Community Cookbook: Cà Phê Muối from Larry’s Cà Phê

Larry’s Cà Phê (135 Woodpoint Rd.) is the Williamsburg coffeeshop that replaced Tar Pit. It is now run by Tuan Nguyen, who first worked as a barista at Tar Pit before buying the shop and naming it after his adoptive father, Larry Hilton. The latter half of the name translates to coffee in Vietnamese.

For this week’s addition to the Community Cookbook, Nguyen shares his recipe for cà phê muối or salted iced coffee. Nguyen told Greenpointers that cà phê muối was invented in 2010 in Hue in central Vietnam, and now, it is gaining popularity all over Vietnam. 

“If you enjoy Vietnamese iced coffee, you have to try cà phê muối,” Nguyen said. “It will wow you and hit all areas of your taste buds with one sip because it has sea salt, sweetness from condensed milk, bitterness from the coffee, fattiness from the heavy cream, the fragrance of cinnamon, and definitely plenty of caffeine from Vietnam robusta beans.”

See how to make cà phê muối below and find last week’s Community Cookbook recipe here.

Ingredients

1/2 cup of Vietnamese cold-brew coffee*

2 tablespoons of condensed milk

1/2 cup of heavy cream

A few pinches of sea salt

4 teaspoons of simple syrup (or sweetener of choice)

1 pinch of cinnamon powder

Directions

1. Mix the heavy cream, salt, and 2 teaspoons of simple syrup well with a frother until the consistency is like paint (or even a tad thicker).
2. Set the salted cream foam mixture aside.
3. Mix the condensed milk, the remaining 2 teaspoons of simple syrup and cold brew well with a frother for about 5 seconds.
4. Pour the cold brew mixture into a 12 ounce glass.
5. Add ice, leaving about an inch of space for the salted cream foam.
6. Top the glass cup with salted cream foam to the rim.
7. Lightly shake cinnamon powder on top of the salted foam.

* Larry’s Cà Phê uses the Kyoto brewing method to brew Vietnamese coffee with robusta beans. For every gram of ground coffee, the cafe uses 18 grams of water. This “golden ratio” translates to 1-2 tablespoons for every 6 ounces of water. An alternative method of brewing Vietnamese coffee is by using the Phin method with the same ratio. (If you want stronger coffee, use less water, closer to 16 grams.)