How to brew coffee in Vietnam and what is a Vietnamese coffee maker

How do you brew your usual coffee? Maybe you use a cezve, a carob coffee maker or a Kemesk?..

Have you heard about the special coffee fin

for traditional brewing of Vietnamese coffee? Make yourself comfortable, now we will tell you about a traditional Vietnamese coffee maker or, as it is also called, a coffee fin for brewing traditional Vietnamese coffee.

About a couple of centuries ago, one very well-known tradition of brewing coffee developed in Vietnam - using a coffee filter press. This method of brewing is so beloved by the Vietnamese that it is still used almost everywhere, with the only exceptions being European chain coffee shops in Vietnam.

But what is a Vietnamese filter press, and what is the secret of its popularity in Vietnam?

What is Vietnamese coffee fin?

Vietnamese coffee fin is a special utensil for brewing coffee. Externally, a coffee fin looks a lot like a small cup with a lid, but it is not exactly the cup from which you can drink coffee.

The fact is that the Vietnamese coffee fin has a special perforation - small holes at the very bottom of the bowl, through which ready-made Vietnamese coffee is poured.

It all happens like this: a coffee fin is placed on top of a regular cup or glass, ground Vietnamese coffee is poured into it, poured with water and wait for all the drops of extracted coffee to completely drip into the lower glass. This method of making coffee is traditionally called Vietnamese coffee recipe. This is a kind of special coffee ritual, which in terms of importance for the Vietnamese themselves can even be compared with the importance of tea ceremonies in Chinese folk traditions.

By the way, Vietnamese coffee fin has other names. Fin for coffee can be called: Vietnamese press filter, Vietnamese coffee filter, coffee filter press, coffee filter, coffee filter coffee maker and other similar options.

How to brew your ideal coffee in Finland?

First, let's decide which coffee is best suited for brewing in a Vietnamese coffee maker. It is Vietnamese coffee that reveals itself best in Finland. Here you can buy Vietnamese coffee, which is suitable for filter brewing. Coffee should be medium grind

,
dark roast is enough.
─ It is better to use transparent containers for brewing. Place a cup of fin on your cup/glass. You can first pour boiling water over the fin, but this is not necessary.

─ Add coffee. Please look at what the grind should be - not to dust, as for Turks, but not coarse either. The texture should be like medium-ground sea salt. If you grind the coffee incorrectly, in the first case it will leak through the holes in the filter, in the second case the water will spill and will not be able to extract the coffee.

How much to sprinkle? To the line. If you pour too much, the coffee will take a long time to brew and will turn out very rich; if it is too low, it may turn out watery. Usually the level is achieved through experience. I add 2-3 teaspoons, depending on the type of coffee (Arabica more, Robusta less). Shake a little to set the coffee.

─ Close with a tamper. We compact the coffee for better extraction.

─ Sprinkle a small amount of water to wet the coffee. The water temperature should be 90-96 degrees. That is, a minute after boiling. You can spill it a couple of times. Important!

Pour water directly into the center, where the highest part of the handle is, then your tamper will not move anywhere and will not rise.

─ Slowly, directly to the center, pour in the rest of the water. Cover with a lid and wait for about 4-7 minutes.

─ You can enjoy it!

If you want to make a traditional Vietnamese drink with ice, read this detailed article

There are some points that beginners need to know.

─ Be sure to pour condensed milk BEFORE brewing. ─ If you need it, add ice to the cup BEFORE brewing (if you add ice after, your coffee will be diluted with water and have a dubious taste). It is advisable, if you want to make iced coffee, to add a little more coffee when brewing. ─ Coffee should drip 1-2 drops at a time. That is approximately 50-70 drops per minute. If it drips faster for you, you did something wrong. But this is not scary, the perfect coffee is achieved after about 3-4 attempts ─ You need to understand that the same coffee brewed using different methods will manifest itself differently. At the same time, European types of coffee may not be suitable for Fin, due to the fact that during brewing they will completely lose their taste and aroma.

Why do the Vietnamese use fin to brew coffee?

The culture of drinking coffee, as we remember, was imposed on the Vietnamese by the French, and they also began to export all Vietnamese coffee. They even came up with their own roasting – French. This French roast involved very heavily roasted coffee beans. The coffee became very dark and, according to the French, such a strong roast should have given the coffee chocolate notes.

Yes, the heavily roasted Arabica beans did impart chocolate notes to the coffee. But the fact is that then, in the 19th century, the Vietnamese were just trying to curb the aromatic and tasty Arabica. Arabica is a very capricious tree, which is often susceptible to various diseases, so there was little Arabica in Vietnam in the 19th century. But there was more than enough picky, strong robusta. Therefore, they exported mainly heavily roasted Vietnamese robusta.

As we know, Robusta has 2 very strong sides - high caffeine content and bitterness. To reduce the level of bitterness in robusta coffee, the Vietnamese themselves came up with the idea of roasting coffee beans in coconut oil. This method worked with a bang: Vietnamese coffee turned out rich, dark, invigorating, dense and with a completely original taste. But cooking heavily roasted and oiled Vietnamese coffee, say, in the same cezve (Turk), returns to the coffee the very bitterness that the Vietnamese tried so hard to get rid of. And according to one of the most common opinions, only the coffee filter, due to its structural features and coffee preparation methods, did not impart unwanted bitterness to Vietnamese coffee beans.

Traditional brewing method via fin

by Mrviet

Vietnamese coffee

17.01.2018

Vietnamese coffee cup.

Vietnam ranks honorably second in terms of coffee production in the world. The taste of Vietnamese coffee is different from the Brazilian coffee we are used to. It is brighter, stronger and more aromatic. Having tried coffee in Vietnam, travelers simply cannot remain indifferent to it, and the point here is not only in the coffee beans themselves, but also in the special method of preparing the drink through a coffee fin (a cup or glass for brewing coffee).

The Vietnamese do not use a cezve or a coffee maker; they have their own special recipe. The reason for this recipe is that in Vietnam it is customary to roast the coffee beans until they are dark in color. Cooking such grains in a Turk will add bitterness to the drink. One common belief is that all Vietnamese coffee recipes are aimed at eliminating the bitterness of coffee beans. Another says that it is to eliminate bitterness that the Vietnamese use a metal press filter called “fin”. The design includes a metal housing with a filter, a press and a lid. This modification of the French press was adopted back in the 19th century from French missionaries.

There are several subtleties that you need to know before using the “fin”:

Optimal for use in a press filter is medium or coarse grind coffee, this eliminates the possibility of small particles of ground coffee getting into the cup. If you want to make Vietnamese coffee in Turkish, then it is better to use finely ground coffee to obtain a rich taste of the drink.

It is better not to pour boiling water over your coffee, but to use hot water only 1-2 minutes after it has boiled. The drink is served immediately after preparation.

To preserve the taste and aroma of Vietnamese coffee longer, it is recommended to take ground coffee in small packages of 250 grams, coffee beans in packages of 500 grams, store them in closed, sealed packaging, away from light and temperature changes, so it will retain its taste and fragrance for up to 12 months.

HOW TO MAKE VIETNAMESE COFFEE IN A TEAMER (FINE):

Take a glass, cup or mug of your favorite size.
We put the fin on top.
Add 2-3 teaspoons (with a heap) of aromatic coffee, distribute over the bottom and close with a press.
Add a little boiling water, and after a minute fill the entire bowl with hot water, cover with a lid.
We wait a couple of minutes until the coffee drips.
Let's take off the fin and enjoy delicious coffee!

This cooking method is one of the simplest, cheapest and most delicious. In our online store, you can purchase a Coffee+Fin set and brew real Vietnamese coffee at home.

If you pour the finished drink into a glass with ice and add cream on top, you will get marbled Vietnamese coffee.

HOW TO BREW VIETNAMESE “WHITE COFFEE” WITH CONDENSED MILK.

Pour condensed milk into a glass to taste, usually about 1 cm.
Place a press filter on top of the glass.
Pour 2-3 spoons of coffee into the filter (cup).
Press with a press and pour boiling water.
When there is no water left in the fin and all the coffee has dried out, remove the fin.
Add ice and stir gently.
Thick, strong and sweet, the drink is ready to drink, and you know the traditional secrets of making Vietnamese coffee!

In the hot weather, black and white coffee in Vietnam is drunk with ice; this drink has a refreshing effect. In cool weather, we suggest you replace condensed milk with hot milk or enjoy aromatic espresso.

It’s very easy to immerse yourself in the culture of the country and feel like a real Vietnamese coffee connoisseur; for this we have a “Mr. Viet" with Fin.

Go to shopping

Good to know, Coffee recipes

Benefits of brewing Vietnamese coffee in a coffee fin

• Vietnamese coffee fin is one of the most budget-friendly options for brewing Vietnamese coffee quickly and tasty.

• Vietnamese coffee fin is relatively small in size. It is compact and easy to use, especially when traveling or outdoors.

• Vietnamese coffee fin has no expiration date. If the coffee fin is made of steel, then it will definitely last for many, many years.

• Vietnamese coffee fin does not require close supervision throughout the entire process of preparing Vietnamese coffee.

• It is easy to add or, conversely, subtract the required amount of ground coffee and water from Vietnamese coffee fin.

• It’s a pleasure to experiment with Vietnamese coffee fin and create your own Vietnamese coffee recipes anywhere and at any time.

Cooking tips

It is not difficult to prepare a Vietnamese coffee drink and use a fin. The main thing is to adhere to the following recommendations:

use dishes made of glass. In transparent containers you will be able to fully control the cooking process;
choose the compaction density correctly. If the crushed grains are pressed too tightly, the liquid will flow into the glass too slowly. With weak compaction, the cup fills at an accelerated pace. It is extremely important that the passage of liquid is carried out at the speed strictly specified in the recipe;
Medium or coarse grains are used. In this way, it will be possible to prevent small coffee fractions from getting into the glass of brewed coffee;
It is strictly prohibited to pour boiling water. Water is poured into the press filter a couple of minutes after boiling;
To prevent the coffee from cooling down during preparation, the cup can be placed in a container with hot water;
The grains should be ground immediately before cooking;
Aluminum and ceramic press filters retain heat better than those made of stainless steel.

In the absence of a fin, cooking in a mug using a strainer for brewing tea is allowed. True, the taste of the drink will be somewhat different.

A filter press is a kind of mini-coffee maker, similar in principle to a drip-type unit. True, no other device is capable of producing the same result as the Finn. Only when using it is it possible to obtain the most aromatic and delicate coffee drink with a multifaceted taste.

Secrets of Vietnamese coffee: preparation

Roasting and cooking techniques in Vietnam differ significantly from the methods familiar to Europeans.

Thanks to the sunny, humid climate, the grains are harvested all year round. During the first and subsequent preparations, a lot of vegetable oil is used and cooked at low temperatures, which gives the product a rich taste with a generous amount of caffeine.

There are several secrets in making coffee in Vietnam :

In Vietnam, the weather is hot most of the year, to cool off, the Vietnamese drink so-called iced coffee. In Russia, condensed milk is often added to such a drink;
When brewing a drink, do not use boiling water directly from the stove. It is best to wait a couple of minutes until the water “settles”;
To brew coffee in a Turkish coffee pot, it is recommended to use finely ground beans for a rich taste. And in order to get delicious fine coffee, it is better to use a coarse grind. This is necessary so that excess particles do not fall into the cup through the filter;
In order for coffee to retain its ideal properties longer, it must be purchased and stored wisely. For grains, choose packages of no more than 500 g, and packages with ground contents - 250 g

Related material: Making Dalgone coffee

Subtleties of brewing Vietnamese traditional coffee through a filter

To make coffee, the Vietnamese use mainly the Robusta variety (the most common variety) and mixtures with it. Therefore, if you liked the holiday drink, choose these types of beans.
The degree of roast is preferably dark or medium.
As a rule, tourists buy a press fin made of stainless steel, but the aluminum fin filter for coffee is considered the best for preserving heat. A ceramic coffee fin also copes well with water temperature.
If the drink fills the glass too quickly, you can tighten the top filter and use a finer grind in the future. If the coffee drips for too long, then the situation is the opposite - the filter is overtightened or the grind is too fine.

The Vietnamese filter coffee maker for ground coffee will not leave true connoisseurs of the drink indifferent. The small press filter fin will take its rightful place in the life of a coffee lover.

Benefits and contraindications of Vietnamese coffee

Coffee is an excellent heart muscle generator. The benefit is to support blood pressure;
In addition, it is an excellent antioxidant;
Scientists have noted that drinking coffee protects against liver disease;
Not to mention the reduced risk of cancer;
Prevents colon cancer;
Protects against breast cancer;
The risk of diabetes is reduced several times when drinking the drink;
Even brain diseases and the disease called Alzheimer's disease are not scary.

Contraindications always include large volumes of the drink. Vietnamese coffee is no exception. Large amounts of caffeine act like a slow-acting poison on the body.

Drinking more than three cups of strong drink a day can lead to difficulties in the functioning of many organs: the heart, liver, kidneys, and nervous system.