One of the most fabulous beverages known to man and woman-kinds alike is the sublime Vietnamese Iced Coffee, or Café Sua Da (or even, cà phê sữa đá, to further transliterate). This coffee, a rich french dark roast with chicory, made in a special version of the press pot, and served with copious quantities of sweetened condensed milk and refreshingly cooled with ice, is the perfect complement to any dish, and any occasion. Just don't drink it if you are hoping to sleep soon. It also makes a nice alternative to the Thai Iced Tea recipe I've got. They are both great on a hot day, or with spicy southeast asian foods (or anything at all, frankly). Read on for a picture-heavy, overly analyzed method of making the best coffee in town.
Vietnamese Iced Coffee is a simple thing to make, but there are some subtleties, and the equipment you need isn't of the sort usually found at your usual big-box grocer-mart. The techniques are also simple, but there are a few things to pay attention to if you want to whip the pants off of your local coffee joint.
Vietnamese Iced Coffee is a simple thing to make, but there are some subtleties, and the equipment you need isn't of the sort usually found at your usual big-box grocer-mart. The techniques are also simple, but there are a few things to pay attention to if you want to whip the pants off of your local coffee joint.
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Signing UpStep 1: The Equipment
Lets start with the equipment:
The tall glasses could be of any size as long as the press pot fits over the top of the glass, and holds at least 12 oz.; a "highball" is usually a good size.
Long handled spoons just randomly appear in certain places. If you only have regular spoons, you can use your wire-feed, shielded MIG welder to weld a small extension onto your existing spoon, or you can just live with the fact that your fingertips might get a little wet. Don't be ashamed, just lick the sweet coffee off your fingers.
- Vientamese-style press pots
- Tall glasses, preferably made of clear glass
- Spoons with long handles
- Something to boil water in (tea pot, sauce pot, old coffee can, whateva')
The tall glasses could be of any size as long as the press pot fits over the top of the glass, and holds at least 12 oz.; a "highball" is usually a good size.
Long handled spoons just randomly appear in certain places. If you only have regular spoons, you can use your wire-feed, shielded MIG welder to weld a small extension onto your existing spoon, or you can just live with the fact that your fingertips might get a little wet. Don't be ashamed, just lick the sweet coffee off your fingers.
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Big failure, not sure whether all together or just the way I did it. I thought I'd save time on daily coffee making so when I went home to U.S.A. for a visit from Vietnam, I looked in storage and grabbed my Starbucks press.
On arrival I was like a kid at Christmas. Put the coffee in, poured piping hot water in let set a minute and moved the screen down. The coffee it left in the cup was a bit sandy :) I tried two other brands/grinds and got the same.
If you get different or hear of different result post it for me. I have my press in VN now and nothing to do with it but fresh grean tea :).
Keith
Surfsmith
Also, make sure the press is screwed down snugly, because that makes less room for the water to swirl the grounds around. Less movement under the press = less sediment.
For the water going through too quickly, one thing I do is screw down the press, pour enough water in the pot to cover the bottom of the press, and then using the blade of a butter knife, screw the press down more. Screwing the press down again AFTER I add a little water gives me a slower flow and less sediment.
If none of these things help, your pot may have holes on the bottom that are too big, or your press screw isn't threading correctly with the post. Buy another pot. :-)
Hope this helps!
Most asian grocery stores carry them.
There are plenty of overpriced presses (aka vietnamese coffee filters) on ebay..
http://search.ebay.com/vietnamese-coffee
http://www.pazu.com/travel/trip2004/travelog/index00039.html