Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen)
Dark, thick coffee dripped over sweetened condensed milk and poured onto ice, the sweet jolt of a Lao morning market.
Lao · easy · serves 2
prep 5 min · cook 5 min
~125 cal · 3g protein · 21g carbs · 4g fat · 0g fiber · 21g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Laos grows fine coffee, both robusta and arabica, high on the cool, volcanic Bolaven Plateau in the country's south, a legacy of French colonial planting that has become a genuine point of national pride. That strong, dark bean is the base of the country's beloved iced coffee, kafe nom yen.
It is made the traditional Southeast Asian way: coffee brewed thick and strong, often dripped slowly through a cloth or metal filter, straight over a generous layer of sweetened condensed milk pooled in the bottom of the glass. Stirred together and poured over ice, it becomes a sweet, creamy, powerful drink.
Intensely sweet and bracingly strong at once, it is the perfect fuel for a Luang Prabang morning, sipped slowly at a riverside cafe or grabbed from a market stall. Rich, cold, and jolting, Lao iced coffee shows off one of the country's finest and least expected crops.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 2
4 tbsp dark-roast ground coffee
1.5 cups hot water
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
to serve ice
Instructions
1
Spoon the condensed milk into the bottom of two tall glasses.
2
Brew the coffee strong (a phin filter or drip works well) directly over the milk.
3
Stir to combine the coffee and milk into a sweet, dark blend.
4
Fill the glasses with ice and serve with a long spoon.
Lao Bolaven Plateau coffee tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Luang Prabang. Laos's old royal capital cooks refined Lao food, sticky rice, jaew dips, herb-laden salads, and river fish. French-colonial baguettes and Mekong fish define its serene table.
🗺️
Laos. The salty note is padaek rather than ordinary fish sauce: unfiltered, chunky, fermented for months, and pungent in a way that separates Lao cooking from Thai. Add to that far less sugar, almost no coconut milk in savoury dishes, and mountains of raw herbs including dill, which is unusual in Southeast Asia, and the differences stop being subtle.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Laos
Tam Mak Hoong (Lao Green Papaya Salad)Shredded green papaya pounded in a mortar with padaek, lime, chili, garlic, and tomato, the dark, funky, fiery Lao papaya salad.
Larb (Lao Herb & Meat Salad)Warm minced pork tossed with lime, fish sauce, chili flakes, toasted rice powder, and a garden of herbs.
Or LamA Luang Prabang herb stew of meat and vegetables thickened with sticky rice and buzzed with peppery sakhan vine.
Browse all Laos recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Blender.
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Laos meal
Larb (Lao Herb & Meat Salad)Dinner
Khao TomDessert
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Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen)?
Dark, thick coffee dripped over sweetened condensed milk and poured onto ice, the sweet jolt of a Lao morning market.
Where does Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen) come from?
Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen) is a Lao dish from Luang Prabang, Laos.
Can Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Lao Iced Coffee (Kafe Nom Yen) take to make?
About 10 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 5 minutes cooking), serving 2.
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