Vietnamese coffee – the sweet concoction of caffeine and condensed milk – is rather well known. But it looks like the sweet take on a cuppa may soon be replaced by its lesser-known cousin, egg coffee.

The curious drink concoction was first formed by a bartender in 1940s Hanoi who used eggs instead of milk due to a dairy scarcity. The result was a creamy, decadent take on the morning cup of joe that proved so popular he opened Cafe Giang, introducing cà phê trúng (egg coffee) to its daily menu. 

Now the exotic coffee is set to make its mark in America, thanks to its embrace by NYC. Couple Sara Leveen and Ben Lowell found inspiration in Vietnam before opening their New York establishment Hanoi House in the East Village. It’s there that egg coffee has made itself a permanent home.

In their take on the drink, Hanoi House brews Cafe Du Monde coffee with a phin (a single-serve coffee filter used for Vietnamese coffee). Then egg yolks, condensed milk and sugar is blended, with a spoonful of brewed coffee added to the mix. The drink is then frothed until it is a similar thickness to cake batter, before being spooned over the coffee itself.

With a taste that’s said to resemble a liquid tiramisu, it may be a drink that’s reserved for the sweeter of tooth among us.