Egg Coffee Recipe: How to Make Vietnamese Cà Phê Trứng at Home

By Robin Salvador, co-founder, Caffeine Brothers
Last updated: November 9, 2026

Quick answer: To make Vietnamese egg coffee (cà phê trứng) for one cup, brew 10 g of fine-ground Robusta in a phin with about 80 ml of hot water. Whisk 2 egg yolks with 1 tablespoon (about 20 g) of sweetened condensed milk and 1 teaspoon of sugar for about 5 minutes with an electric whisk, until thick and frothy. Spoon the foam over the hot coffee and keep the cup in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. It takes about 15 minutes. Use pasteurized eggs if you can, because the yolk is not fully cooked.

What is Vietnamese egg coffee?

Egg coffee, or cà phê trứng, is a layered drink: hot, strong coffee on the bottom and a thick, sweet foam of whisked egg yolk on top. Cafés in Hanoi serve it hot, often with the cup standing in a small bowl of hot water to keep it warm, and cold.

It is one of several Vietnamese coffee drinks. If you want the plain versions first, our guide to Vietnamese coffee and phin brewing covers cà phê sữa đá and black iced coffee.

Who invented egg coffee?

The accounts agree on the basics. CNBC, reporting from Hanoi in December 2017, quotes the inventor’s son as saying that “back in 1946, his father Nguyen Van Giang, a barman at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hotel in Hanoi ran out of milk to serve with the coffee” and whipped egg yolks with condensed milk instead. Vietcetera (September 2017) links the shortage to the First Indochina War. The MICHELIN Guide (April 2025) adds that Giang opened Café Giang in Hanoi’s Old Quarter in the 1960s, after which coffee shops across the city began serving the drink.

Café Giang is still in the Old Quarter. CNBC reported in 2017 that its egg coffee, hot or cold, cost about $1.15.

Egg coffee recipe (1 cup)

This is our starting recipe, built from the published versions compared further down. It uses less condensed milk than most home recipes. We have not run formal taste tests, so adjust the sweetness to your own taste.

How to make egg coffee, step by step

1. Warm the cup. Pour just-boiled water into a small bowl and stand a heatproof cup in it. VICE and the Metropole both keep the cup in hot water.
2. Brew the coffee. Put 10 g of fine coffee in a phin over the cup. Bloom with about 2 tablespoons of hot water for 60 seconds, then fill the chamber and let it drip for about 5 minutes. No phin? VICE says a French press or espresso machine works.
3. Separate the yolks. Put 2 egg yolks in a deep, narrow bowl so the whisk stays in the mixture. Keep the whites for another dish.
4. Add the sweeteners. Add the condensed milk and sugar to the yolks.
5. Whisk for about 5 minutes. Use an electric whisk until the mixture is thick, pale and frothy, as in the VICE recipe. By hand it takes longer.
6. Top the coffee. Spoon the foam over the hot coffee so it sits on top in a thick layer.
7. Rest and serve. Leave the cup in the hot water for about 3 minutes (VICE), then serve with a small spoon.

For an iced version, brew the coffee, let it cool over ice in a glass, and spoon the foam on top. Café Giang serves both hot and cold, according to CNBC.

How do published egg coffee recipes compare?

Recipes differ a lot on how much condensed milk goes in. That single choice changes the sugar per cup more than anything else.

How many calories and how much sugar are in egg coffee?

We calculated the nutrition from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy): raw egg yolk at 322 kcal per 100 g with 17 g per large yolk, sweetened condensed milk at 321 kcal and 54.4 g of sugars per 100 g, and granulated sugar at 4.2 g per teaspoon. The coffee itself adds very little and is left out. Philippine eggs are sold by size, so your yolks may weigh a little more or less.

For context, WHO recommends keeping free sugars below 10% of daily energy and says that going below 5%, about 25 g a day, brings further benefits. Our starting recipe has about 15.1 g of added sugar from the condensed milk and sugar, which is 60% of that 25 g. The VICE version has about 47.7 g, almost twice the 25 g. The quickest way to cut sugar is to cut the condensed milk. More on this in condensed milk vs evaporated milk.

How much does a cup of egg coffee cost to make?

With brown medium eggs (₱10.43 each in the same DA report) the cup costs ₱31.61. With Kapeng Barako (₱858 per kg) it is ₱27.66, and with Benguet Arabica (₱1,068 per kg) ₱29.76. The eggs are the biggest cost, not the coffee. Note that Jersey’s product is labelled a condensed creamer, which differs from sweetened condensed milk.

Is the raw egg safe?

The yolk in egg coffee is whisked raw and only warmed by the coffee and the hot water bath. The US Food and Drug Administration says that “fresh eggs, even those with clean, uncracked shells, may contain bacteria called Salmonella.” For dishes made with raw or lightly cooked eggs, it advises using shell eggs treated to destroy Salmonella or pasteurized egg products, and says egg dishes should be cooked to 160 °F (71 °C). It lists children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems as being at greater risk.

We have not measured whether the hot water bath brings the foam to 160 °F, so treat the topping as raw egg. Use pasteurized eggs if you can find them, keep eggs refrigerated at 40 °F (4 °C) or below as FDA advises, use clean, uncracked eggs, and make the foam just before serving.

Which coffee should you use for egg coffee?

Use a strong, dark coffee that can stand up to the sweet foam. The Metropole’s original recipe calls for Vietnamese Robusta, and Robusta makes up 96.6% of Vietnam’s forecast 2026/27 crop according to the USDA. Our Batangas Robusta is a dark roast and the closest local match. Kapeng Barako is Liberica, also dark-roasted. Order either ground fine for a phin; grinding is free. Robusta also carries more caffeine than Arabica, which we explain in Robusta vs Arabica caffeine.

If you like sweet coffee drinks, try our Spanish latte recipe next.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. How to Make Vietnam’s Iconic Egg Coffee the MICHELIN Way. MICHELIN Guide, Craig Sauers, April 22, 2025. Metropole recipe, 1946 origin, Café Giang in the 1960s
2. Cà Phê Trứng (Vietnamese Egg Coffee) Recipe. VICE Munchies, Helen Nguyen, March 1, 2022. 2 yolks, 80 g condensed milk, 5-minute whisk, 3-minute hot water bath
3. CNBC report on egg coffee at Giang Cafe, Hanoi. CNBC, December 8, 2017. Inventor’s son on the 1946 origin; Café Giang hot or cold, about $1.15
4. The History Of Egg Coffee. Vietcetera, Jake Hornberger, September 20, 2017. Milk shortage during the First Indochina War, hot water bowl
5. A Brief History of Vietnamese Egg Coffee. Mental Floss, Ellen Gutoskey, January 18, 2021. Metropole bartender, 1946, Café Giang
6. Vietnamese Iced Coffee (Ca Phe Sua Da). SAVEUR, updated August 31, 2026. Phin method: 10 g coffee, 60-second bloom, 84 g water
7. What You Need to Know About Egg Safety. US Food and Drug Administration, content current as of March 5, 2024. Salmonella, pasteurized eggs, 160 °F, 40 °F
8. Egg, yolk, raw, fresh (SR Legacy 172184). USDA FoodData Central, published April 1, 2019. 322 kcal per 100 g, 17 g per large yolk
9. Milk, canned, condensed, sweetened (SR Legacy 171275). USDA FoodData Central, published April 1, 2019. 321 kcal and 54.4 g sugars per 100 g
10. Sugars, granulated (SR Legacy 169655). USDA FoodData Central, published April 1, 2019. 4.2 g per teaspoon
11. WHO calls on countries to reduce sugars intake among adults and children. World Health Organization, March 4, 2015. Below 10%, and below 5% or about 25 g
12. Weekly Average Prices, October 26 to November 1, 2026. Department of Agriculture Bantay Presyo, NCR markets. Egg and sugar prices
13. SRP bulletin for basic necessities and prime commodities. DTI, effective May 11, 2026. Jersey Sweetened Condensed Creamer 390 g, ₱44.50
14. Vietnam: Coffee Annual (VM2026-0016). USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, May 20, 2026. Robusta 31.4 of 32.5 million bags in 2026/27

Make egg coffee with Philippine Robusta: order our Batangas Robusta or Kapeng Barako ground fine, or browse the shop. Cafés adding egg coffee to the menu can contact us for a wholesale quote.