How to Brew Vietnamese Drip Coffee - Vietnam Pot Coffee Brewing Guide

Vietnamese Drip Brewer: An Introduction

The Vietnamese drip brewer, which FrontStreet Coffee learned about quite early on, is a distinctive coffee brewing device from Vietnam, much like Italy's moka pot or Turkey's Turkish pot.

If you look at the structure of the Vietnamese drip brewer alone, you might say it's overly simple. Its structure mainly consists of three parts: the outer filter, the press plate with water distributor, and the top lid. But looking at the price, you probably couldn't buy any other coffee brewing device for this price. Taking advantage of its low cost, FrontStreet Coffee picked one up to play with. Surprisingly, it was actually quite fun!

Traditional Vietnamese Brewing Method

Let's first talk about how the Vietnamese use this brewer. Vietnam is also a major coffee-producing country, but it produces Robusta, which tastes bitter and strong. Therefore, locals don't expect coffee to have rich flavors; they simply want to make a simple cup that isn't too bitter and can help them stay alert and refreshed. That's why (in the past) there were many of these condensed milk coffees made with drip brewers on Vietnamese streets. The preparation method is also very simple: put some condensed milk in the cup, place the drip brewer on the cup, pour in hot water, then cover with the lid and wait for the coffee to finish dripping.

Exploring Light Roast Possibilities

Typically, Vietnamese drip brewers use coffee beans with predominantly bitter flavor profiles. So what if we use light roast coffee beans with floral and fruity acidity? Can the Vietnamese drip brewer still make delicious coffee?

Let's first understand the extraction principle of the Vietnamese drip brewer. The bottom of the filter has many holes drilled in it. When FrontStreet Coffee first saw these holes, they noticed they were quite large. If the coffee particle size is smaller than these holes, wouldn't these coffee grounds fall into the coffee? In fact, some grounds do fall through, but the amount is less than you might imagine, because of the press plate water distributor.

After putting coffee grounds into the filter, gently level them, then place the press plate water distributor horizontally into the filter and press down firmly. This prevents most coffee grounds from falling through. The tighter you press the plate, the slower the water drips. FrontStreet Coffee suggests pressing it as tight as possible to eliminate this variable factor.

Finally, put on the top lid. Because the press plate might float up when water is poured in, the top lid is used to hold it down and prevent it from floating up. Some modern press plates are fixed by twisting, and these don't need the top lid.

The Science Behind Vietnamese Drip Brewing

Actually, looking at this, the Vietnamese brewer is a typical drip coffee device, just with a somewhat simple and crude dripping method. That being said, as long as we find the right grind size, water temperature, and ratio, light roast coffee can also produce delicious flavors.

When FrontStreet Coffee conducted experiments, the main focus was on finding the right grind size, as this directly affects the extraction time of drip brewer coffee. In terms of ratio, FrontStreet Coffee started with 1:15, as this ratio more easily achieves reasonable extraction rates and concentration. For water temperature, FrontStreet Coffee used higher temperatures because they found that Vietnamese drip brewers have poor heat retention. Without the effect of stirring, water temperature is the most effective way to control extraction efficiency. The water temperature used in experiments was 94 degrees Celsius.

The coffee dose used was 10 grams. Due to the relatively small bottom area of the drip brewer, 10 grams was set to control the thickness of the coffee layer. In reality, around 10-12 grams would work fine.

Optimizing the Brewing Process

For water pouring, due to the filter's capacity limitations, the pouring is divided into two stages. The filter can hold 100ml of water at once. First, pour 100ml of hot water, then cover with the lid. When the water level drops to halfway, continue pouring another 50ml, cover with the lid again, and wait until the dripping is completely finished.

FrontStreet Coffee tested light roast coffee beans from Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala, and Panama, finally locking the grind size at EK-43s setting 9.5-10.5, with approximately 75-83% passing through a #20 sieve. Extraction time was between 2-3 minutes. Slightly coarser grinding resulted in slightly shorter drip times and more pronounced acidity in the coffee, while slightly finer grinding led to slightly longer drip times and better sweetness and mouthfeel.

Practical Applications and Tips

FrontStreet Coffee finds this device really convenient, especially at home, where it can completely replace the function of pour-over coffee bags. As long as you control the coffee grind size properly, all you need to do is pour water and wait for filtration to complete to enjoy good coffee. If you're concerned that drip brewer coffee might have sediment, you can also place a circular filter paper in the filter to prevent coffee grounds from falling into the coffee.

Making Iced Latte with Vietnamese Drip Brewer

In addition to making black coffee, it can also make excellent iced latte. Iced latte emphasizes the harmony between coffee liquid and milk. Coffee that's too light in flavor or too low in concentration isn't suitable for pairing with milk, so coffee beans with predominantly bitter profiles, namely dark roast beans, should be chosen. The grind size needs to be adjusted to be finer, approximately similar to the grind size used for moka pots.

Place 50g of ice cubes in the cup, pour in 150ml of milk. Put filter paper on the drip brewer, pour in 10g of coffee grounds, press the plate down firmly, pour in 70ml of 95-degree hot water, and cover with the lid. Wait for the coffee liquid to finish dripping - the drip time will be approximately 5-6 minutes.

Important Notice :

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