Vietnamese iced coffee

Vietnamese iced coffee, ca phe sua da, is a strong, dark-roast coffee — most often robusta — slowly dripped through a small metal phin filter onto a spoonful of sweetened condensed milk, stirred together and poured over ice. The result is intense and syrupy: very bitter, very sweet and richly creamy at once, far heavier and sweeter than a Western iced coffee, served in a tall glass as Vietnam's everyday afternoon drink.

BittersweetNon-alcoholic

Ca phe sua da hits the tongue as a collision of opposites — very strong, very bitter dark-roast robusta against the thick caramel sweetness and dairy creaminess of sweetened condensed milk. The brew is concentrated and syrupy with a heavy, almost chocolatey body and a toasty, smoky-roasted aroma; over ice it dilutes as it goes, but starts intense, sweet and powerfully caffeinated. The numbers describe the served iced glass as it is drunk, thinned by the melting ice; sweetness and richness scale directly with how heavy the pour of condensed milk is.