How Much Does Vietnamese Drip Coffee Cost per Cup - Making Delicious Coffee Even with Low-Priced Vietnamese Coffee Beans

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Many coffee experts praise the French Press as the simplest coffee brewing tool, but after actually using it, I found it impossible to avoid coffee grounds and difficult to clean, so after just brewing twice, I put the French Press away. Later, I encountered the Vietnamese Phin filter and found that this simple and inexpensive device was actually much more useful than the French Press.

I don't know how the "Vietnamese Phin filter" I bought at the coffee equipment store differs from or is similar to the Vietnamese Phin filter in Vietnam itself, because I've never seen the Vietnamese version of the Vietnamese Phin filter.

Many people use Vietnamese Phin filters following Vietnamese tradition, brewing with extremely dark roasted coffee beans and mixing with condensed milk for drinking. I tried it once and found it very unappealing. However, I discovered that using fresh medium-dark roasted coffee beans to brew and drinking black coffee alone produces excellent flavor. Below are my usage experiences:

Components and Preparation

1. The Vietnamese Phin filter consists of three parts: the main body, a press plate, and a top lid, with prices ranging from approximately NT$150-250. Use about 10 grams of coffee beans, roughly one level scoop of the dedicated measuring spoon. The roast level should ideally be full city to full city+.

2. Upon closer inspection, both the press plate and the bottom of the filter have fine holes through which hot water and coffee liquid will pass during brewing. The center of the filter body has a screw column that allows the press plate to rotate and be secured to lightly press the coffee grounds.

Brewing Instructions

3. Grind the coffee to a consistency similar to that used for pour-over or siphon brewing. After gaining brewing experience, you can adjust according to the freshness of the beans, roast level, brewing flow rate, and taste preferences. Pour the coffee grounds into the filter and gently level them without applying pressure - the top of the screw column should be slightly above the surface of the grounds.

4. Gently screw on the press plate - it should be very light and just barely engaged. At this point, the press plate lightly presses the coffee grounds. If you feel excessive compression, it means there's too much coffee powder, and you should reduce the amount (over-compaction is not conducive to hot water passing through). Finally, place the filter on a pre-warmed coffee cup.

5. Pour hot water at approximately 90-95°C Celsius until full. Too little water means insufficient weight, which increases the difficulty of hot water penetrating the coffee layer and is also unfavorable for maintaining temperature.

6. Gently place the lid on. You can lift it to check during the dripping process, but too many times or for too long can cause heat loss.

7. The hot water should ideally finish dripping within 5-10 minutes. Too short may result in under-extraction, while too long will make the taste bitter. If you want thicker coffee or need to add fresh milk for flavoring, you can stop the extraction early when more than 80% of the hot water has dripped through and remove the filter. The hot water flow rate is closely related to the roast level of the coffee beans, grind coarseness, and tightness of the press plate. Light roast, coarse grind, and loose press plate result in faster flow rate, and vice versa.

Serving and Enjoyment

8. A beautiful cup of coffee appears. At this time, the bottom of the coffee liquid is relatively concentrated, so you should stir appropriately with a coffee spoon. Take a sip to see - if it's too strong, you can add a little hot water. The black coffee extracted by the Vietnamese Phin filter, without passing through filter paper or cloth, has flavor and texture closer to the original taste of the coffee beans. Drinking black coffee alone is quite good, though the bitterness will be slightly more noticeable than with paper filter brewing. If you want to add some fresh milk, creamer, and sugar, that's fine, just don't add condensed milk - I personally think that's the most unharmonious flavoring method.

Bean Selection and Recommendations

Special emphasis: Vietnamese coffee beans must absolutely be fresh and ground immediately. Freshly ground Vietnamese coffee beans can be handled with just a hand grinder. Taking the well-regarded "mailbox grinder" as an example, it costs NT$500-600, making it economical and practical.

Such a simple structure, easy to use, convenient to carry, and good-tasting brewing method is very suitable for office use. For a period of time, I relied on the Vietnamese Phin filter and hand grinder to satisfy my coffee addiction during work.

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small storefront but diverse bean varieties, where you can find both famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473