Preparing delicious Vietnamese coffee is quick and easy! It is stronger than American coffee, weaker than espresso and just perfect. You do need a special gadget called a phin filter which is made of stainless steel and has four parts (filter, plate, screw-on or push damper and lid). You can find it online or in any asian grocery store.

Ca Phe Sua Nong – Hot Coffee
Ca Phe Sua Da – Iced Coffee

2-3 teaspoons Coarse Ground Coffee (use a strong roast suitable for espresso)
3 heaping teaspoons Sweetened Condensed Milk
Hot Water (almost to a boil)
Vietnamese Coffee Filter – Phin Filter
Small bowl to use as a bain marie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put water into your kettle and let it come to a boil. Take off the heat while you get everything ready. You want the temp to go to 180-190 for best flavor

 

Put a glass into a small bowl

 

This is the best brand of sweetened condensed milk to use for this coffee

 

Spoon the sweetened condensed milk into a glass

 

This is what it looks like if you are just pouring it instead of measuring it out with a spoon

 

Put the plate on the glass

 

This is the recommended band of coffee

 

Spoon the coffee in the filter

 

Tap it to make the grounds level

 

Next grab the damper. This one is a screw on type

 

Screw the screen back on until it stops which will compact the grounds

 

Unscrew 2 rotations

 

Place filter on the glass with the milk and pour boiling water into the bowl to heat the milk and glass

 

Pour just enough hot water to cover the grounds

 

This is about how much water to add and then you are going to let it sit for about 20 seconds

 

This is what it looks like after 20 seconds. The grounds have absorbed the water and are now ready to brew a perfect cup of coffee

 

Pour hot water to the top of the filter

 

Put the cover on to hold in the heat and let sit until water has gone all the way through filter

 

The brewing process should take about 4 minutes

 

Remove the lid

 

Take the filter and put onto the lid to catch any drips

 

Serve it just like this… isn’t it pretty

 

To drink just stir the condensed milk into the coffee and enjoy Ca Phe Sua Nong – Hot Coffee!

 

To have iced coffee grab a glass of ice

 

Pour the hot coffee over the ice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy – Ca Phe Sua Da – Iced Coffee!

 

Especially enjoyable while reading a terrific book! This one was written by my friend Larry Flaxman. You can find out more about him at this link http://paraexplorers.com/index.php?page=home

 

To clean the filter dump the grounds, rinse and dry

The Chocolate Bar
River Oaks
1835 W Alabama St
Houston, TX 77098

I give this place two thumbs up! You need to be aware that the parking lot is very small! If you cannot find parking right away you just have to wait for someone to back out. Just wait it out because is worth the wait to get in! It is located right next door to another magical shop called candylicious. Both of these shops are places where everyone becomes a kid again.

 

 

You walk in the door to find chocolate everywhere! One side of the store is all packaged chocolates. This side also has cases where they will help you pick out individual chocolates. Everything tastes better dipped in chocolate to chocoholics! Walk around to the other side of the store you will pass the ice cream cases to find the cases with cakes. They are huge! Some cakes are $10 for one slice or $75 for the whole cake. One cake weighs 177.60 ounces  (11.1 pounds)

 

 

The selection of ice cream is really interesting. They will let you  sample some to see what you would like to eat.

 The sample of Cape Cod Crunch ice cream was enough for me to stop. It is is really amazing! It was loaded with broken chocolate, almonds and cranberries.

Ice Cream Flavors

Creamy Dreamy Truffle	Cape Cod Crunch
Totally Nuts	Triple Decadence
Toffee Coffee Time	Candylicious Junkyard
Double Shot Espresso	Brownie Supreme
Night & Day	Snow Berry
German Chocolate	Orange Sunrise
Teddy Camp Smores	Nutter Butter
Chocolate Malt	Let’s Go Oreo
Root Beer Float	Lemon Velvet
Choc. Banana Pudding	Cool de Menthe

6915 Cypresswood Dr
Spring, TX 77379

There is an interesting cafe in North Houston and is only one of three locations. The original place was opened up in Beaumont in 1941.  It is a cafe offering breakfast and lunch items as well as a coffee house that features a full bakery. You can walk in and pick out what you want to take home instead of sitting down to eat. The counter people will pull them out of the case and box everything up for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have a case full of fresh made gelato. Have you ever tried it? There are a few differences between ice cream and gelato. For example gelato has less air whipped into it because it is churned slower than ice cream which makes it denser. To some this means it is more creamy even though there is less fat. In the USA  ice cream has to have at least 10% fat to legally be called ice cream. Gelato usually has only 5-7% fat. The flavor of gelato is more intense.

 

According to the counter person the lemon is the best seller. This flavor is really surprising and the most unexpected because of how tart and refreshing it is. I highly recommend you to try some before you leave.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The coffee is fresh and hot all the time. They even have pictures on the wall of one of the places they get coffee from. Yes, they even have single origin beans. They will whip up the specialty  drinks for you behind the counter.  If you order a regular coffee they hand you a cup and saucer or plastic cup  (if the order is to go) over the counter for you to serve yourself at the coffee bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The atmosphere is laid back and relaxed which makes talking with friends over coffee nice. Most of the pastries in their cases have been taste tested by me at one time or another.

 

There other locations:
2596 Calder St, Beaumont,

4440 Dowlen Road, Beaumont, TX

Hwy 365, Nederland, TX