This week has been SPECTACULAR on the weather front. London has been basking in the sunshine and everyone has had a spring in their step. Overcoats and leather boots have been put away (temporarily of course!) and spring/summer clothing have made an appearance. Everyone seems happy, even the flowers in the garden seem relieved that the cold spell may well and truly be behind us.

The weather was so bright and warm that one evening, Big A, Little Z, my ma and sister all sat outside for our Vietnamese starter of fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. I taught the home team how to roll their own rolls and then they made their own, which was a great experience, especially as we were all seated on the lawn out the back of my house. I will do a blog post on making these in due course!

Since my recent trip to Vietnam I have returned home a new women, in the sense that I have found a coffee that I don’t mind sipping, and may well go as far as saying I rather like. Granted it is probably because of the condensed milk, but hey ho, it’s a coffee beverage that I find pleasurable to drink.  I know I am probably in the minority who is not a coffee drinker, but with Vietnamese coffee I make an exception. Whilst it is delicious hot, I decided to make some iced coffee to sip in the warm weather.

I picked up one of these rather handy stainless steel coffee filters in Vietnam, but they are easy and reasonable to source on line here. Whilst they are easy to use and do not take up any space in the cupboard, I did find the filter let some coffee grains through, which didn’t particularly bother me, but if anyone knows a way to stop this I would love to hear. Just leave a comment below.

As for the coffee itself I picked up the variety above from Vietnam  and it smells and tastes divine. Again it is easy to source in the UK or from Europe for that matter from this online site and I am sure there are similar sites in your country of origin too. The coffee comes in varying strengths, but since I am a newby to the coffee scene I went for the weakest.

Creamy and oh so decadent, this iced coffee was perfect for a hot day. Part of the fun is the ritual in preparing it and I especially love the way the coffee initially sits on top of the condescend milk until the point of giving it a good stir.

Vietnamese Iced Coffee

1 cup

1 Vietnamese filter 

1 tbsp of ground Vietnamese coffee (or 2 tbsp if you prefer it stronger)

1 large tbsp of condensed milk

boiling water (to fill the glass/cup)

iced cubes

1. Place the condensed milk in the bottom of your glass/cup.

2. Removing the internal filter from your Vietnamese filter cup, add a spoonful of finely ground coffee into the bottom of the stainless steel filter cup (more if you like it stronger).

3. Place the filter mechanism (the part to the far left of image 3 here) on top of the blended coffee and add the boiling water to the Vietnamese filter cup and place the filter lid on top.

4. The coffee will gradually trickle through to the condensed milk. Leave it a couple of minutes to allow the coffee to filter through.

5. Once this has happened stir it with a teaspoon so that the coffee becomes a milky brown colour. Add a few ice cubes and stir once again.

If you make your Vietnamese coffee another way I would love to hear your tips and suggestions. Leave a comment below for everyone to see.