Gear
How to Choose a Phin Filter
A phin costs ten dollars and lasts decades. The choices are few, and getting them wrong is annoying every single morning.
The short answer
Buy stainless steel, 120 ml, with a screw-down press. Stainless does not pit or discolour the way aluminium does; 120 ml is the single-serve size used across Vietnam and the size every recipe assumes; and a screw-down press gives you an adjustment that a loose gravity insert does not.
The parts, and which ones vary
Material
Stainless steel is what Vietnamese cafés use. It does not react, does not pit, does not discolour, and survives being knocked off a table. It also holds heat marginally better than aluminium, which matters in a brewer this small.
Aluminium is lighter and cheaper. It scratches, stains over time, and can develop a metallic edge if it is low quality. Some traditional phins are aluminium and work perfectly well — it is not a disqualifier, just the worse default.
Ceramic phins exist and hold heat best of all, but they are heavy, fragile, and the perforation is usually less precise.
Size
This is the choice people get wrong most often, usually by buying too big.
| Size | Coffee | Water | Makes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 ml | 20 g | 100 ml | One cà phê sữa đá. The café standard. |
| 200 ml | 30 g | 160 ml | A large iced glass, or a generous single |
| 350 ml | 50 g | 280 ml | Two drinks, or a batch for iced |
Buy the 120 ml. Nearly every recipe you will read, including every one on this site, assumes it. A 350 ml phin that you only ever half-fill will not seal the bed properly and will drip too fast.
Press mechanism
Screw-down press. A threaded post through the middle; you turn the plate down onto the coffee. Gives you an adjustment, which is genuinely useful while you are learning what a correct drip feels like. Also gives you enough rope to hang yourself — over-tightening is the single most common phin failure.
Gravity insert. A loose perforated disc that simply sits on the bed. Impossible to over-tighten, therefore harder to get badly wrong, but you lose the adjustment.
If you own one phin and you are learning, take the screw-down.
Recommendations
Best for traditional phin coffee
Stainless-steel phin, 120 ml, screw-down press
The single-serve size used in cafés across Vietnam, in the material they use, with the adjustment you want while learning.
Who it's for: Almost everyone. This is the default answer unless you have a specific reason to want something else.
- Lasts for decades — no gaskets, no paper, nothing to replace
- The size every Vietnamese recipe assumes
- The press gives you a lever to fix a drip that runs wrong
- Easy to over-tighten and stall until you learn the feel
- One drink at a time
Based on material properties, the standard café size in Vietnam, and what the brewing method requires. Not comparative testing.
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Good gift
Vietnamese coffee starter set
A phin, a bag of robusta, condensed milk and a glass. Everything needed for a first cà phê sữa đá with nothing else to buy.
Who it's for: Someone being introduced to Vietnamese coffee, or anyone who wants to try it once before committing.
- Nothing else to source — the glass size and the bean type are already matched
- Usually cheaper than buying the pieces separately
- Removes the main failure mode: the wrong grind or the wrong beans
- The included coffee is rarely the best available
- Kit quality varies enormously — check the phin is stainless
Based on what a complete first brew requires. Kit contents vary by seller; check the phin material and the coffee's ingredients list before buying.
Some links on this page may be affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate relationships never determine our editorial conclusions.
Some links on this page may be affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Affiliate relationships never determine our editorial conclusions.
One thing worth checking before you buy
Look at a photograph of the base plate. The perforations should be small, numerous and evenly spaced. Cheap phins sometimes have a handful of large holes, which will not hold a bed and will let grounds straight through into your glass.
The other check: the chamber should sit on the base plate without rocking, and the base plate should be wide enough to rest on the rim of a normal glass without falling in.
Questions people ask
- What size phin should I buy?
- 120 ml for one drink — this is the café standard and what almost every recipe assumes. 200 ml if you routinely make a large iced glass. 350 ml only if you are making two drinks at once.
- Stainless steel or aluminium phin?
- Stainless. It is the traditional material in Vietnamese cafés, it does not pit or discolour, it holds heat slightly better, and it survives being dropped. Aluminium phins are cheaper and lighter but scratch and stain.
- Screw-down press or gravity insert?
- A screw-down press gives you a lever to adjust with, which is useful while you are learning. A gravity insert is simpler and harder to get wrong, because you cannot over-tighten it. Most Vietnamese cafés use screw-down.
- Do phins need replacing?
- Essentially never. A stainless phin has no gaskets, no filters and no moving parts beyond a screw thread. People in Vietnam use the same phin for decades.
Related reading
Brewing
How to Use a Vietnamese Phin Filter
The phin is the Vietnamese coffee filter: 20 g, 100 ml, four to six minutes. The whole method, and what to change when the drip stalls or races.
Gear
Grinders for Vietnamese Coffee
A hand burr grinder is the single biggest upgrade to a phin brew. What grind a phin needs, why blade grinders struggle, and when pre-ground is fine.
Recipe
Cà phê sữa đá
Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk