Coffee culture in Vietnam

[snoop1130]

Coffee culture in Vietnam

by Expat Life

 

 

Dark, rich, thick and creamy with a heavy, deep chocolate aroma. hot or iced. 

 

Vietnamese coffee culture has been around for decades. In most of the cities here in Vietnam, you’re never more than a block away from a street coffee seller, and it’s more than likely that they are selling from the front room or garden of their homes. Although most street sellers won’t be selling any fancy, skinny caramel mocha-Frappuccino’s, vanilla macchiatos or affogatos, the Vietnamese have been enjoying and perfecting, coffee good enough to compete against these western favourites since the French colonisation in the late 19th century. Since then, the economic growth thanks to the coffee grown here, means that Vietnam is now one of the world’s largest coffee exporters. Now famous for its coffee culture, Vietnam grows many types of coffee from the bold Robusta to the aromatic Arabica and along with the mass coffee farming, there is an abundance of coffee shops, cafes and workspaces sprouting up across the country.

 

If you’re looking for reviews on large, fancypants, franchised coffee chains in the same wheelhouse as Highlands Coffee and Cộng Cà Phê then stop reading now, this piece isn’t for you. However, if you want proper Vietnamese hot drinks made with love, then stick with me and I’ll reveal the treats of the Vietnamese coffee culture and the most tantalising places to try them here in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital.

 

There’s more than just your traditional Vietnamese coffee to try, with coffee for all moods, meetings and weather types. So, prepare to be indulged in the wonderful world of Vietnamese coffee.

 

Traditional Vietnamese coffee

 

These are no normal coffees, so prepare to feel supercharged. But as with most, you can order them hot or iced. These outrageously strong coffees will have you feeling pumped and ready to go. Perfect for a catch up with friends or to begin working on that personal project you’ve been putting off for months!

 

For the real experience, hot concentrated coffee is tantalisingly dripped through a ‘Phin’ and into a small glass with condensed milk waiting at the bottom, creating a fine balance between sharp bitterness and a soothing sweetness. Phin’s are a special Vietnamese filter, usually made of metal and with no need for filter papers, they’re much more environmentally-friendly and cost-effective – what V5? 

 

After meeting a friend recently, who had enjoyed two coffees before we met, she was shaking, which is not an unusual side effect of this energising elixir. Use with caution!

 

The most popular, traditional Vietnamese coffees created through this Phin drip method that you will come across are Bạc Xĩu and Cà Phê Sữa Đá.

 

Cà Phê Sữa Đá – A glass of mighty strong, dark roasted coffee with condensed milk. Served on the smaller side when compared to your typical Americano. Small, but mighty. Let the bitterness dry your mouth and the condensed milk coat it with sweetness. This type of coffee is a hit when you need that instantaneous energy boost. Can be served hot or dripped onto ice.

 

Enjoy these at roadside street vendors. Exhausted from seeing the sights and shopping? Take a break amidst the hussle and bussle of the crowded streets of Hanoi and immerse yourself in the coffee culture Vietnamese style. Alternatively, another serene place to enjoy a Sua Da is Ta Ca Phe. Located at the end of an already quiet street in a small cove, nestled amongst a collection of small independent businesses, Ta’s is a great place for getting work done. With its simplistic, yet pleasing interior design and open outdoor area; sip your coffee, focus your mind and power on.

 

Name: Ta Ca Phe

Location: 41 Tay Ho Street, Quang An

Price: $$

 

Bạc Xĩu – Sweet dreams are made of these. A little less coffee than the cà phê sữa đá but instead with a more generous amount of condensed milk, usually enjoyed in a taller glass with a lot of ice. Less concentrated with more milk; coffee without the intensity. Similar to that of a sweet latte to the Europeans. As with the Cà Phê Sữa Đás, you can enjoy these from any street vendor. However, Tapies, a hidden coffee den is where you can really appreciate these. Duck behind its wonderfully green hanging plants and enter their cosy coffee haven. Their welcoming service and unique, handmade metal furniture give it a feel like no other. The coffee is smooth and aromatic, made perfectly every time.

 

Name: Tapies

Location: 111A Xuan Dieu, Tay Ho

Price: $

 

Coconut Coffee (Cà Phê Cốt Dừa)

 

Everywhere you go in Vietnam you’ll find coconuts. Used for a wide range of products from kitchenware and cooking ingredients to beauty products and gardening. The world’s gone wild for coconuts!

 

Full Story: https://expatlifeinthailand.com/travel-and-leisure/coffee-culture-in-vietnam/

 

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[BritManToo]

33 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Cà Phê Sữa Đá – A glass of mighty strong, dark roasted coffee with condensed milk.

Since visiting Vietnam many times in the last year, this has become my coffee of choice.

[scorecard]

12 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Since visiting Vietnam many times in the last year, this has become my coffee of choice.

On my many visits to North, middle, coastal northern beaches, South and beaches on the bottom coast to give MBA lectures I have drunk dozens of cups/glasses of the Vietnamese coffees being described here.

 

Ultimately of course your own favorites/likes/dislikes is personal choice, as it is in any part of the world for all drinks and food.

 

For me I find the typical taste (and of course it does differ by Vietnam regions etc.), to be very enjoyable and more delicious than typical western Starbucks etc., but I also find Vietnamese coffee to be very strong and lingering strong. But for me the love of the taste overrides the strength.  

 

I've lectured many times in Vung Tau, 2 minutes walk from my hotel is one of my favorite bistros in the world, owned and operated by a Vietnamese lady born in Hanoi but educated in Paris, she has double citizenship, and her husband, parents both French but he was born in Vietnam and stayed there until he went to Paris to study culinary sciences. He also holds dual citizenship.

 

The lady's family have been coffee farmers for a couple of centuries, and she prepares and serves fine Vietnamese coffees, along with her French hereditary husband who prepares/serves many classic fine French dining dishes in their Vung Tau bistro including probably the best steaks I've ever eaten and the beef is grown in Vietnam. My lunch is always a fresh baguette (baked on the premises and daily fresh ham, also baked on the premises.

 

Plus both husband and wife are trained wine experts and they have a good variety of wines in their Bistro. And their prices (food, coffee, wines and beers) are very very reasonable. 

 

Wish I was there right now sipping a very hot local coffee.  

 

 

[JimmyTheMook]

Love the egg coffee....

[Fairynuff]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

For me I find the typical taste (and of course it does differ by Vietnam regions etc.), to be very enjoyable and more delicious than typical western Starbucks

Starbucks should be sued for calling the stuff they serve coffee!

[Mavrix]

2 hours ago, JimmyTheMook said:

Love the egg coffee....

Me as well....upon my first visit to Hanoi last year l tried egg coffee for the first time....loved it

[Max69xl]

It seems you don't know that the coffee culture in Vietnam comes from the French during the colonization. There are no Vietnamese coffee culture. They have just come up with a few new types of coffee lately. 

[faraday]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

the Vietnamese have been enjoying and perfecting, coffee good enough to compete against these western favourites since the French colonisation in the late 19th century

 

4 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

It seems you don't know that the coffee culture in Vietnam comes from the French during the colonization. There are no Vietnamese coffee culture. They have just come up with a few new types of coffee lately. 

 

[Fairynuff]

49 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

It seems you don't know that the coffee culture in Vietnam comes from the French during the colonization. There are no Vietnamese coffee culture. They have just come up with a few new types of coffee lately. 

Anyone who has any interest in VN coffee would know it’s origins, it’s not exactly a secret.

To say that there is no coffee culture in Vietnam would suggest that you’ve actually never been or you’ve walked around with your eyes closed. Coffee is a huge cultural and social thing in Vietnam.

[Iron Tongue]

59 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

It seems you don't know that the coffee culture in Vietnam comes from the French during the colonization. There are no Vietnamese coffee culture. They have just come up with a few new types of coffee lately. 

Coffee originated from the Turks and Arabs, so by your reasoning, the French have no coffee culture either?

 

 

[5633572526]

On 4/17/2020 at 10:28 AM, Max69xl said:

It seems you don't know that the coffee culture in Vietnam comes from the French during the colonization. There are no Vietnamese coffee culture. They have just come up with a few new types of coffee lately. 

It would seem you don’t understand what culture is