Vietnamese Coffee: The Best Part Of Waking Up

There's a long list of must-have foods while in Vietnam, and during my visit to Saigon I did my best to try them all. One of the things that impressed me most was the humble cup of coffee, Vietnamese style. It's some of the most delicious morning fuel I've ever had: dark and flavorful, but not burned, and thickly sweetened. As a bonus, its caffeine content is definitely high-octane. One cup left my teeth buzzing for the rest of the morning. I assure you that it was a very pleasant sensation.

We had breakfast one morning at Highlands Coffee, which is a Vietnamese cafe chain. As we sat outside under a big awning, watching the river of motorbikes flow past, a waitress brought us the following:

A few spoonfuls of coffee grounds are packed underneath the perforated disc, and boiling water is poured in on top.

After a few minutes, the coffee drips out of the bottom of the filter and into the cup. The inverted lid makes a handy saucer on which to set aside the filter.

What the photo doesn't show is the layer of sweetened condensed milk on the bottom of the cup -- the perfect yin to the coffee's yang. Stir this up and mix it into your freshly-brewed coffee, watching the pretty black and cream swirls blend into an appealing pale brown color. Sip, then get ready to greet the rest of the day.

This tasty cup is proof that you don't need a five-thousand dollar Italian espresso machine to make good coffee! I'll take this over Starbucks any day.