Similar Ingredients..Same Indulgences..Different Expressions

The making of good coffee is about ritual not just about flavor. It's about the smells and presentation not just about taste, though for the taste to be amazing all those things need to come together in a pageantry worth the experience.

One of the pleasures I brought home with me from Brazil many years ago was the sometimes treat of using sweetened condensed milk in my coffee. Sweetened condensed milk is a Brazilian favorite and shows up in many deserts and drinks. Using it in your coffee is like having both, since there is always a layer of the creamy goodness left in the bottom of the cup to be spooned like syrupy pudding until it’s gone. This stuff, like nutella, is calorically lethal but ooooooooh so damn good! This is definitely an occassional luxury!

I recently learned that Vietnam shares a similar tradition. Whether the coffee is enjoyed hot (ca phe sua nong in Vietnamese) or iced (ca phe sua da) a good dollop of condensed milk is added to the bottom of the cup before the piping hot directly filtered coffee descends upon it.

Up until about week ago I made these style drinks by simply pouring piping hot freshly brewed strong black coffee over a layer of sweetened condensed milk placed in the bottom of a cup or glass filled with ice but last week I received a Vietnamese Style Coffee Filter (http://www.amazon.com/ for $4.98 + shipping) and am now able to mimic the taste and style of these Vietnamese coffee treats without much effort. The key is to use coffee that has chicory in it. I used the Cafe Dumont coffee I keep in my refridge. Many Asian markets carry this brand of coffee, but if you can't find it in your area, http://www.amazon.com/ sells the coffee 2 cans for $11.95.

hmmmmmm coffee