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Subscribe nowMe and mom just enjoyed the Nguyen phin drip experience. Wow. Proud of your work. We without hesitation enjoy the Vietnamese coffee and recommend your products. Thank-you to the Nguyen staff and tradition. From Canada eh!
Cà phê trứng is one of the drinks I come back to when people ask me why I started Nguyen Coffee Supply. Not because we invented it. Because it tells you everything about what Vietnamese coffee actually is, and why so much of the Western coffee world had it wrong for so long.
The drink was born out of necessity, the way a lot of the best things are. And the reason it works, the reason it has survived and traveled and found its way onto menus in New York and London and Seoul, comes down to the bean underneath it. Robusta. The same bean the specialty coffee industry spent decades dismissing. The same bean Vietnam built its entire coffee culture around.
That story starts in 1946 in Hanoi.
The idea behind Vietnamese Egg Coffee (cà phê trứng) is quite simple: instead of using regular milk to get that creamy and thick consistency, raw egg yolk is added. This, combined with condensed milk, makes for a coffee beverage that is very complex in flavor and has a thick consistency that has made it popular all around the world.
One of the charms of Vietnamese egg coffee is that it is quite customizable. Different cafés have different “topping” options, where the customer can choose extra ingredients to add to their coffee. These range from the most typical of coffee pairings such as spices to other more unusual ones, like butter and cheese.
Whatever the case, Vietnamese egg coffee is a delicious drink that has captivated the imaginations of countless baristas worldwide, driving them to imitate and put their own spin on the drink.
It is 1946 in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the Anti-French Resistance war breaks out. Big cities find it increasingly difficult to procure basic products and foods. This is the case for the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel (which still operates to this day as a five-star luxury hotel), which is rapidly running out of milk.
An ingenious bartender, Nguyen Giang, experiments to find a way to create a creamy coffee drink like café au lait that could be achieved without the lait. This leads him to use egg yolk, which is creamy and when frothed, creates a delicate, pleasant foam. To his surprise, the flavor of egg yolk agrees with coffee and the sweetness of condensed milk, a product widely used in Vietnam along with foods like yogurt, bread, smoothies, and even iced coffee (cà phê sữa đá).
The drink was so popular that Nguyen Giang eventually opened his own coffee shop: Café Giang. Run by Nguyen Giang’s son, Tri Hoa Nguyen, the cafe still serves egg coffee (with their own original spin, a secret ingredient they won’t disclose to the public) and is one of the most famous coffee spots in Hanoi.
There are several coffee drinks that have originated in Vietnam. There is cà phê sữa đá, which is typically referred to as Vietnamese iced coffee. It is made by mixing coffee with condensed milk and then adding ice (although this is optional).
There is also coconut coffee, cà phê cốt dừa, which uses coconut milk as well as condensed milk. The result is a rich and fragrant drink. It has a unique, sweet flavor that is hard to resist.
Even in the face of such unique and internationally liked drinks, egg coffee or cà phê trứng stands out as the most original of all. Egg yolk adds a depth of flavor and texture that is very hard to match. Egg in coffee and egg yolk in particular has a long history of being used for sweet foods and beverages: sweet egg yolk buns in China, tamagoyaki (sweet egg omelette) in Japan, and eggnog in the United Kingdom.
Additionally, there’s a lot to be said about the higher nutritional value of Vietnamese egg coffee because of the protein and healthy fats that are found in the egg yolk. After all, eggs are said to be the most complete of all protein sources.
One could argue that Vietnamese egg coffee is a type of beverage that is deeply rooted in the country’s unique culture. For one, Vietnamese egg coffee is typically made and will taste better when robusta coffee is used, as its strong, rich flavor pairs particularly well with the flavor and texture of egg yolk.
The importance of robusta coffee in Vietnam cannot be overstated. Vietnam is the second-largest coffee exporter in the world, exporting mostly robusta beans. Robusta beans, while often relegated to a supporting role in Europe and North America (for instant coffee and such) are still of great value to all coffee drinkers. Robusta coffee plays a very important role in Vietnamese economy and culture. Vietnamese people are very proud of their coffee and are big drinkers of their own product, rather than drinking imported coffee.
Condensed milk, another crucial ingredient, is another staple of Vietnamese people’s diet and has been for almost a century. It was brought over from France during the First World War, and Vietnamese people took a liking to it. It is an everyday ingredient much like milk is for other cultures.
It is also important to point out that Vietnam is home to their own indigenous brewing method, the Vietnamese phin filter. It is the only country East of Europe to be able to boast this besides Japan. The Vietnamese phin filter (or coffee press as some call it) makes a concentrated coffee that is often likened to espresso coffee: it is strong, fragrant, and very refined in terms of flavor.
The reason why robusta is repeatedly recommended for egg coffee is because it has a very distinct nutty flavor profile that really complements the sweet, creamy texture of the egg. Even abroad, in cafés that incorporate this drink to their menus, they use robusta beans because the combination is an explosion of flavor.
Robusta beans should not be hard to find. If you’re having trouble finding 100% robusta products, try looking for blends made for cold brew coffee. These are, in most cases, pure robusta unless they specify otherwise.
Nguyen Coffee Supply imports 100% single-origin robusta directly from Da Lat, Vietnam. It is the bean this drink was built for, and the closest you can get to the original Hanoi version outside of Vietnam.
Luckily for us, there are plenty of Vietnamese providers nowadays that are able to get you top-notch, authentic Vietnamese coffee, which is ideal for not just Vietnamese egg coffee, but for many other drinks (particularly the aforementioned Vietnamese iced coffee and Vietnamese coconut coffee).
And before you go off and buy the first coffee you find online, be aware that sometimes people confuse chicory-flavored coffee for Vietnamese coffee. This may be because Vietnamese coffee culture was influenced by France. Whatever the reason, this sort of coffee is sometimes sold as Vietnamese coffee. Vietnamese coffee is not chicory-flavored, but rather coffee grown in Vietnam.
Nguyen Giang made coffee using egg yolk, that much is clear. What is not clear is what type of coffee was used.
Since the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel was a luxury at the time and catered heavily to foreigners, it is ambiguous whether the coffee was brewed using a Vietnamese phin filter or via another method. Semi-automatic espresso machines weren’t invented for another year, so it’s safe to assume that it wasn’t espresso. In all likelihood, it was either French press coffee or Vietnamese phin filter coffee.
While you don’t necessarily need a Vietnamese coffee press, it is highly recommended that you use 100% robusta coffee, preferably Vietnamese, the general consensus being that Vietnamese coffee tends to offer a more balanced and more complete flavor profile. But if you can’t find robusta coffee, a strong batch of any other coffee is more than okay for making Vietnamese egg coffee.
The recipe below uses both methods: the traditional Vietnamese phin filter for the coffee base, and a hand whisk for the egg cream. If you have a phin filter, use it. If not, any concentrated brew method will work.
Vietnamese egg coffee has been consumed safely for generations across Vietnam. In traditional cà phê trứng, the egg yolk is combined with hot coffee, which gently warms it as you drink. For those who prefer to take an additional step, tempering the eggs before beating or using pasteurized egg yolks are both reliable options.
Café Giang in Hanoi, the shop that originated the drink, describes it as something between a coffee and a dessert. The egg cream has a texture closer to a light mousse than a liquid topping, made from whipped egg yolk and condensed milk, and it sits on top of strong, slightly bitter robusta coffee. The contrast between the sweet foam and the bold coffee underneath is what makes the drink distinctive and unlike any other coffee beverage.
Regular Vietnamese coffee (cà phê sữa đá) is brewed robusta coffee mixed with sweetened condensed milk and served over ice. Cà phê trứng uses the same robusta coffee base, but replaces the condensed milk with a thick, whipped egg cream made from egg yolks, condensed milk, and sugar. The result is served warm rather than iced, and has a custard-like texture that sets it apart from any other Vietnamese coffee drink.
Yes. A French press, pour-over, or espresso machine can all be used to brew the coffee base for cà phê trứng. The key is to brew it concentrated, stronger than you would for a regular cup. The phin filter is the traditional method and produces the right texture and intensity, but the history page notes that even the original 1946 recipe at the Sofitel Metropole was likely made with a French press rather than a phin filter.
Vietnamese egg coffee was invented in 1946 in Hanoi by a bartender named Nguyen Giang, who was working at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel during the Anti-French Resistance war. With the city running short on milk, he substituted whipped egg yolk and condensed milk for dairy cream and created a drink that Hanoi became known for. Café Giang, the shop Nguyen Giang later opened, still serves it today. His son, Tri Hoa Nguyen, runs it.
Vietnamese egg coffee is traditionally made with robusta coffee, brewed strong, and typically using a Vietnamese phin filter. Robusta’s strong, rich flavor pairs particularly well with the flavor and texture of egg yolk, which is why it is the bean Vietnamese cafes have always used for this drink. Arabica can be used as a substitute, but the flavor balance is different. Vietnamese specialty robusta from Da Lat is the closest to the original Hanoi version.
