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Iced · Easy · 10 minutes

Cà phê sữa chua

Vietnamese yoghurt coffee
Cà phê sữa chua sounds odd but tastes good. Vietnamese yoghurt is made with sweetened condensed milk, so it is thick and sweet with only a hint of sourness. It is not the sour yoghurt you picture when someone mentions yoghurt and coffee in one sentence. Bitter phin coffee on top works much as it does with condensed milk, but colder and thicker, with a fresh edge so it is not only sweet.
  • 20 g
    Coffee
  • 70 ml
    Water
  • 4:00
    Drip
Next time, this recipe opens like this.

Ingredients

  • Vietnamese yoghurt
    Made with sweetened condensed milk, so it is thick and sweet rather than sour. Plain full-fat yoghurt with a spoonful of condensed milk stirred in comes close.
    120 ml
  • Vietnamese ground coffee
    A dark-roast robusta, or a blend of robusta and arabica. Ground for a phin: a little coarser than for espresso.
    20 g
  • Hot water
    Just off the boil, around 92 to 96 °C. Boiling water scorches robusta and makes the coffee bitter.
    70 ml
  • Sweetened condensed milk (optional)
    The sugar and the milk in one. Evaporated milk is not a substitute, because it is not sweetened.
    15 ml
  • Ice cubes
    Fill the glass generously. Vietnamese iced coffee is served properly cold.
    6

Equipment

Steps

  • Add the coffee

    20 g
    Put the ground coffee into the phin and shake it level. Brew it strong. A glass of sweet yoghurt is going with it.

  • Place the filter plate

    Lay the filter plate on the coffee and press down lightly.

  • Wet the grounds

    18 ml
    Pour just enough hot water to cover the coffee.

  • Let it bloom

    ± 30 s
    Wait while the coffee swells.

  • Fill the phin

    55 ml
    Top up with the rest of the hot water and put the lid on.

  • Let it drip

    ± 4 min
    Wait while the coffee drips into the glass. Let it cool a little afterwards. That happens by itself while you put the yoghurt and ice in the glass.
    Tip
    Be patient here. Warm coffee stays in a layer; hot coffee makes the yoghurt curdle.

  • Spoon in the yoghurt

    120 ml
    Spoon the yoghurt into a tall glass and smooth the top. If you are using plain yoghurt, stir a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk into it first.
    Tip
    Take it cold from the fridge. It has to hold its shape under the ice.

  • Add the ice

    6 cubes
    Put the ice on top of the yoghurt. The ice holds the coffee back for a moment. That is what gives you two layers instead of one muddy one.

  • Pour the coffee over

    Pour the coffee slowly over the ice so it stays on top. If you want a sharp line between the layers, pour over the back of a spoon.

  • Serve it with a spoon

    Bring it to the table unstirred, with a long spoon. Stir it yourself, or eat your way down through the layers. Both are fine.
    Tip
    A spoon, not a straw. The bottom half is too thick for a straw.

Flavour

Background

Where it comes from

Yoghurt came to Vietnam with the French and soon became Vietnamese: made with sweetened condensed milk, set in small glass jars and sold everywhere. Putting coffee on it is a Hanoi habit that spread across the country, and you still find it more often at a street stall than in a café.
Every café, family and region in Vietnam makes coffee a little differently. Treat these amounts as a good starting point, not a rule.
These amounts are new, and we are still fine-tuning them.

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