Vietnamese avocado coffee: a creamy twist on a Vietnamese classic
Ca Phe Bo, as it is known in Vietnamese, is a cold, creamy drink that blends an avocado smoothie with strong Vietnamese coffee. It comes from the Central Highlands, where both Robusta coffee and avocados are grown in abundance — and where someone, at some point, had the simple idea of combining them. The result is something that feels more like a dessert than a morning coffee, which makes sense: in Vietnam, avocado is a sweet ingredient, not a savory one. You will find it in smoothies, shakes, and desserts across the country, never in a salad or on toast.
Outside Vietnam, avocado coffee is still largely unknown. It does not have the international fame of egg coffee or coconut coffee, but that is slowly changing as more travelers discover Vietnam’s creative coffee culture and start looking beyond the classics. If you enjoy rich, creamy iced drinks and strong coffee, this one is worth seeking out.
What is Vietnamese avocado coffee: ingredients and how it tastes
The base of the drink is a blended avocado smoothie made with ripe avocado, condensed milk, fresh milk, and ice. This gets poured into a glass, and strong Vietnamese coffee — typically brewed through a phin filter — is added on top. Some versions mix everything together, others keep the layers separate so you can stir it yourself before drinking.
The texture is thick, cold, and creamy, closer to a milkshake than a regular iced coffee. The avocado gives it a buttery, slightly nutty richness, while the condensed milk adds sweetness. The coffee cuts through with a bold, bitter edge that stops the drink from being too heavy. Together, the combination works better than it sounds on paper.
For anyone used to avocado as a savory ingredient, the sweetness of this drink can come as a surprise. In Vietnam, avocado has always been treated as a fruit — blended into smoothies, mixed with condensed milk, or eaten as a simple dessert. Using it in a sweet drink is completely natural here, and once you taste it, it makes a lot of sense.
Not every version requires a blender. A simpler street-style preparation involves mashing ripe avocado directly with condensed milk until smooth, then stirring in milk and coffee. The result is slightly chunkier and more rustic, but still delicious — and often the version you will find at a small local stall.
Types of Vietnamese avocado coffee
Ca Phe Bo is not one single drink. Cafes across Vietnam put their own spin on it, and depending on where you order, you may get something quite different. These are the main versions you are likely to come across.
1. Classic avocado coffee (Ca Phe Bo)
This is the original and most common version. Ripe avocado is blended with condensed milk, fresh milk, and ice to create a smooth, thick smoothie base. Strong Vietnamese coffee — usually brewed through a phin filter — is poured on top. You stir it before drinking, or drink it in layers if you prefer. This is the version most associated with the Central Highlands, where the ingredients are local and fresh.
2. Avocado affogato style
Less common, but worth knowing about. Instead of a blended smoothie base, this version uses avocado ice cream, with espresso or strong coffee poured over the top — similar to an Italian affogato. The ice cream melts slowly into the coffee, creating a rich, cold drink with a slightly different texture. You are more likely to find this in cafes that experiment with presentation than at a street stall.
3. Avocado coconut coffee
A popular variation that adds coconut milk or coconut cream to the avocado base, making the drink even richer and slightly sweeter. It is often garnished with shredded coconut or a small pandan leaf. Dalat cafes in particular tend to serve this version, and it pairs well with the cooler highland climate.
4. Avocado coffee without a blender
The most straightforward version, and the one you are most likely to encounter at a small local stall. Avocado is mashed by hand with condensed milk, then mixed with milk and coffee. The texture is chunkier and less uniform than the blended version, but the flavor is essentially the same. It is honest, simple, and often cheaper than the cafe versions.
Where Vietnamese avocado coffee comes from
Ca Phe Bo originated in the Central Highlands, and more specifically in Dak Lak — the province that produces more coffee than anywhere else in Vietnam. Dak Lak is also one of the country’s main avocado-growing regions, which makes the combination an obvious one. At some point, locals simply put the two together, and the drink stuck. There is no single inventor or founding cafe behind it, just a practical pairing of two ingredients that were already part of everyday life in the region.
From Dak Lak, the drink spread to other Central Highlands provinces — Gia Lai, Lam Dong, and Kon Tum — where coffee and avocado farming are equally common. Dalat, the most visited highland city, became one of the most popular places to try it, helped by its strong cafe culture and the fresh local produce available year-round. Eventually Ca Phe Bo made its way to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and beyond, and today you can find it in cafes across the country.
It is worth noting that Vietnam is not the only place where avocado and coffee meet. Indonesia has a similar drink called es alpukat kopi, and avocado shakes with coffee are also found in the Philippines and Brazil. But the Vietnamese version has its own identity. The use of the phin filter, the addition of condensed milk, and the strong Robusta coffee base give it a flavor profile that is distinctly Vietnamese — bolder and richer than most of its regional cousins.
The best places to try Vietnamese avocado coffee
Naming the best place to try Vietnamese avocado coffee is not straightforward. The best version for you might be at a small street stall that has never been reviewed online and never will be. What this section covers instead is where avocado coffee is most reliably good and easy to find — so you know where to start looking.
Dak Lak and the Central Highlands — where it all started
If you want avocado coffee at its most authentic, Dak Lak is the place. Buon Ma Thuot, the provincial capital, is considered the coffee capital of Vietnam, and the avocados grown in the surrounding area are among the best in the country. When both ingredients are this fresh and this local, the drink tastes noticeably better. Most travelers do not make a dedicated trip to Buon Ma Thuot, but if you are passing through the Central Highlands, it is absolutely worth stopping for a glass.
Dalat — the most accessible place to try it
For most travelers, Dalat is the easiest entry point into Central Highlands coffee culture. The city has a thriving cafe scene, the surrounding region grows its own avocados, and Ca Phe Bo appears on menus everywhere — often in the coconut or pandan variation that has become something of a Dalat signature. You do not need a specific recommendation here. Walk into almost any local cafe, order it, and you are unlikely to be disappointed.
Ho Chi Minh City — easiest to find for most travelers
Ho Chi Minh City is where most international travelers will end up trying avocado coffee for the first time, simply because it is the most visited city in Vietnam. It is widely available, from street stalls to sit-down cafes. Quality varies more than in the highlands — the avocados are not locally grown and the coffee culture is broader and more mixed — but a good version is not hard to find. Look for cafes that specialize in Vietnamese coffee styles rather than Western-style chains, and check Google Maps reviews before sitting down.
Hanoi — growing but not the home of this drink
Avocado coffee exists in Hanoi, but it is less common and less consistent than in the south. This is primarily a southern and central Vietnamese drink, and Hanoi’s coffee identity is built around other things — egg coffee being the obvious example. You will find Ca Phe Bo on some menus, and it can be good, but do not go out of your way for it here. If you see it and you are curious, order it. Just do not expect it to taste the same as in the highlands.
Tips for finding and enjoying the best Vietnamese avocado coffee
How to order it
The Vietnamese name is Ca Phe Bo — ca phe means coffee, and bo means both butter and avocado, which tells you something about the texture you can expect. In most cafes that see foreign visitors, the English name will be on the menu. At smaller local stalls, pointing at someone else’s drink or saying “ca phe bo” is usually enough to get you what you want.
What to pay
Expect to pay somewhere between 35,000 and 80,000 VND depending on where you are. Street stalls and simple local cafes sit at the lower end, while more established sit-down cafes charge more. Anything significantly above 80,000 VND is on the expensive side unless you are in a high-end venue. Price does not always reflect quality — some of the best versions come from the cheapest places.
How to drink it
Give it a good stir before you start. The coffee and avocado base separate quickly, and drinking them in the wrong order means missing the point of the drink entirely. A wide straw or a spoon works better than a standard thin straw. Try to finish it within a reasonable time — avocado oxidizes once blended, and the flavor starts to change if you leave it sitting too long.
Dietary and allergy notes
Ca Phe Bo is not suitable for anyone with a dairy allergy without modification. The standard version contains condensed milk and fresh milk, both of which are dairy. A vegan or dairy-free version can usually be made by substituting coconut milk, but you will need to ask specifically — it will not come that way by default. Caffeine content is also worth keeping in mind, as Vietnamese coffee tends to be significantly stronger than what most Western travelers are used to. For more detailed advice on managing food allergies while traveling in Vietnam, see traveling with food allergies in Vietnam.
How to make it at home
Ca Phe Bo is straightforward to make at home. You need a ripe avocado, condensed milk, fresh milk, ice, and strong coffee — brewed through a phin filter if you have one, or a shot of espresso if you do not. Blend the avocado with the condensed milk, milk, and ice until smooth, pour it into a glass, and add the coffee on top. The main variable is the avocado itself. Vietnamese avocados tend to be creamier and less watery than many Western varieties, so if your result comes out thinner than expected, use less milk or add a little more avocado. A ripe Hass avocado is the closest widely available substitute.
Other Vietnamese coffees to try
Vietnam has one of the most creative coffee cultures in the world. Avocado coffee is a good example of how Vietnamese cafes take simple local ingredients and turn them into something genuinely original — but it is far from the only one. If you enjoyed Ca Phe Bo, or if you are simply interested in exploring what Vietnamese coffee has to offer beyond a standard iced milk coffee, these are worth trying.
- Phin coffee — the foundation of Vietnamese coffee culture. Strong, slow-brewed through a small metal filter, and served hot or over ice. Everything else on this list starts here.
- Egg coffee — a Hanoi original, made with whipped egg yolk and condensed milk on top of strong coffee. Richer than it sounds, and closer to a dessert than a regular drink.
- Coconut coffee — blended coconut cream and coffee, cold and creamy. One of the most popular creative coffees in Vietnam and easy to find nationwide.
- Salt coffee — a specialty from Hue, where a layer of salted cream sits on top of the coffee. The salt enhances the sweetness rather than making it taste savory.
- Yogurt coffee — tangy, creamy, and cold. A popular choice in Hanoi, where yogurt-based drinks have a long local tradition.
- Weasel coffee — one of the most talked-about and most misunderstood coffees in Vietnam. Worth reading about before you decide whether to try it.
- Pandan coffee — coffee layered over a pandan-infused condensed milk base, with a subtle floral, grassy sweetness.
- Cheese coffee — a creamy cheese foam on top of iced coffee. Sounds strange, tastes surprisingly good.
