What Is Vietnamese Coffee? Menu, Prices, Caffeine 2027

Vietnamese coffee is dark-roasted, mostly robusta coffee dripped slowly through a small metal filter called a phin, then drunk black or over sweetened condensed milk, hot or on ice. The classic order is ca phe sua da, iced milk coffee. In 2026 it costs about 20,000 to 35,000 VND (US$0.75 to $1.35) at an ordinary cafe.

That is the short answer. The longer one explains why a glass the size of a small juice can keep you awake until midnight.

What is Vietnamese coffee made of?

Three things: robusta beans, a phin and, more often than not, a tin of condensed milk. Vietnam is the world's second-largest producer after Brazil. The USDA forecasts 32.5 million 60 kg bags for 2026/27, and 31.4 million of them are robusta.

Condensed milk arrived out of necessity. Under French rule fresh milk was scarce and spoiled fast in the heat, so cafes used the tinned kind and never went back. Its sweetness fights robusta's bitterness. Taste a black robusta first and you will see why.

The coffee itself is roasted very dark. Some roasters coat the beans in butter or a butter-flavoured oil; Trung Nguyen, the biggest name in Buon Ma Thuot, says its beans are roasted in "butter oil". So even black coffee is not always vegan.

The pale layer is condensed milk. Stir before the first sip. Photo: Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau; CC BY 2.0. Photo: Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Touris, CC BY 2.0.

Vietnamese iced coffee and the rest of the menu

Vietnamese iced coffee is two drinks, and the menu tells you which. Ca phe den da is black over ice. Ca phe sua da is the one with condensed milk, called ca phe nau da in Hanoi. Prices are from cafe menus and a 2025 industry survey, at 26,000 VND to the US dollar.

Most cafes also bring a glass of weak iced tea, tra da, without being asked. It is free. Drink it between sips.

How to order without a menu

Den is black, sua is milk, da is ice and nong is hot. Put them together and you have ordered. If you want it less sweet, say "it ngot", and the cafe will go easier on the milk. Or point at the next table's glass.

Bac xiu is the gentle option. The name is Cantonese, from Saigon's Cho Lon community in the 1950s, and roughly means white milk with a little coffee.

Egg coffee

Under the spoon is phin coffee; on top, a thick, sweet cream of whipped egg yolk. Cafe Giang in Hanoi, open since 1946, says its founder Nguyen Van Giang invented the cream when fresh milk was scarce. The cups still come standing in warm water. Eat the top with the spoon, then drink.

Our guide to Hanoi's egg coffee cafes names the ones worth the queue.

Warm water in the bowl keeps the cream warm. Photo: David McKelvey from Brisbane, Australia; CC BY 2.0. Photo: David McKelvey, CC BY 2.0.

Coconut coffee and salt coffee

Coconut coffee is closer to a milkshake. Cong Ca Phe, the Hanoi chain that made it famous, serves a thick, cold coconut slush with coffee. Coconut does not mean dairy-free; many recipes add condensed milk, so ask.

Salt coffee comes from Hue. It first appeared around 2010 at a small cafe at 10 Nguyen Luong Bang Street, and Hanoi caught on later. The salted cream on top takes the edge off the bitterness.

Why is Vietnamese coffee so strong?

Mainly the bean. Green robusta holds about 2.2% caffeine by dry weight, against about 1.2% for arabica, so close to twice as much. Then the roast is dark and the brew is concentrated, which makes it taste even stronger than it is.

So is Vietnamese coffee strong? Yes, in flavour and in caffeine. A phin makes a small, dense shot that fills the bottom third of the glass. Ice and milk make the glass bigger; they do not take any caffeine out.

How much caffeine is in Vietnamese coffee?

We could not find a lab-measured figure for a standard phin cup; the numbers online are estimates. A 2015 study by Phan and colleagues found Vietnamese coffees gave up under 90% of their caffeine in 3 minutes at 100°C, against close to 100% for Czech and Brazilian samples. And cafes vary the dose.

For scale, the US Food and Drug Administration gives 113 to 247 mg for a 12-ounce brewed coffee and cites 400 mg a day as an amount not generally linked to negative effects in adults.

The dose of grounds decides the strength. Photo: HungryHuy; CC BY 2.0. Photo: HungryHuy, CC BY 2.0.

What the phin filter does

The phin is a perforated metal cup, a press, a saucer and a lid. Hot water goes in, the grounds bloom for 45 to 60 seconds, and then it drips. Slowly. A full phin takes several minutes, so nobody rushes.

It works by gravity, not pressure, so it is not espresso: thicker than drip coffee, thinner than a shot. If it stops dripping, the press is too tight. Ask the server; do not shake a hot filter.

Where the beans come from

The Central Highlands grow most of the crop. Dak Lak and its capital, Buon Ma Thuot, are robusta country, with red soil and beans drying in front yards at harvest. Robusta grows from sea level to about 900 m; arabica wants 900 to 2,000 m, which is why it clusters around Da Lat.

Farm-gate robusta averaged about 102,800 VND a kilo in the first half of the 2025/26 season, according to the USDA. That is under US$4 for a kilo of raw beans, against about US$1 for one glass in town.

Near Da Lat, a weasel coffee farm visit is the best-known coffee day trip. Be honest with yourself about the caged civets before you go; an ordinary farm explains just as much.

Nearer Phong Nha is Khe Sanh, in Quang Tri province, where arabica grows at 450 to 680 m. On 4 November 2025 it gained a protected geographical indication as Khe Sanh Arabica, under certificate No. 148. Our Khe Sanh travel guide covers the town and its war history.

Coffee drying in a farmyard. The red soil is typical of Vietnam's coffee country. Photo: P. Hughes; CC BY 4.0. Photo: P. Hughes, CC BY 4.0.

Coffee on a trip through Vietnam

In Saigon, the Cafe Apartment on Nguyen Hue is an old apartment block filled with separate cafes, each with its own menu and prices. In Hanoi, order egg coffee. In Hue, salt coffee. Our Vietnamese food guide covers what to eat with them.

In Phong Nha, the coffee comes before the jungle. Two sua da at breakfast and a humid jungle trek are a poor mix. Have one, fill your water bottle and save the second cup for the afternoon, once you are back from the cave and the trail.