Start by boiling some water. An electric kettle makes it a lot faster. My tea-loving roommate left it behind when she went back to Australia. I would have never thought to purchase one, but it's seriously a game changer in terms of speed.
Preheat the filter and cup by pouring a bit of boiling water through it.
Remove the metal filter and pour in 1 heaping tablespoon of Cafe Du Monde (about 4 teaspoons). I love the smell of coffee!
Twist the filter on gently until it just starts to stop. Then turn it little more, a bit less than 1/8 a turn. If your filter doesn't use screws, simply place the filter on top of the coffee.
Pour a tiny bit of water in the filter just to wet the grind and to let the grind expand a bit. This will help rid of some small grinds that happen to make it through the filter. You can toss it out if you see any.
Fill the filter all the way and let it drip. Ideal brewing time comes to about 3 to 5 minutes so adjust the filter accordingly. Too loose and you'll just have runny brown water. Too tight and nothing will drip through. The filter will be hot, so use a fork or another utensil to adjust the filter. Place the cap on and watch the coffee drip!
For condensed milk, I prefer Longevity Brand - Sua Ong Tho. Any brand will do but I like the art on this one 🙂. Personally, I like it a little strong and less sweet than most folks. About 1 teaspoon of condensed milk does it for me. If you like it sweeter add 2-3 tsp.Adding it to the cup before brewing does have a slight effect on the flavor since the boiling water cooks it a bit. For this recipe we'll add it afte brewing since you can more easily adjust how much condensed milk slowly. Once you know the amount you like you can add it straight to the cup before brewing.
For iced coffee, let it cool off a bit then pour the brew into a glass filled with ice.