Vietnamese Phin

Slow coffee, Vietnamese style. A little metal filter perches on your glass and drips a dark, intense brew — traditionally onto a layer of sweetened condensed milk, poured over ice as cà phê sữa đá.

Overview

Ours 1:6·20 g·120 g·95 °C·Medium-coarse · 800–1000 µm·5:50 Make it yours

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Vietnamese Phin

Grinder

Grind Medium-coarse 800–1000 µm

Ratio 1:

Dose g

Water g

Water temp °C

Total time 5:50

0:00 Timer

— Flow

— Weight

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STEP 1 / 7 0:00 / 0:00

Notes

We let it drip entirely untouched — no stirring, no pressing the gravity press down early. Stir it into condensed milk hot, or pour the finished brew over ice for cà phê sữa đá.

Weigh beans

Weigh out the beans — fresh, not pre-ground.

Grind

Grind medium-coarse — classic Vietnamese Robusta.

Scald the phin

Rinse the phin with hot water, then tip it out.

Pack the phin

Add grounds to the phin, level, and seat the gravity press.

Bloom

Pour a little hot water over the grounds and wait 30 seconds.

Drip

Fill the phin, cap it, and let it drip 4–5 minutes.

Enjoy

Stir over condensed milk, or pour over ice for cà phê sữa đá.

Behind every step

1Weigh beans
0:05

Weighing instead of scooping is the only way to repeat a brew — beans differ in density and roast, so a scoop of one is not a scoop of another. Fix the dose and every other variable finally means something.
2Grind
0:15

The phin has no paper filter — just a perforated plate — so the grind has to be coarse enough not to slip through or clog it. Medium-coarse gives the slow four-to-five minute drip that makes the brew strong enough to stand up to condensed milk and ice.
3Scald the phin
0:10

A phin is a lump of metal, and cold metal steals heat from the brew before it has begun. Rinsing it through with hot water preheats the chamber and the glass under it, and washes out whatever the last brew left in the perforations — thirty seconds of work that keeps the drip temperature steady for the four minutes that follow.
4Pack the phin
0:10

The gravity press on top is the flow control: how firmly it sits decides how slowly the water drips. Level the grounds and seat it flat, or the water finds one side and rushes through weak.
5Bloom
0:30

The bed lifts and bubbles as the gas comes off — that is what you are waiting for. Pour the rest before it settles all the way back down, and don't stir: a stirred bed packs into the plate and the drip stalls.
6Drip
4:30

The phin drips unhurried for four or five minutes, and that slow contact is what makes the brew so concentrated. Fill it the rest of the way, cap it, and leave it alone — no stirring, no pushing. A drop a second is the rate you are aiming for.
7Enjoy
0:10

Coffee keeps changing as it cools: aromatics fade, acidity sharpens and sweetness comes forward. Drink it soon after brewing, and taste it as it drops in temperature — that's how you learn what to adjust next time.

Fix it by taste

Aim for a slow, steady drip over about 4–5 minutes — that's what gives the brew its punch. Too fast and thin? Grind finer, or settle the gravity press down a little more. Stalled and bitter? Coarsen and ease the press up. Wet the grounds with a splash first to let them bloom before filling.

Drips too fast, weak and watery

Grind too coarse or press too loose

Fix · Grind a touch finer or press it down a little more
Won't drip / stalls, bitter

Grind too fine or packed too tight

Fix · Coarsen a step and ease off the press
Grounds in the cup

Gravity press not seated

Fix · Level the grounds and seat the press flat
Too weak for milk

Ratio too lean

Fix · Use more coffee — phin is meant to be strong and concentrated

What you need

A phin filter (aluminium or steel) sized to your glass, a medium-coarse grinder, and — traditionally — sweetened condensed milk and ice. That's it.

Beans & roast

Robusta, or a robusta-heavy blend, is classic — dark, bold and higher in caffeine, which stands up to the milk. Dark-roast arabica works for a smoother cup.