Cà Phê Đen Đá

Cà phê đen đá is the simplest of Vietnam’s coffees: đen means black and đá means ice. Dark-roasted Robusta is brewed slowly through a phin, the small metal drip filter that sits on top of the glass, and the concentrated coffee is then stirred, often with a spoonful of sugar, and poured over ice.

Vietnam is one of the world’s biggest coffee producers, and almost all of it is Robusta. Roasted dark, it gives a cup that is intensely strong, bitter and full-bodied, with notes of dark chocolate and roasted nuts. Robusta has nearly twice the caffeine of Arabica, so a glass packs a real punch.

It is the black twin of cà phê sữa đá, the iced coffee with condensed milk. Many visitors find the black version too bitter, but it is a favourite of locals who drink it on low plastic stools at street cafés, often with a glass of iced tea on the side. A hot version, cà phê đen nóng, is also common.

Coffee was brought to Vietnam by the French during the colonial period of the 19th century. The Vietnamese way of drinking it – brewed in an individual phin filter and served over ice – grew out of that French café tradition, adapted to a tropical climate and to the dark-roasted Robusta that suited local growing conditions.

Robusta became the backbone of the industry, especially in the Central Highlands, and Vietnam grew into one of the world’s largest coffee producers. Black coffee over ice, with or without sugar, became an everyday staple alongside its condensed-milk sibling, cà phê sữa đá.

Exactly when serving coffee over ice became common in Vietnam is not well documented, but the street-café culture of low stools and phin-dripped glasses is now one of the most familiar sights in the country.