The Journey Of Vietnamese Coffee Beans

Grown from Vietnam’s Central Highlands’ soil...

Central Highland region is blessed with fertile basalt soil and a tropical climate that enables coffee plants to thrive. There’s nowhere else in the country that can grow such special coffee beans, the distinct flavor makes it one of the best coffee not only in Vietnam, but also worldwide .

In 1857, coffee was brought to Vietnam by French in French colonial time.  They had tried many different coffee varieties in coffee plantations around Vietnam but most have failed. After the war, Vietnamese government kept on investing in coffee, they realize how great it could be when grown in this region. Coffee gradually became the most important production in Central Highlands.

Coming to the Central Highlands at the end of spring (February to April), visitors can enjoy the magical scene of coffee forests covered with snow-white coffee flowers under the warm sun. When the winter comes (around October to December), it’s when the coffee is ripe-the time that all locals have been  waiting for all year.. Red coffee beans are harvested completely with their bare hands. Due to the inability to harvest by machine, people often need to work from early morning to late evening to harvest all thousands of hectares of coffee.

After harvesting, coffee is dried in the sun for about 1 week to half a month and then put into the shelling machine. But coffee still hasn’t had its typical strong aroma. After that thousands of tons of coffee beans are loaded into the truck to the factories. When the coffee bean are roasted, at this time we can actually smell the passionate aroma of Vietnamese coffee.

In the factory, coffee beans are carefully classified. standard beans will be produced into instant coffee, whole coffee, pure coffee powder ... They’re all ready for a whole new journey: to every region of the country.

… Travel throughout the country…

Vietnamese coffee isn’t just coffee, each region in Vietnam has its very own ways to enjoy coffee, which create various styles of coffee from North to South. Don’t miss any of them if you’re a coffee-holics.
Milk coffee (hot or cold).

When you call "milk coffee" in any coffee shop in Vietnam, they will automatically think that is coffee with condensed milk, not fresh milk like cappuchino, machiato… Condensed milk is super sweet, so they just need a little amount to balance the bitterness but still remain the intense flavor of coffee, no need to add sugar. 

Coffee lovers are certainly familiar with hot coffee in countries like Italy, France… Why not try a completely different recipe in Vietnam - iced milk coffee. Because both coffee and condensed milk taste very strong, ice cubes make it lighter for everyone to enjoy. 

Drip coffee ( Phin)

Phin coffee is for those who want to sip coffee while relaxing on a Sunday morning. The coffee is brewed with boiled water in a filter which is put on top of a cup. It takes time while every drop of tasty coffee is dropping down to the cup. So people usually have breakfast when they are waiting. After the brew progress, customer will have a small cup of pure coffee, you can choose to enjoy it the way you like , with condensed milk or sugar, or ice ...

Egg coffee in Hanoi

Egg with coffee sounds like a weird couple, but it tastes fantastic.It’s coffee with condensed milk, and the fluffy foam made from egg yolks, butter, and some other secret ingredients. It appeared in the 1940s in Hanoi by Mr Giang, he came up with the recipe by lucky accident when he tried to find something to replace milk, because milk was a luxury during the difficult time after the war.

Coffee Milk in Saigon ( Bạc xỉu)

Bac xiu is usually mistaken with iced milk coffee. But instead of adding condensed milk to coffee to balance the bitterness, it’s actually adding coffee to diluted condensed milk to make the milk easier to drink, and then add plenty of ice so that people can cool off in such hot area like Saigon. So most people, even ones who are not really into coffee, can enjoy this drink.

Nowaday there are some variations of bac xiu such as bac xiu with fresh milk, bac xiu with coconut milk, or ice-cream… Relaxing on the side of the bustling street with a glass of bac xiu is one of the must-have experience in Ho Chi Minh city.

Variations of coffee. 

Coffee has become a popular beverage across the country, it is a wonderful ingredient to be combined with any dessert or drink. So when you drop in any coffee shop, you will see a long menu with lots of options. Feel free to choose the type that you want to try, and it’s absolutely ok to share your interests to the barista, for example,extra fresh milk, low sugar, less ice ... They will always be willing to meet the needs of yours.

Below are some pretty popular drinks with coffee you might love:

• Coffee yogurt 
• Coconut milk coffee 
• Matcha egg coffee
• Coffee milkshake

… And reach out to the world. 

Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee exporter.Vietnamese coffee can be exported in the form of whole coffee beans or packaged instant coffee. So travelers around the world can taste Vietnam's coffee.

Many people around the world choose Vietnamese coffee as a companion every morning to start a new day full of energy. However, Vietnamese coffee is not only special in the flavor of the coffee beans grown from the Central Highlands, it is also special from unique and delicate recipes and methods. If you are a coffee lover, you must come to Vietnam once to truly taste the passionate coffee made with the heart of Vietnam people.