Apart from Brazil, no nation produces more coffee than Vietnam. Introduced by French settlers in the 19th century, the country’s coffee cultivation is now a $3 billion business and accounts for nearly 15 percent of the global market, making Vietnam the java giant of Southeast Asia.
Quality, however, has only recently begun to catch up with quantity, largely because farmers have begun to augment the long-term cultivation of cheaper, easy-to-grow robusta beans in Vietnam with its connoisseur favorite, arabica.
A major beneficiary has been the cafe scene in the country’s largest metropolis, Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon). Thanks to direct farm-to-shop sourcing, the coffee retail business is booming as growing numbers of indie roasteries and specialty coffee shops spring up around the city’s French colonial opera house, among the big malls and boutiques of trendy Dong Khoi Avenue and in the shadows of high-rise towers in area 2.
From semi-hidden bohemian hangouts like RedDoor to chic chains like Laviet — which has its own coffee farm near Dalat in the country’s central highlands — the city has a coffee shop for just about every coffee connoisseur.
Given the extreme bitterness and caffeine of most robusta beans, it’s not surprising that the Vietnamese traditionally sweeten their coffee with a thick dollop of sweetened milk, creating a milkshake-like concoction.
For your introduction to this national classic, head to this humble hole-in-the-wall, the oldest existing cafe in town, in a low-key, off-the-radar pocket of District 3, not far from Nguyen Thien Thuat Street, known for his musical instrument stores. Here, the stoic Madame Suong and her two sisters perform the ritual their family has practiced since the 1930s.
As soulful Vietnamese pop songs echo across the blue walls, tiles and peeling ceiling, women work under a lamp in the small kitchen, filling cloth hand nets with a mixture of robusta, arabica and culi (also called peaberry) grounds and passing them through from boiling pots of water heated by a charcoal fire to a reused American oil drum. After a second pass through the water – stored a few days earlier in huge clay pots to allow impurities to sink to the bottom – the potent concoction is then poured into highball glasses and mixed with condensed milk.
If the result (25,000 Vietnamese dong, or about $1) still isn’t creamy enough for your taste, ask for a special garnish: some French butter.
Lacaph: Coffee college
Even sweeter concoctions await inside Lacaph, a classy new cafe in District 1, just off Rach Ben Nghe, the thin urban canal that runs through the city. Decorated with dark wood paneling and track lighting, the cafe serves lemonade (80,000 dong) paired with coffee blossom honey and a shot of coffee brewed in a traditional Vietnamese finish — a stainless steel cup with an internal metal filter — while coffee with house coconut (80,000 dong) mixes cold drink, coconut milk, coconut syrup and coconut ice cream. There are less sugary options, including espresso, latte and cascara (60,000 dong), a tea-like drink made from coffee plant skins and coffee berry skins.
But the marquee attraction is their showroom. Decorated with posters, maps, machines and even a vintage motorbike – a preferred method of transport among Vietnamese growers – this side room provides an indoctrination into coffee’s history, regions, bean types, cultivation methods and production techniques. country.
To dig deeper, read the “Coffee 101” chapter in your preview copy of “The Vietnamese Coffee Book,” a glossy volume published in 2022 with a foreword by Lacaph founder Timen RT Swijtink. Or take Lacaph’s “Vietnamese Coffee & Culture” course, one of several coffee-themed experiences for beginners (450,000 to 650,000 dong).
96B: A continuous education
Still thirsty for coffee knowledge? Head to the Tan Dinh district, famous for its 19th-century pink church and its packed covered market surrounded by street food carts. Grey, angular and industrial, this small cafe has educational ambitions with hands-on workshops (300,000 to 660,000 dong) devoted to everything from bean roasting to latte art. Die-hard aficionados can attend the ‘Sensory Training’ series, two courses that impart the art of tasting coffee like a pro, from understanding acidity to judging sweetness.
But 96B’s mission is not purely academic. The cafe serves five handcrafted Vietnamese coffees — with flavor notes and individual small carafes like fine wine — as well as experimental drinks like the Solar Cold Brew (85,000 dong), a blend of iced coffee, ginger syrup, ginger jam, lemon cordial and rosemary.
Customers can then expand their knowledge by taking home “The Vietnam Coffee Atlas” (599,000 dong), the shop’s set of Vietnamese beans. The eight varieties represent different coffee regions and styles.
There’s perhaps no better place to test your culinary skills than this huge, neo-industrial, loft-like cafe just off bustling Dong Khoi Street. A chalkboard announces the many local and international beans of the moment, and the illustrated menu suggests a myriad of preparation methods, from simple espresso to more elaborate pour-over methods and steepers.
For a high-tech coffee, opt for the siphon (135,000 dong), an elaborate construction of glass bulbs, pipes and knobs. The slow drip technology will test your patience and reward your taste buds. Salted coffee (65,000 dong) with condensed milk is a favorite salty-sweet style developed in the former imperial city of Hue.
Workshop can also win the award for the city’s most extensive cafe food menu, jumping from American breakfast (lemon-ricotta pancakes with mango, 135,000 dong) to North African dishes (omlette with harissa sauce, 155,000 dong) to French desserts.
The name of this local coffee chain tells you all you need to know about its signature attraction: frothy, frothy, sweet egg coffee (40,000 dong), a Hanoi classic made with beaten egg yolks, condensed milk, sugar and vanilla flavoring.
The decor at the central location (Yersin Street 119/5) is old-school: bamboo armchairs, floral pillows, checkered blankets, wood-paneled TVs, reel-to-reel cassettes and shelves of dusty used paperbacks. But the all-ages crowd is sampling the seasonal vibe along with the (egg-heavy) all-day breakfast menu.
Bel: Art and Commerce
The sounds of sweet indie rock and fingers tapping computer keys greet you upon entering this minimalist, gallery-like space where cool kids and global nomads are noodling on laptops while baristas work the levers of a state-of-the-art Slayer espresso machine .
Equipped with exposed ducts and colorful abstract paintings on the walls, the cafe serves espresso drinks (including a house pandan syrup latte, 90,000 dong), tempting juice blends (try the excellent jicama-guava-apple-ginger blend, 60.00 dong) and bags of home-baked beans.
If your caffeine fix in Saigon has inspired you to consider setting up your own coffee shop, just walk through the door at the end of the room. You will find yourself in the office of Building Coffee. A co-op run by “coffee coach” Will Frith, a Vietnamese-American, Building Coffee is a roastery and consulting firm that advises aspiring coffee shop owners on the coffee trade.
Ca Phe Vot: Coffee never sleeps
By now you may have a serious caffeine addiction. If so, you’re hardly alone in Saigon, and a little old establishment is open 24/7 to provide the solution for everyone. Known as Ca Phe Vot (“coffee shop”), the small garage-like space is tucked away at 330/2 Phan Dinh Phung, a narrow lane in the Phu Nhuan district, south of the airport.
By day, workers scramble to unload cartons of condensed milk while Madame Tuyet Pham and Monsieur Con Dang run nets full of robusta porridge through a cauldron of hot water over a coal stove made from a repurposed B-52 bomb. . According to Madame Pham, the fire has not gone out since the stove was first lit in the 1960s. The shop itself goes back to the 1950s.
At night, they hand over the reins and retire to sleep in their apartment above the store. But the line of pedestrians and scooters waiting for takeaway coffee is almost constant. Fueled by this constant demand, the cafe serves more than 500 cups a day (20,000 dong). Sip it on the go or on a low plastic stool in Ca Phe Vot’s unassuming white-tiled lounge across the alley.
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