# Kopi Sock Source: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/kopi-sock/ Last updated: 2026-10-19 > Kopi is brewed from Nanyang-roasted coffee, usually robusta roasted with sugar and margarine or butter. Coarse grounds go into a cloth sock in a tall pot, hot water is poured over them, and the coffee steeps for about 3 to 5 minutes before it's strained through the sock, often poured back and forth between pots to aerate and cool it. It's served with condensed milk and sugar. ## At a glance - Grind: Medium-coarse - Water temperature: Just off the boil - Brew time: about 4:00 - Category: Cloth, Sock & Cultural Filter (Immersion) - Difficulty: Beginner - Origin: Malaysia & Singapore - Also known as: kopi, Nanyang coffee, coffee sock, kopitiam coffee, sock coffee ## Steps 1. **Coffee in the sock**: Put Nanyang-roasted coffee, ground medium-coarse, in the cloth sock and hang it in a tall coffee pot. 2. **Pour hot water**: Pour hot water, just off the boil, over the coffee in the sock. 3. **Steep**: Let it steep for about 3 to 5 minutes. Longer makes it stronger. 4. **Strain**: Lift the sock and let the coffee drain. Kopitiams often pour the coffee back and forth between pots to aerate and cool it. 5. **Serve**: Pour into a cup with sweetened condensed milk for kopi, or with sugar only for kopi-O. In the **kopitiams**, the traditional coffee shops of **Malaysia and Singapore**, coffee is brewed through a long **cloth sock** hanging in a tall pot. The coffee is **Nanyang-roasted**: usually **robusta**, roasted dark with **sugar and margarine or butter**, which gives it a deep, caramelised, slightly smoky flavour. It's steeped, strained through the sock and served sweet, most often with **condensed milk**. This is **kopi**. Here's how it's brewed. ## The short version - **Nanyang-roasted coffee**: usually robusta, roasted with sugar and fat. - **A cloth sock** in a tall pot. - **Hot water poured over**, steeped about 3 to 5 minutes, then strained. - **Often poured back and forth** between pots to aerate and cool it. - **Served sweet**: with condensed milk (kopi), or black with sugar (kopi-O). ## What makes kopi different? Mostly the **roast**. Nanyang coffee isn't a brewing method but a **roasting style**: the beans, usually **robusta**, are roasted slowly, traditionally in a **wok**, with **sugar** and **margarine** or **butter** added late in the roast to caramelise them. Wikipedia describes one roast as 80% beans to 20% sugar and margarine, roasted for 25 minutes at 180°C, with salt added halfway. Some blends include **liberica** or **arabica** too. The result is dark, oily and intense, and it's brewed strong and usually served sweet. ## How is kopi brewed with a sock? 1. **The coffee goes into the sock**, a long cloth bag on a wire ring with a handle, hung in a tall metal pot. 2. **Hot water is poured over it**, just off the boil. 3. **It steeps** for about **3 to 5 minutes**. Longer is stronger. 4. **It's strained**: the sock is lifted out and drained. Kopitiams often pour the coffee **back and forth between two tall kettles**, which Wikipedia says aerates and cools it. 5. **It's poured into cups** with the milk and sugar already in them. ![Chart of coffee grind sizes from extra fine to extra coarse, with medium-coarse highlighted for kopi brewed in a sock](https://dailyextraction.com/diagrams/grind-size.svg#medium-coarse "Guides range from medium-fine to coarse; medium-coarse is a common middle.") ## How do you make kopi at home? Use **Nanyang-roasted** coffee, sold ground for kopi, and a coffee sock in a jug or pot. Singapore Food Shows' recipe uses **4 tablespoons of Nanyang coffee powder** to **500 ml of water at about 95°C**: 1. **Put the coffee in the sock** and hang it in the jug. 2. **Pour the hot water** over it and stir in the sock. 3. **Steep 3 to 5 minutes**, then lift the sock out, letting it drain. For a smoother, more aerated finish, pour the coffee through the sock into another jug 2 or 3 times. 4. **Pour** into a cup with condensed milk, or sugar, to taste. Brew mode on this page times the steep for you. ## What are kopi, kopi-O and kopi-C? | Order | What you get | | --- | --- | | Kopi | With sweetened condensed milk and sugar | | Kopi-O | Black, with sugar | | Kopi-C | With evaporated milk and sugar | There are many more ways to order, which belong more to the drink than the brewing, and I'll cover them in the drinks section. ## Why a cloth sock? One popular story says local drinkers found Western coffee too bitter and created their own. It isn't well documented, so I treat it as **tradition**. In practice, a cloth sock is **cheap, reusable** and strains a coarse, oily roast well. ## How do you look after a coffee sock? Empty the grounds, rinse the sock well in hot water **without soap**, and let it dry. Replace it when it smells stale or drains slowly. *General guidance only. Take care when pouring hot coffee between pots, and dry the cloth between uses.* ## Kopi sock vs other methods - **[Chorreador](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/chorreador/):** Costa Rica's cloth filter on a wooden stand. - **[Colador](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/colador/):** the Caribbean coffee sock. - **[Vietnamese phin](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/vietnamese-phin/):** another Southeast Asian coffee, often with condensed milk. - **[South Indian filter coffee](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/south-indian-filter/):** a strong decoction mixed with hot milk. Explore every cloth-filter method in the [cloth chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/cloth-filter/). ## Words used in this guide - [Robusta](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/robusta/): Robusta is the common name for Coffea canephora, one of the two coffee species grown for most of the world's coffee; the other is arabica. - [Steeping](https://dailyextraction.com/glossary/steeping/): Steeping is leaving ground coffee to sit in water so its flavour dissolves out, as in a French press or cold brew. ## FAQs ### What is kopi? The traditional coffee of Malaysia and Singapore, served in kopitiams, coffee shops. It's made from Nanyang-roasted coffee, brewed through a cloth sock and usually served with condensed milk and sugar. ### What is Nanyang coffee? A roasting style rather than a brewing method. The beans, usually robusta, are roasted slowly, often in a wok, with sugar and margarine or butter added late in the roast to caramelise them. ### How long does kopi steep? One kopitiam-style guide suggests 3 to 5 minutes. Longer makes it stronger. ### What's the difference between kopi, kopi-O and kopi-C? Kopi comes with condensed milk and sugar, kopi-O is black with sugar, and kopi-C has evaporated milk and sugar. Wikipedia notes the C may come from Carnation, a brand of evaporated milk. ### Why use a cloth sock? It's the traditional kopitiam filter: cheap, reusable, and it strains a dark, oily Nanyang roast well. How it became standard isn't well documented. ## Sources - [Kopi (drink)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_(drink)) - [Discover Nanyang coffee](https://www.homegrounds.co/nanyang-coffee/) - [Nanyang coffee: kopi, brewing and types](https://thebrewratio.com/nanyang-coffee/) - [Authentic Singaporean kopi and kopi-O recipe](https://singaporefoodshows.com.sg/kopi-and-kopi-o) - [Nanyang coffee: the Singapore kopitiam tradition](https://myhomebarista.com/guides/nanyang-coffee/)