The drink starts with about 2 tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk in the bottom of each cup. Then place the Vietnamese Coffee Filters on top of the cups. It’s good to have one filter for each serving to avoid too much rinsing and waiting if you plan to make multiple servings. The coffee filter is a simple contraption that fits on top of the cup. It consists of a base that goes over the cup with the sweetened condensed milk, a reservoir with a perforated bottom, a gravity press that goes inside the reservoir (there are also screw type inserts but those were not sold where I purchase mine), and a lid that doubles as a cup rest when the brewing process is finished.