Vietnam is the world’s largest producer of Robusta coffee and ranks 2nd in export volume (after Brazil). Vietnamese coffee is increasingly known and recognized by more people. Join Hello 5 Coffee to discover what makes Vietnamese coffee so special that the world falls in love with it below!
1. History of Vietnamese coffee
The first coffee tree was brought to Vietnam by the French in 1857 from the leading plantations of Indochina and was planted in Lam Dong province, about 200km west of Ho Chi Minh City. Coffee has made strong and rapid progress, quickly making Vietnam the world’s second-largest coffee exporter, after Brazil.
2. The rich and distinctive flavor of Vietnamese coffee
What makes Vietnamese coffee special? Vietnamese coffee has a rich, distinctive flavor. This is because Vietnamese coffee is grown in highland regions with cool climate and fertile soil. In addition, currently 97% of coffee varieties commonly grown in our country are Robusta varieties with characteristics of deep bitterness and very strong flavor that suits Vietnamese taste.
Meanwhile, foreigners usually use Arabica coffee with light bitterness and fresh sourness due to the fermentation of coffee beans during processing. That’s why when coming to Vietnam and enjoying coffee here, visitors have been mesmerized by the rich, attractive flavor of Vietnamese coffee.
3. Differences in Vietnamese coffee production process
Vietnamese coffee is processed through a special process, including the following steps:
- Harvesting: coffee is harvested when the fruit is ripe, about 8-10 months after planting.
- Processing: coffee is processed using wet or dry methods. The wet method is the most common method and is used to produce Arabica coffee. The dry method is used to produce Robusta coffee.
- Drying: coffee after processing is dried under sunlight until it reaches a moisture content of about 12-13%.
- Roasting: coffee after drying is roasted in specialized roasting ovens. The roasting time depends on the type of coffee and desired roasting level.
- Grinding: coffee after roasting is ground into fine or coarse powder, depending on the brewing method.
Find out: Top 5 Best Coffee Roasters in Vietnam
4. Unique features in Vietnamese coffee brewing methods
Another unique point when mentioning Vietnamese coffee is that there are many ways to brew Vietnamese coffee such as phin brewing, vot coffee, brewing with machines, French Press, AeroPress, Moka Pot, etc. But the most popular method is brewing with phin – the traditional brewing method of Vietnamese people. Phin is a coffee brewing device with a filter paper that helps coffee have a rich and refined flavor.
How to brew Vietnamese coffee with phin:
Prepare ingredients:
- Pure roasted ground coffee
- Boiling water
- Coffee phin
- Coffee cup
Instructions:
- Grind coffee into fine powder.
- Place the coffee phin on the coffee cup.
- Put coffee powder into the phin.
- Pour boiling water into the coffee phin so that water covers the coffee powder.
- Wait for the coffee water to flow completely into the cup.
- Enjoy hot or cold coffee.
Some notes when brewing Vietnamese coffee with phin:
- Use pure roasted ground coffee.
- Grind coffee into fine powder.
- Use boiling water.
- Pour boiling water into the coffee phin so that water covers the coffee powder.
- Wait for the coffee water to flow completely into the cup.
- Enjoy hot or cold coffee.
Vietnamese coffee is a delicious and nutritious drink. It has a rich, aromatic flavor and helps with alertness and concentration. Vietnamese coffee is usually drunk hot and can be added with milk, sugar, or ice according to each person’s preference.
Read now: How to make Vietnamese coffee at home
5. How to choose complementary ingredients when brewing coffee
One of the outstanding points to say what makes Vietnamese coffee special is the brewing ingredients. Vietnamese people’s coffee brewing habits usually choose condensed milk to mix with, so the coffee cup always has an attractive sweet and creamy taste and is very aromatic.
Conversely, most other countries in the world do not use condensed milk for brewing; instead, they use fresh milk or special types of milk according to the culinary culture there. Some places even use cheese to brew coffee. Therefore, the flavor will not have the attractive delicious aroma. This is also the reason why many foreigners are attracted from the first time they enjoy Vietnamese coffee.
6. Vietnamese coffee drinking culture
Coffee is a popular drink in Vietnam and is an important part of Vietnamese culture. Coffee is drunk at all times of the day, but most commonly in the morning and afternoon. Drinking coffee is sometimes an excuse for people to meet, chat, relax, and work together.
The way Vietnamese people enjoy coffee is open and comfortable, not too rigid or formal like foreigners. Even in recent years, the trend of Vietnamese people choosing to drink takeaway coffee has also become more popular. This habit originates from the simple, unpretentious lifestyle of Vietnamese people.
As we can see, Vietnamese coffee has many special aspects that don’t just stop at the delicious, rich flavor. Hello 5 Coffee Global is a trusted Vietnamese coffee manufacturer and wholesale supplier, offering high-quality coffee beans, roasted & ground coffee, drip coffee, and instant coffee for global markets. Since 2012, we have been exporting our Arabica & Robusta coffee beans to many demanding markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Germany,…
With the slogan “Coffee awakens 5 senses, lives deeply in every moment”, Hello 5 Coffee Global provides high quality coffee to domestic and foreign agents. Our coffee is harvested from Dak Lak & Lam Dong, roasted and ground at a factory with a capacity of 150 tons/month and packaged in a variety of ways according to customers’ customized requirements. By choosing our clean, pure coffee products, you will have moments of enjoying coffee with the most authentic Vietnamese flavor.
