Anyone who has visited Vietnam, or knows someone who has, will be aware of how folk rave about the famous ‘ca phe sua da’ (‘Coffee – Milk – Ice’). Or as most refer to it, Vietnamese Iced Coffee. The combination of sweet condensed milk with a chocolate flavoured coffee is a beautiful and harmonious relationship. Having this poured over ice in a hot climate again offers another perfect balance. It was this magical brew which started Uplands Roast and led us to then find and source the first Vietnamese Speciality Coffee available in the UK.

A Harmonious Relationship

Chocolatey Coffee, Ice & Sweet Milk

The Robusta Bean

Vietnamese Iced Coffee is traditionally made with ‘Robusta’ coffee beans (as opposed to the widespread Arabica bean). Robusta coffee is, as the name would suggest, very robust. Here are some characteristics of Robusta which should explain why.

- Twice the caffeine (Caffeine makes Robusta very resistant to pests)

- Usually bitter and intense in flavour

- Grows at lower, easier to manage altitudes

- Resistant to harsh weather

- Can withstand very high temperatures

- More antioxidants

- Anti-microbial elements

Robusta was supposedly introduced to Vietnam by the French colonisers in 1857 as a cash crop for export and economic growth. Being robust and high yield, it would serve well for such a purpose. Robusta went on to be prosperous for the people of Vietnam and it is now a major contributor the Vietnam’s growing economic success. As the world’s largest exporter of Robusta and the second largest exporter of coffee in the world, Vietnam changed coffee from a tool of enslavement to a route to improved economic freedom.

Vietnam’s Coffee Industry

Vietnam is the Second Largest Exporter of Coffee in the World

Ca Phe Sua Da Secrets

Although Vietnam is the second largest exporter of coffee in the world – who has heard of Vietnamese speciality coffee? Or even knows where to buy Vietnamese coffee in the UK? How can they be the second largest exporter but no-one knows where you can get it? This is because it is mostly bought by large corporations to be blended with Arabica.

This drastically lowers the cost for the companies (as Robusta is typically much cheaper), allows them to say ‘made with arabica’ and hides the fact that they are bulking out their coffee with slavery and corruption. Robusta has the effect of adding more caffeine and additionally does not take away from the flavours Arabica beans offer. It is the perfect stuff to cut into your supply boosting quantity and reducing costs. This process is especially prevalent in instant coffee.

Its is not widespread knowledge that the magic flavour of Vietnamese coffee doesn’t come from the Robusta, the milk or the ice. This can be disappointing for the many people who visit Vietnam, love the coffee and buy some to take home. The coffee they buy then doesn’t taste exactly how it did in Vietnam at the roadside.

“The magic flavour of Vietnamese coffee doesn’t come from the Robusta, the milk or the ice.”

This is because the coffee often has some hidden additives such as:

Roasted Soy
Wine Sprayed on the beans
Butter sprayed on the beans
Sugar sprayed on the beans
Chocolate/Cacao

These unique and hidden recipes give the large brands their distinctive and moreish flavours - then the milk and the ice.

Uplands Roast’s top quality honey processed Robusta has none of these and still provides that longed for flavour of Vietnamese coffee. However, why not experiment with a few bottles of vino blanco and some lurpak?

Simple Instructions

Put a large tablespoon spoon of condensed milk in the bottom of the cup
Put the Phin on top of cup and half fill with Tradition Coffee
Put the small metal strainer on top of the coffee
Pour water, just off the boil, over the Phin until the Phin is full of water
Wait
Mix coffee with condensed milk then stir and add ice
Enjoy the magic of traditional Vietnam!

Fancy Instructions

Put a large tablespoon spoon of condensed milk in the bottom of the cup
Sit the Uplands Roast Phin over the top of the cup
Pour some 100°C water through the Phin into the cup to heat the Phin and the cup - then tip out this water
Half fill the Phin with coffee at a medium (filter grind)
Wet the ground coffee by pouring a few drops of water about 96°C over the coffee, just enough to wet all the grounds without it starting to flow out of the bottom
Place over the strainer to sit on top of the coffee
After 30 seconds add more water at 96°C until the Phin is full
Wait until the water has strained though and extracted all the desired coffee flavours
Stir in the condensed milk
Add ice
Reflect and take notes on how the brew reacts to the amount of coffee used. In future adapt this for the results that work best for you. Weigh the amounts of coffee you used so next time you can recreate or adjust your recipe.
Call up all your pals who have been to Vietnam and share your creation!