Coffee

Guides to Vietnamese coffee: how to brew with a phin filter, classic drinks such as iced coffee with condensed milk, what makes the coffee so strong, and the Hanoi cafes behind the culture.

Cluster of green unripe robusta coffee cherries on the branch

Why Is Vietnamese Coffee So Strong? Beans, Roast and Brew

Cafelam Editors

Robusta beans, the phin's concentrated drip and dark roasts explain the strength. How much caffeine a cup likely holds, and how to make it milder.

Ground coffee being scooped into a Vietnamese phin filter

How to Use a Phin Filter (Vietnamese Coffee Maker): A Complete Guide

Cafelam Editors

The Vietnamese phin filter explained: parts, press types, brewing a hot cup, fixing drip speed and choosing a good one.

Café Giảng storefront on Nguyen Huu Huan street in Hanoi

Café Lâm Hanoi: The 1952 Coffee House Paid in Paintings

Cafelam Editors

The history of Café Lâm on Nguyễn Hữu Huân street, the artists whose paintings cover its walls, and how to visit.

Vietnamese coffee dripping through a metal phin filter into a cup

How to Make Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Cà Phê Sữa Đá) with a Phin

Cafelam Editors

The coffee, condensed milk and phin you need, the step-by-step method, and how to fix a phin that drips too fast or too slow.

Photos on this page: Ksd5, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; HungryHuy, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (1, 2); Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons; Roland Tanglao, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped); Vee Satayamas, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped); Matthew Henry, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped); Christakis Mina, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped); Gary Todd, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped); Klientos, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped).