming should take around two minutes. Once those two minutes are up and all the water has been absorbed, fill the chamber with hot water. Remember that your water shouldn't be rushing to flow through the filter. You should be hearing a gentle pitter patter as that beautiful black coffee percolates through the phin. So just let that drip for five to seven minutes. And if you notice that the phin is low on water, you can top it up a little bit more, okay? But I wouldn't top it up more than twice. And that's it. That's our foundation. This is cafe den, which is a classic black coffee. But why stop there? So I'm going to show you how most of the population prefers to drink the coffee, which is cafe sữa đá. Let's start with sweetened condensed milk. And you know I want you to use Longevity brand. Now add your black coffee and stir, stir, stir. You want that dark coffee to turn into this beautiful, rich caramel color. That's pretty much it. Just add some ice and give it a good shake. Oh, so good. No matter where I am, this is what Vietnamese coffee tastes like. It always brings me home. So the next thing we're gonna make is the viral egg coffee. If you haven't had this before, it's like liquid tiramisu. It's a dessert in a cup. To make the custard, we're gonna need two egg yolks. Make sure they're fresh, room temp, and pasteurized. You can pasteurize eggs yourself by submerging them in water at 140 degrees Fahrenheit for three minutes. Tablespoon of sugar. If you like it sweeter, you can also add a tablespoon of condensed milk as well. Now whisk this thing for five minutes. I'm using an electric whisk today, and I want it to double in volume and turn this pale, creamy yellow. Just like this. Gently pour this thick, velvety cloud over your black coffee. It should float and sit perfectly on the coffee, creating those beautiful light and dark layers. And let's not forget to top it with some cocoa powder for that perfect finishing touch. I mean, damn girl, no wonder this thing went viral. It's absolutely gorgeous. There's just nothing like it. I haven't had anything like this before. I know some people like to mix it up, but I actually prefer to drink it like this because I love that contrast. You have that dark, full-body coffee at the bottom, and then this layer of light custardy goodness right at the top, and it's topped with cocoa powder too. So when you take a sip, it's kind of like tiramisu in liquid form. So good. Now if you love the taste but you find that the taste of coffee or the caffeine is a little bit too much for you, you've got to try Baksu. So it's mostly going to be milk and just a splash of coffee. So let's start with two tablespoons of condensed milk at the bottom of a tall glass. Then fill the glass with lots of ice. Pour in about a half cup of fresh whole milk, which is going to give it that creamy, latte-like body. To get the coffee foam, we're going to add some of our black coffee along with little bit of sugar to a cup, and using an electric milk frother, whisk it for about 30 seconds. It should look like whipped chocolate. Watch how the dark coffee slowly marbles down through the white milk. It's the most satisfying part of the process. I mean, this is basically a Vietnamese macchiato, and it's the ultimate afternoon pick-me-up. This one is so refreshing. It's definitely lighter than a café soudade. So if you're not a frequent coffee drinker or you're sensitive to caffeine, I highly recommend this one. It's really, really good. If you love the combination of sweet-salty, like the taste of salted caramel or dark chocolate with little flakes of sea salt in it, you're going to love this next one. It's called Cà phê mùi, and it's been taking over Saigon by storm. So let's start with a little bit of condensed milk and black coffee, and we're going to make a less sweetened Cà phê soudade. Once we have that, fill your glass up with ice and let's start working on the salted cream. So we're going to need a quarter cup of heavy whipping cream and a teaspoon of fine sea salt. Don't be scared. It's going to be amazing. Froth this until it's thick and velvety, but still pourable. You want it to look like melted soft serve ice cream, okay? Not whipped cream. I've made that mistake so many times, so it should look just like this. Take your Cà phê soudade base and pour that salted cloud right on top. The salt doesn't really make the coffee salty, guys. Don't worry. It cuts through the bitterness and makes the chocolate notes explode. I thought this thing was just a trendy fad, but it's actually so, so, so, so good. Top it with a little bit of cinnamon to tie it all together, and there we have it. And finally, we have Cà phê cốt dừa, which is coconut cream coffee. If you love blended drinks like frappuccinos, you're going to love this one. We're going to need to make a sort of coconut slushy, so to your blender cup, add half cup of coconut cream, some condensed milk, and lots of ice. Blend this until it's thick, snowy, and holds its shape. It should look something like sorbet. Now gently scoop that coconut snow right on top of your black coffee. Don't stir it yet, okay? You want that beautiful mountain of coconut just sitting in a pool of dark, hot coffee. It's the best way to cool down on a hot day. And that's it. Five iconic Vietnamese drinks, one simple filter, and zero expensive equipment needed. And I think that's why I love Vietnamese food and coffee so much, because it's not trying to be fancy, but it still feels special every time. I've linked everything that I use below, so check those out if you want to recreate any of these. And if you've watched this entire video, but you're still not ready to make these drinks, I gotcha. I actually recently tested a Starbucks order, which comes surprisingly close to cafe souda. I have that exact order detailed on my blog, which I'm going to link below, so check it out if you want that hack. But for now, I think I'm going to stick to this delicious egg coffee. See you guys next time.