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[coraa]

This is a coffee-related question.

jmpava and I go to this pho place called Than Brothers (really good!), and one of the things we always get is the coffee-with-condensed-milk. It comes out like this: a glass with condensed milk in the bottom, and then, at the top, a little metal thing containing the coffee grounds (how finely ground I don't know) and water. Slowly, over the course of maybe 5 mintues, the coffee drains out of the little metal thing (which has a perforated bottom) and into the cup. Then you remove the metal thing, stir, and drink. The little metal coffee-containing thing looks kind of like a top hat.

It makes really, really awesome coffee. (How awesome? jmpava orders it eagerly. That awesome.) Does anyone know what it's called? I'd love to order one for myself, but I don't know what to search for, and googling 'metal coffee hat' has not turned up anything useful (shocking!).

Comments

[erinpie.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, so do the grounds stay in the hat, and just the water (which I suppose becomes coffee at some point) drains into the condensed milk? Would a tea strainer work? The ingredients sound kind of like thai iced coffee (without ice, obviously) I've had at some places, so maybe they make some kind of kits for it on the internet? I have a tea mug that has a strainer in it that sounds kind of like what you're describing. A filter like this: http://www.rei.com/product/726094 might work but I think the water would go through too quickly.

You could always go to the restaurant during a slow time and ask where they get the coffee hats.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

The grounds do stay in the 'hat' -- just the coffee drips out the bottom. It's sort of like a French press, but the resulting coffee is both thicker and stronger; I suspect it's got a finer mesh inside it and can therefore use more finely-ground coffee.

(Also, I love the phrase 'coffee hat.' Even though I now know what it's called, I'm still gonna call it that.)

[zalena.livejournal.com]

It's called a Vietnamese Coffee Maker. Google that and you will get lots of results.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Yay! Exactly so. Thank you.

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

When Vietnam was colonized by the French, one of the only really good things to come out of the whole thing was terrific food. What you are describing sounds like a type of coffee that I have only found in French restaurants that are Vietnamese. I think this is what you are looking for:
http://www.quickspice.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/scstore/cookwarecoffeemaker.shtml?E+scstore

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

Ah...this is better. It doesn't show the "hat" as you called it, but it gives a very good description of the process. There is a Vietnamese French restaurant near my golf course that is so good. I..its..well...it is so good and inexpensive (and the people are sooo nice) that it kind of defies description.
http://stason.org/TULARC/indulgence/coffee-caffeine/6-10-Vietnamese-Iced-Coffee.html

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Yay! Thank you. Mmmmm, Vietnamese coffee. And pho. Yum. (I'd be hungry now if I hadn't just eaten.)

[triath.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about coffee. Is it different than a French press?

[willworker.livejournal.com]

In a French press, the coffee grounds and hot water are all mixed up at first, and after you're done with the brewing time, you push a little plunger with a strainer on the end through the coffee to push the grounds to the bottom, leaving just the coffee above the strainer.

Steve

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

All methods of brewing coffee are pretty much the same: use hot water to somehow soak grounds. But how the coffee is soaked can make very dramatic differences in taste. Different methods also utilize different grinds of coffee beans. Espresso is made by shoving (using pressure) heated water through the grounds, and the grind for espresso is very fine. A French press pot steeps the grounds-- you just pour hot water on them and let them stew for a little while (like tea); this method requires a course grind. The type of coffee maker coraa is looking for uses gravity (I think). The hot water is poured over the grounds and then the coffee dribbles out, just like the drip brew used in offices and restaurants everywhere. The difference with coraa's little dealie is that the coffee takes a long time to drip its way into a cup, making it a very, very rich brew.
I hope that kind of made sense? The nuance of coffee brewing is really only of interest to those of us who are silly enough to care. I really like coffee, but my reasons are romantic, and I like playing with coffee toys.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

Ever done Turkish coffee? The equipment's not in my budget and I don't have a reference for how it's supposed to taste, but I have to try it someday...

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Turkish coffee isn't expensive. It just requires the right size pot to make the sludge. You don't need on of those fancy-shmansy copper ones. The stainless steel variety is much more serviceable.
http://www.turkishtaste.com/coffepotmidium.html
And there are some great tutorials on the web.
The key is the pot and getting the right grind, but that's available at most supermarkets that have a large grinder (most of them even seem to have a turkish setting). Based on the cups of coffee I had in Turkey, the idea is to make it taste sweet and bitter at the same time. I think the Vietnamese coffee is very, very similar, and I prefer it. I have a turkish coffee pot that I use mostly to melt butter. I bought it at a middle-eastern deli that use to be here in Long Beach (ye gods I miss those cookies). I bet one of the middle-eastern places near where I work would have one if you are really interested.

[erinpie.livejournal.com]

Damn. You are full of good coffee info! Now I have two more coffee things I need to buy.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

$6.45 if there's no added shipping isn't expensive, but I should really try turkish coffee before I spring for another gadget to take up space in the kitchen. I mean, I've already got a 12-cup drip machine, a plastic single-serving French press (that I think I'm going to dump for a real glass one pretty soon), and a travel coffee maker that makes condensed coffee perfect for mixed drinks, and I've got an espresso machine in storage... I think I have a problem. :)

[porfinn.livejournal.com]

Nah. That's just a good start.

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I keep thinking of getting an espresso machine, because yum, except I'm not sure if I'd get enough use out of it to merit the footprint it would take on my counterspace. Which is actually the motive behind why I wanted to get a Vietnamese coffee maker!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

"sweet and bitter at the same time" is exactly what I love about the Vietnamese coffee. I mean, the 'sweet' is helped by the fact that they serve it with frickin' sweetened condensed milk, but it has the perfect amount of coffee bitterness without any harsh or sour flavors. Mmmm.

[cwendy41.livejournal.com]

My high school chemistry teacher used to make Turkish coffee with the bunsen burners in lab.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

Chemistry coffee!

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I dunno how different it is from a french press in form, but the resulting coffee seems both stronger and... hard to describe, thicker. Almost like the difference between espresso and regular coffee. I suspect it's got a finer filter in it, and the coffee is accordingly ground much finer.

(More knowledgeable people than me have already answered, though. :D )

[http://users.livejournal.com/greensleeves_/]

Oooh, Vietnamese coffee. extimelord orders it religiously too. Myself, I prefer the coconut milkshakes. Darnit, I want pho now. Nom nom nom. :P

[coraa.livejournal.com]

I love Than Brothers, awesome pho in huge basins for very little money. Yum. They also have ginger tea, which I want to try, but I keep getting distracted by the siren song of the coffee...

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

Sweet Marias, which has articles on how to brew in nearly every manner known to Internet, has no information on this. I'm immediately fascinated. :)

[coraa.livejournal.com]

Ooh. That's an awesome resource.

[sithjawa.livejournal.com]

:)

I'm considering emailing them about the Vietnamese coffee maker. They might know something, and if not, they'd probably be curious.