Cambodian/Vietnamese coffee

[Miss J]

I've got a bag of Vietnamese coffee beans, one of those groovy little stainless steel filters (there's a picture here), and a can of sweetened condensed milk. I'm desperately hoping I can recreate the coffee I had every morning in Cambodia: a tall, slim highball glass with a finger of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom, topped with a couple slugs of dark, rich, seriously strong black coffee.

Does anyone out there make this? Any tips on how fine I should grind my beans, ratio of coffee to water, etc? I've got limited quantities, so I want every drop to count.

[Jinmyo]

Espresso fine. About 9 scoops for 2 cups. Longevity brand sweetened condensed milk.

[Miss J]

Jinmyo, I knew I could count on you. Thanks.

[Jason Perlow]

actually I have had it done with chickory coffee from Cafe Du Monde (you can even get it in decent supermarkets now) and condensed milk. I beleive thats what Saigon Republic in NJ uses.

[torakris]

Espresso fine. About 9 scoops for 2 cups. Longevity brand sweetened condensed milk.

Okay here come the stupid questions!

How big is one scoop? is that the same as the coffee scoop of 2 tablespoons?

And is that 9 scoops of whole beans or 9 scoops of ground beans?

Is there a difference between Thai coffee and Vietnamese?

I have Thai coffee and one of those metal filter thingies on my shopping list, is Vietnamese coffee better?

Are there any good online sources for both the coffee and the filters?

[Jinmyo]

Kristin, the standard scoop I know is about one tablespoon. Of ground beans.

I can't say I remember anything in particular about Thai coffee I've had.

[Jason Perlow]

Is there a difference between Thai coffee and Vietnamese?

So they are similar but not the same.

Thai coffee is is served iced with half and half or heavy cream mixed in with cardamom and ground coriander added to the brew and they typically use muslin filters. The coffee is brewed very strong before being added to the ice.

Vietnamese is also poured over ice and is largely the the same kind of coffee (omitting the cardamom and coriander, but grinding instead with chickory, its regular french roast coffee) but the brewing apparatus differs. My local vietnamese uses Cafe Du Monde which has chickory already added. The Vietnamese is served french style, brewed very strong in a specialized Vietnamese drip coffee maker designed for a single serving to be dripped over a coffee cup. While the coffee is drip brewing into the cup, it mixes with sweetened condensed milk which has been already poured into the coffee cup. After brewing the whole condensed milk and coffee mixture is poured over ice. Clear?

vietnamese coffee maker:

http://www.quickspice.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart...shtml?E+scstore

see:

http://coffeefaq.com/coffaq7.htm

for a more thorough explanation of the differences.

[Suvir Saran]

Espresso fine. About 9 scoops for 2 cups. Longevity brand sweetened condensed milk.

Thanks Jinmyo! I shall make some myself. I love these so much that I often end up drinking several glass fulls at one meal. The restaurant makes more money from my beverage tab than from dinner.

[Stone]

You want to try coffee with a kick -- try Mustang Coffee. From the Mustang Valley in Northern Nepal: fry coffee and sugar in butter. Add local red wine, heat, don't boil. Finish with a shot of rakshi (moonshine). Strain into glass. Tastes kind of like what the stuff in the grease pit of a grill at a truck stop.

[Ellen Shapiro]

Your Cambodian/Vietnamese coffee sounds very similar to the Singaporean coffee I am addicted too—but have only had the opportunity to drink while in Singapore (probably better for me—and those within flailing distance). It's one of those coffees where, like Suvir, I found myself drinking multiple cups in one sitting. I felt like I had a dependency. The sweetened condensed milk doesn’t hurt any either. Why don’t we use more sweetened condensed milk? I’m outraged.

[Miss J]

The sweetened condensed milk doesn’t hurt any either. Why don’t we use more sweetened condensed milk? I’m outraged.

Tell me about it. When we got to Ho Chi Minh City, I kept overhearing other Western tourists warning each other not to stir in the sweetened condensed milk because it would "ruin" the coffee. Now, I never put sugar in my coffee or tea, but that viscous layer of sweetened condensed milk on the bottom of my coffee glass really added something. And it made my morning cuppa look like a little upside-down half pint of Guinness, which can't be a bad thing.

Now if I could just get the baguettes shipped over as well, my breakfasts would be sorted.

[Ellen Shapiro]

When we got to Ho Chi Minh City, I kept overhearing other Western tourists warning each other not to stir in the sweetened condensed milk because it would "ruin" the coffee.

Oh! Those poor Western tourists. Missing out on another great opportunity. That's more sweetened condensed milk for us!

[Ellen Shapiro]

If I remember correctly (and how could I forget), my first coffee with sweetened condensed milk was in Thailand. After university, I lived for a brief while with a Thai family in Chiang Mai and with breakfast I was served a delicious cup of coffee. When I expressed my enthusiasm the secret ingredient—the can of sweetened condensed milk—emerged. I was astonished, dumbfounded, incredulous. And it was oh, so very good.

Edited November 29, 2002 by Ellen Shapiro (log)

[MsRamsey]

The Vietnamese is served french style, brewed very strong in a specialized Vietnamese drip coffee maker designed for a single serving to be dripped over a coffee cup. While the coffee is drip brewing into the cup, it mixes with sweetened condensed milk which has been already poured into the coffee cup. After brewing the whole condensed milk and coffee mixture is poured over ice. Clear?   

And if you order a bowl of pho and this coffee at the same time, your coffee MIGHT be done dripping by the time you have finished eating your pho. If you're me, you will always get a nonfunctioning set-up, no matter how much fiddling you do, while your dining partner's coffee drip works just fine.