Vietnamese Iced Coffee By Khi-Khi Milk Co. In Charleston, SC
We'd gladly hit the bottle for this cold-brew from Charleston
We've come to expect certain things of Charleston, SC: emerging chefs, world-class restaurants, innovative cocktails.
One thing we didn't expect: Vietnamese cold-brew coffee.
Khi-Khi Milk Co.'s bottled concoction is the brainchild of Michael Claisse, a 23-year-old Charleston native. He and business partner Brooks Reitz of Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. got hooked on classic Vietnamese coffee. They scoured the market for packaged iced varieties but found only preservative-laden, overly processed options. So they decided to make their own.
In lieu of the traditional method of making Vietnamese coffee–brewing hot coffee directly into condensed milk, then pouring it over ice–lightly roasted Indonesian beans are first steeped for sixteen hours. The cold-brew is then stirred into condensed milk. A final touch of Valrhona cocoa balances the sweetness with the perfect amount of bitterness. Pour it into a brown-glass bottle and that's it.
Currently, Charlestonians are the only ones with access, but there are plans to deliver to more cities in the next few months.
For now, we'll just use it as another reason to head down South.