Vietnamese phin filter coffee press

[GoodShave]

I was watching a documentary recently and they mentioned Vietnamese coffee and how it was made. I was curious on how the Vietnamese phin filter would work with regular Arabica beans to make regular coffee (without the cream and other items added to make Vietnamese coffee).

I started with this page for information about the different kinds of phin filters.

I wonder if I could do something similar with my Fellows Stagg XF dripper without using a paper filter.

I also was looking at either a 4 oz or 12 oz gravity press version of a phin filter but not sure what size would be good. I would only be making a single cup of coffee a day for myself. Here is the 12 oz version I am considering.

What is your experience with the phin filters?

 

[Dnallehekaj]

I like the coffee I get from a couple of places that use them. I haven't liked it enough to buy one though. It's definitely different than what I make at home, because I don't roast my coffee dark or add condensed milk to my brews.

I haven't thought about these in a while. Now I want to pick one up and see how it works!

They're usually very inexpensive at Asian grocery stores.

 

[StillShaving]

I don't think you could repurpose the Fellows Stagg XF dripper, as the holes look too large based on internet photos. That 12oz version you are considering looks pretty good. I think the typical one used for brewing a mug/glass might be sized something in between 4 and 12 oz but that is when making the more traditional Vietnamese coffee where the brew is more like a concentrate to which either more hot water is added and a good amount of sweetened milk when making a cup of hot coffee, or poured over a tall glass of ice with sweetened milk for an iced coffee.

I have drank coffee from them before, but never brewed it at home, so I am not speaking from much experience. I think using the 12oz phin to brew a mug of hot coffee would be treating it much like a drip pot, which would be fine.

 

[GoodShave]

I don't think you could repurpose the Fellows Stagg XF dripper, as the holes look too large based on internet photos. That 12oz version you are considering looks pretty good. I think the typical one used for brewing a mug/glass might be sized something in between 4 and 12 oz but that is when making the more traditional Vietnamese coffee where the brew is more like a concentrate to which either more hot water is added and a good amount of sweetened milk when making a cup of hot coffee, or poured over a tall glass of ice with sweetened milk for an iced coffee.

I have drank coffee from them before, but never brewed it at home, so I am not speaking from much experience. I think using the 12oz phin to brew a mug of hot coffee would be treating it much like a drip pot, which would be fine.

Thanks for pointing out the difference in the hole size. I had not considered it.
After making the post, I ran across information that the coffee to water ratio was 1:2 which I normally make coffee with a 1:15 ratio so I quickly realized this would be a strong brew. I did wonder just about adding more hot water as you mention (to bring it up to a 1:15 ratio) just to have a different kind of dripper that did not require filters.

I would try one of the starter kits that comes with Vietnamese coffee and try to make a traditional cup of Vietnamese coffee but I figure the caffeine of the robusta beans would have me bouncing off the walls.

 

[Ad Astra]

Interesting, thanks.

Love our local Vietnamese grocery, got great tea and bahn mi sandwiches...


AA

 

[GoodShave]

Interesting, thanks.

Love our local Vietnamese grocery, got great tea and bahn mi sandwiches...


AA

Now you got me hungry! I may have to look for the Vietnamese grocery stores.

 

[TexLaw]

We used one for a while and enjoyed it, but that was before we started grinding at home. It might be fun to pull it back out and give it another whirl.

As mentioned, phins are rather inexpensive. I think we only paid 3 or 4 bucks (but that probably was 20 years ago). For coffee, we used Café du Monde with chicory, as that was what all the Vietnamese places around here used.

 

[mrlandpirate]

I use Trung Nguyen Vietnamese Coffee
it is very flavorful and what my local Vietnamese Coffee shop uses
1 ice coffee I'm good 2ice coffees and I'm wired for sound LOL

 

[malocchio]

I was watching a documentary recently and they mentioned Vietnamese coffee and how it was made. I was curious on how the Vietnamese phin filter would work with regular Arabica beans to make regular coffee (without the cream and other items added to make Vietnamese coffee).

I started with this page for information about the different kinds of phin filters.

I wonder if I could do something similar with my Fellows Stagg XF dripper without using a paper filter.

I also was looking at either a 4 oz or 12 oz gravity press version of a phin filter but not sure what size would be good. I would only be making a single cup of coffee a day for myself. Here is the 12 oz version I am considering.

What is your experience with the phin filters?

Arabica or Robusta , makes no difference except the taste . It's the coarseness of the grind that counts. Turkish , Greek , Middle Eastern " powder " grinds will not work in a phin . A phin needs

a rather coarse grind so the grounds do not slip past the holes of the phin . I bought a cheap PRC phin, no matter what I cleaned it with the cheap metal would leave metallic stains on my drying towels. I bought the best stainless brand , actually made in Viet Nam , and it's a nice quality brewer.

 

[Dnallehekaj]

I picked up a stainless phin today for $7 or $8. Bigger size than I'm used to seeing.

I'm going to give it a go tomorrow

 

[malocchio]

I picked up a stainless phin today for $7 or $8. Bigger size than I'm used to seeing.

I'm going to give it a go tomorrow

made where ?

 

[Dnallehekaj]

It's not marked, nor is the packaging.

I found a similarly packed one on ebay that says made in Taiwan, but I don't know that packaging means anything.

"Mitsufune" was written on the plastic box.

 

[Dnallehekaj]

I gave it a few trial runs and tweaked a bunch of stuff. First brew was best brew. Fourth brew tried to replicate first brew, but wasn't as good.

I'm brewing a Peru I roasted. I'm not trying to replicate Vietnamese coffee, because I don't like to start my day with dessert. My goal was to mess around with a new and cheap brew method. Mission accomplished!

The winning recipe was 20g coffee to 240g water. It came out like a V60 with some siltiness. I'm a lover of French press, and I'm down with some siltiness!

I do not regret the purchase, but French press is still my go-to.