Buzz
No need for an introduction; almost everyone has heard of the iconic Vietnamese iced coffee. It's challenging to find a cafe without this signature drink on the menu.
At first glance, it may seem simple and ordinary, but Vietnamese coffee has made a powerful impact, attracting millions of tourists and culinary enthusiasts worldwide to the S-shaped country to savor and learn the secrets of making delicious and famous iced coffee.
What else is there to discover about the unique coffee formula of our homeland? Let's explore everything in this article with TopListCafe!
Introduction to Vietnamese Coffee
The Birth of Vietnamese Milk Coffee History
According to Curious Cuisine, coffee beans arrived in Vietnam in 1857, brought by a French priest. Since then, the Vietnamese people began to acquaint themselves with and learn the art of brewing and enjoying coffee.
By 1986, Vietnam officially became a prominent name in large-scale coffee cultivation and production, thanks to the highly suitable red basalt soil in the Central Highlands. The majority of Vietnam's coffee harvest belongs to the Robusta variety, not the familiar Arabica found in many Western countries.
Coffee Harvest in the Central Highlands.
Although renowned for its bold and robust flavor, which may not offer the delicate nuances of Arabica, the Robusta coffee variety is hardy and easier to cultivate, less susceptible to diseases or pests.
At that time, fresh milk was extremely scarce in the market, rendering the European-style milk coffee recipe impractical. Therefore, both the Vietnamese people and the French soldiers gradually shifted to using condensed milk as a substitute.
There are no specific records about who first came up with the method of using condensed milk to brew coffee. However, Vietnam is globally recognized as the birthplace of the unique and unparalleled condensed milk coffee recipe, as anyone who tastes it is always pleasantly surprised by its comfort and alluring flavor.
Therefore, alongside egg coffee, iced milk coffee is another worthy contender from Vietnam on the list of the world's most unique coffee brewing methods.
Classification of milk coffee
Traditional Vietnamese milk coffee
Vietnamese milk coffee is brewed from filtered coffee grounds using a drip filter, mixed with sweetened condensed milk, stirred well, and enjoyed. Depending on personal preference, it can be served either cold or hot.
Based on the distinctive type of beans and the characteristic roasting process, coffee in our country often has a dark brown hue, closely resembling black. When mixed with sweetened condensed milk, the overall color tends towards traditional brown, giving rise to the familiar terms 'brown iced coffee' or 'hot brown' in local coffee shops.
For the international community, this method is commonly known as 'Vietnamese iced milk coffee' or 'iced brown coffee.'
Fresh milk coffee
In essence, fresh milk coffee is a broad term encompassing various brewing methods – as long as they are based on the two main ingredients: coffee and fresh milk.
If you want to add a touch of sophistication, you can explore European-style milk coffees such as Latte, Mocha, Cappuccino, etc. Common ingredient standards for these recipes include Arabica beans and pure fresh milk (whole milk).
On the other hand, if you prefer not to be confined, feel free to use your favorite coffee beans and regular pasteurized fresh milk to make a cup of fresh milk coffee at home. This simple, quick brewing method will be revealed in the next section.
Silver coffee
Silver coffee is also a milk coffee recipe, but the amount of milk will be more than the coffee. To avoid making it too creamy and rich with sweetened condensed milk, fresh milk or hot water is added to make the flavor more pleasant and lighter.
According to Wikipedia, silver coffee originated from Saigon, blending the cultural influences of China, Vietnam, and France. During the French colonial period, the Chinese community in Saigon popularized coffee as a common commodity in their establishments.
The familiar appearance of a cup of silver coffee. (Photo: Delicious Vietnam)
However, black coffee or even milk coffee at that time was still a challenging drink for women or children due to its characteristic bitterness that was hard to get used to.
Gradually, Chinese shop owners devised a more flexible way to alter the ingredient ratios by increasing the amount of fresh milk and reducing the coffee, making it easier to drink. Silver coffee was then officially born, completing the recipe.
Yogurt coffee
In reality, this recipe should be accurately understood as yogurt coffee since the predominant ingredient is yogurt, and coffee plays a secondary role sprinkled on top. In other words, the concept of 'yogurt coffee' is misleading, as no one mixes yogurt as an additive in the coffee itself.
When making yogurt coffee, you only need to prepare a box of sweetened yogurt, about 5g of coffee powder, and add a little lime juice or condensed milk to diversify the flavor, and it's done.
Coconut milk coffee
Coconut milk coffee – also known as coconut essence coffee – is a favored beverage for many due to its fragrant aroma, combining the sweet richness of coconut with the robust flavor of coffee.
The two key ingredients are, of course, coffee and coconut cream. Additionally, you can add a bit of condensed milk, dried coconut, and crushed ice to enhance the overall indulgence of the experience.
Coconut essence coffee (Photo: K8)
Shaken milk coffee
Essentially, shaken milk coffee has a nearly identical ingredient preparation to traditional milk coffee. The only difference is that instead of stirring, you'll need to use a specialized shaker to perform the process before achieving the final result.
Moreover, shaken milk coffee can also incorporate additional elements like fresh milk and flavored syrup during the shaking process – elements not found in the traditional iced milk coffee recipe.
How to Make Delicious Milk Coffee
1. How to make iced milk coffee
Prepare the ingredients
Traditional Vietnamese milk coffee brewing. (Photo: CNN)
Procedure/recipe for making iced milk coffee
A glass of completed milk coffee after the process. (Photo: Eat, Little Bird)
2. How to make hot milk coffee
Essentially, the process for making hot milk coffee is identical to iced milk coffee, excluding the step of adding cold ice. Therefore, you can refer to the above recipe to craft a delicious hot cup to warm up in the chilly end of the year.
3. How to make fresh milk coffee
As mentioned in the previous introduction, the preparation of fresh milk coffee can be divided into two directions, depending on individual preferences and needs:
- Original European-style coffee recipes like Latte, Mocha, Cappuccino...
- Creative and flexible adaptations according to personal preferences
If you want to explore more about famous European-style fresh milk coffees, check out TopListCafe's article on distinguishing each type of commonly used machine-brewed coffee.
On the other hand, if you want to unleash your creativity without adhering to predefined standards, continue following the essential guide below to make a perfect cup of fresh milk coffee.
Prepare the ingredients
Procedure/Recipe
Fresh milk coffee can be easily customized according to preferences. (Photo: Demi DeHerrera)
Points to note when making fresh milk coffee
3 Tips for Making Delicious Iced Milk Coffee
To master the art of making delicious and authentic iced milk coffee without disrupting the tasting experience, don't overlook the following useful tips.
Ensure the hygiene of utensils and ingredients for safe preparation
The preparation space and necessary tools all need to be thoroughly sanitized, especially the filter, cup, and spoon. For ingredients like water, coffee, and milk, make sure to check for standard quality, not exceeding the expiration date, and showing no signs of contamination or deterioration. This is a basic but crucial principle to create a delicious cup of coffee to your liking.
Pour boiling water slowly when brewing coffee
Unless you have a modern coffee maker, when using the traditional phin brewing method, always maintain a slow and steady pouring speed along the circular edge, avoiding concentrated pouring in one spot, to allow the coffee grounds in the phin to bloom evenly.
In summary, avoid pouring boiling water too quickly, but also not too slowly, as both can lead to undesired outcomes.
Pouring too much hot water simultaneously can cause localized water stagnation or the coarse coffee grounds to be carried down through the filter into the cup, creating sediment. In such cases, the coffee, not having enough brewing time, will have a noticeable sour taste. If you accidentally pour too much water, causing the coffee to flow too quickly, tighten the phin press cap a bit to slow down the filtration speed.
On the contrary, pouring boiling water too slowly (or using water that is too hot) will result in prolonged coffee grounds steeping, slow extraction of the coffee essence, and a bitter taste beyond what is necessary. The water temperature for brewing coffee should be close to boiling, around 95°C. You can boil the water and wait for about 3-5 minutes before pouring to achieve this ideal temperature.
Add condensed milk in the final step
Essentially, you can choose to add condensed milk in any way you prefer: (1) Pre-fill the cup with condensed milk and place the filter press on top for the coffee to flow directly; or (2) wait until the coffee has finished brewing, then add condensed milk at the end.
Pouring condensed milk at the end has several conveniences. (Photo: Culturemap Dallas)
Both methods do not have a significant impact on the overall flavor. However, the subjective opinion from TopListCafe tends to favor method 2.
Opting to add condensed milk at the end has the following benefits:
Is Drinking Milk Coffee Good or Bad? Effects & Side Effects of Milk Coffee
Effects of milk coffee
What are the effects of drinking milk coffee? In reality, the benefits of milk coffee also come from the core effects of coffee in general, enhancing emotional well-being and providing protection against certain dangerous diseases.
Enhancing emotions and mood
True coffee enthusiasts should feel grateful for caffeine, as it plays a foundational role in many miraculous effects related to our emotions and brain. Some of the most noticeable signs include heightened alertness, improved focus, better memory retention, and even temporary control over negative emotions and irritability.
Energy boost
While pure black coffee doesn't provide much readily absorbable and metabolizable energy to the body, coffee with milk is different. With condensed milk added, you'll feel more comfortable and ready for various strenuous activities, even when you haven't consumed enough essential food beforehand.
Disease prevention
When used moderately and scientifically, caffeine becomes an effective factor in reducing the risk of contracting certain dangerous diseases. This is evidenced by numerous related studies.
Diseases that can be better prevented with coffee include Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Gout, diabetes, skin cancer, breast cancer, and more.
Drawbacks of coffee with milk
Caffeine overdose
Despite bringing many positive aspects, it cannot be denied that caffeine still poses many risks if you cannot control your moderate coffee drinking. Mildly, it can lead to coffee intoxication, anxiety, insomnia, or more severely, it can result in muscle pain, poisoning, increased blood pressure, and harm to the cardiovascular system.
Impact on weight
Ironically, the condensed milk in the coffee with milk formula becomes a double-edged sword – while it can provide you with a more pleasant sweet coffee experience, it is also unfavorable for weight management.
The main components of condensed milk's energy and nutrition are primarily composed of powdered sugar. Other elements such as protein and vitamins, minerals are present but not significantly.
For those intending to gain weight, sweetened condensed milk is a quite good supplementary food. However, if you aim to maintain a balanced body, set the limits for consuming condensed milk scientifically before the scale needle jumps unexpectedly.
Frequently Asked Questions About Coffee with Milk
Is drinking coffee with milk in the morning good?
In reality, not just coffee with milk, drinking coffee in the morning, in general, is not as good as you think.
It must be acknowledged that the stimulating effects of caffeine immediately make you feel excited and full of energy upon waking up. However, this comes with many adverse effects on the stomach and natural hormones in our bodies. Moreover, drinking coffee on an empty stomach can even cause damage to the stomach's mucous membrane.
You can refer to this article to understand whether morning coffee is good or not, and the ideal time of day to drink coffee.
Is it good to drink a lot of coffee with milk?
If you don't actively pay attention to frequency and dosage, drinking a lot of coffee with milk is certainly not good.
Firstly, consuming too much caffeine continuously will lead to harmful symptoms such as coffee jitters, dizziness, insomnia, or even difficulty breathing or overdose. Additionally, excessive consumption of condensed milk in coffee with milk can disrupt your nutritional balance, causing overweight, potentially leading to obesity, or other health issues.
Therefore, even if you have a 'caffeine addiction,' always maintain control over your coffee with milk drinking habits correctly and in moderation to avoid misuse leading to unpredictable consequences.
Does drinking coffee with milk make you fat?
Pure coffee beans contain extremely few calories, not even worth the effort to count. Therefore, the majority of the energy produced by a cup of coffee will come from other components such as sugar, milk...
With the coffee with milk brewing formula, whether you become fatter or not depends on how you control the ingredient ratios. Of course, those with a sweet tooth who enjoy adding a lot will have to be very cautious if they don't want to gain uncontrollable weight in a short period.
Does drinking coffee with milk help in weight loss?
Having the habit of drinking coffee with milk will make weight loss extremely challenging because it contains more calories than necessary.
As mentioned above, the calorie content in coffee with milk mainly comes from sugar and milk. Therefore, if you truly want to shed some pounds while savoring the coffee flavor, the only answer is pure coffee, without any additives during brewing and preparation.
How many calories in a cup of coffee with milk?
If prepared precisely following the mentioned iced coffee with milk ratio, a cup of coffee with milk will contain approximately 90-100 calories.
However, the actual result for the calories in a cup of coffee with milk will vary depending on the brewing recipe and individual ingredient adjustments.
For a fresh cup of coffee such as Latte, Mocha, or Cappuccino, the energy supply can reach 120-150 calories due to a significant proportion of milk components, not to mention other decorative ingredients like cocoa powder and milk foam.
Can pregnant women drink coffee with milk?
The overall negative effects of coffee, in general, on pregnant women are still a debated topic worldwide. However, many opinions lean towards the precaution of avoiding coffee during pregnancy.
In essence, the mother's body is unlikely to be significantly affected, but the fetus may face certain risks. The recommended caffeine intake for pregnant mothers is below 200mg/day.
Determining the exact caffeine content in a cup of coffee to stay within the 200mg limit is quite challenging. The caffeine levels vary extensively based on several factors – cup size, bean variety, roasting and brewing processes – and there's no fixed calculation formula. Moreover, other beverages like tea and sodas also contain caffeine that you may not be aware of.
If things go too far, potential consequences may include premature birth, malnutrition, or even miscarriage or stillbirth if excessive caffeine is consumed.
The above encompasses all the detailed insights into milk coffee, its classifications, effects, and how to make a delicious traditional Vietnamese-style milk coffee. Of course, you can always get creative and customize it to your personal preferences for the perfect iced coffee.
Above all, if you have a passion for hands-on experience in crafting interesting and renowned coffee recipes, don't overlook our coffee recipe section!
Posted by: Thế Dĩ
Keywords: Coffee Guide - Crafting the Perfect Iced Coffee with Rich Flavor
