Experiencing Vietnamese Coffee Brewing

Diana Dinh remembers her first sip of coffee. Her grandfather handed over his mug and told her to take a sip. Diana swore she’d never touch the stuff again. 

Thankfully she decided to give coffee another try and even became a barista. Recently Diana came by the Noble Coyote Coffee Lab to share her love of Vietnamese coffee with us, and teach us how to make it following her family’s recipe. 

While some cafes will pour a shot of espresso over sweetened condensed milk, Diana finds comfort using a classic phin dripper. Her recipe calls for 30 grams of coarse ground coffee in a phin dripper above a glass containing 15 grams of sweetened condensed milk. Bloom the coffee by pouring 30 grams of 208 degree water into the dripper. Use a small spoon to break up any dry clumps and saturate the grounds. Pour an additional 60 grams of hot water and allow the coffee to drain before stirring the coffee and milk together. Enjoy hot or add ice. 

We followed custom and used a bold, chocolatey coffee (our Colombia Caramanta) and it made a syrupy and sweet coffee drink that you could spend all day sipping. We also decided to buck tradition and make an iced coffee using Ethiopia Gesha Natural. Kyle, our head of education, said the taste reminded him of blueberry waffles, so feel free to experiment with the recipe and share your results with us!