"Pay What You Feel"—A Former Finance Man in Hanoi Saves Vietnamese Coffee Culture with the Traditional "Phinoi" Filter

From Hanoi, a titanium coffee filter priced at 26.8 million VND per unit is stirring ripples

On January 21, 2026, a titanium phin filter priced at 26.8 million VND (about 160,000 yen) per unit, announced by the Hanoi coffee brand “Phinoi,” sparked a debate splitting coffee lovers in Vietnam in two. Limited to 54 units—produced in the number symbolizing Vietnam’s 54 ethnic groups—this filter is cast in Grade 23 titanium, which is also used in aerospace, and its lid is engraved with the legendary “nine-tailed horse.” It even has a gimmick where the horse’s figure emerges each time the coffee drips. Tracing the background and philosophy of founder Vu Dinh Tu reveals that this product is not a mere pricey gadget but an attempt to hand Vietnam’s phin coffee culture itself to the next generation.

How a former financier awakened to coffee during the pandemic

Tu was originally a person from the finance industry. His life changed completely during the COVID crisis, and it began when he started home roasting with a small roaster borrowed from a friend. He started selling beans and holding study sessions in a small 27-square-meter space, which grew into “Refined.,” now operating three stores in Hanoi. About 70% of the menu is the Robusta variety. Tu’s conviction is to elevate Robusta—which tends to be seen as “low quality” compared with Arabica—through proper cultivation and processing.

Even more unique is the signature menu item “price as you feel.” The representative Robusta cup carries no set price; it’s a system where customers toss an amount they decide for themselves into a phin filter on the counter. This arose naturally from early regulars who left money saying, “I’d feel bad drinking it for free.”

The design philosophy of the Phinoi filter—“a phin to pass down to grandchildren”

Tu’s motive for launching the Phinoi brand is clear. As Vietnam’s young people drift toward drip and espresso, there was a need to redefine phin culture as “something cool.” The colorful, slim-designed filters sold out instantly at World of Coffee Jakarta in May 2025. They also drew attention at the subsequent Cafe Show Ho Chi Minh 2026.

And now this 54-unit limited titanium version. The design motif is the Vietnamese legend of “the mountain god Son Tinh and the water god Thuy Tinh vying over the marriage of Princess My Nuong.” The nine-tailed horse engraved on the lid is a wedding gift from the tale. It was reportedly completed after 10 months of research and development.

The titanium filter’s specifications and a price comparison

Divided opinion—the voices of coffee lovers

Three reactions swirl around this product on social media.

First, the skeptics. As symbolized by the sarcastic comment, “I’ve lived long enough to witness a 260,000-yen filter,” there’s a persistent voice that this price is preposterous for a practical item. The point that “for that amount, buying a good grinder would surely improve the coffee’s flavor more” is also on target.

Next, the supporters. Café owner Hoang Minh says, “It should be seen as a collector’s item.” The logic is that it should be evaluated on the same footing as jewelry or watches.

And Tu himself points to the heavy-metal risk contained in cheap commercial aluminum filters, explaining, “I wanted to make something that can keep being used across generations, as a tool to protect the family’s health.” In fact, several units have reportedly already been purchased.

Why Japanese coffee lovers should take note

In Japan too, since the third wave, a culture of fussing over the material and form of drippers has taken root. “Extraction tools as craftwork”—Arita-ware and Hasami-ware drippers, copper pots, and the like—aren’t unusual. Phinoi’s approach can be called the Vietnamese version of that movement. The point of giving the phin filter a context of traditional craft and finishing it into a product young generations want to show off on social media is also instructive for Japanese tableware makers.

Interest in Vietnamese coffee itself is rising in Japan too. Running alongside the reappraisal of the Robusta variety and the spreading awareness of condensed-milk coffee and egg coffee, attention to the phin filter as a “brewing experience” will likely accelerate from here.

The future of phin coffee culture—ripple effects on the industry

What Tu’s challenge shows is a strategy of repackaging a commoditized everyday item as a “cultural asset.” Within Vietnam, the takeout culture of major chains is expanding rapidly, and the time to slowly brew with a phin is coming to be seen as “inefficient.” Against that trend, at Refined.’s cafés customers experience the entire process from bean roasting to extraction, and it offers original drinks combined with Vietnamese fruits such as apricot and dragon melon.

By pushing the phin filter up into the luxury category, it makes young people re-recognize “the act of brewing with a phin.” The 54 titanium filters are merely its symbolic flagship.

Phinoi and Refined. basic information

Summary—the cultural inheritance packed into a single coffee filter

A 26.8-million-VND filter certainly sounds outlandish. But behind it overlap a warning against “the risk of ingesting heavy metals daily from cheap aluminum phins” and the message that “phin coffee isn’t uncool.” The “price as you feel” system Tu practices at Refined. is also a mechanism that asks customers themselves about the value of coffee. How far will 54 titanium filters, bearing the 54 ethnic groups, shake up Vietnam’s coffee culture? The answer is dripping quietly, right now, inside the phin placed on a Hanoi counter.

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Source:

• VnExpress International
• Barista Magazine